Singapore Artist and Art Educator. Tel:(+65) 96805094
We were invited to give a talk about graffiti to the upper primary school students of Punggol Primary School. Mr. Dino Hafian who delivers the 20 minutes presentation emphasised our view of graffiti as an artistic medium of expression as opposed to a crime. We distinctly differentiate art and crime to these young impressionable minds and drive in the message that punishment for vandalism under Singapore Law is extremely harsh. Followed by a simple throw-up demonstration by our graffiti writers.
This was a cluster art programme at Saint Margarets Secondary School which is an all girls school. Surprisingly they had a small group of primary school students from their cluster enrolled in this programme. We got the girls to play mentor for the younger crew members. They all had fun but we noticed that the primary school students were not too adept at this advance art form. Which was why we do not recommend teaching graffiti at primary school level.
It took me awhile to figure out how to get around by myself in Tokyo’s terrific maze. Luckily I have a kid brother who is a Japanese speaking crew member with Singapore Airlines. He picked me up at the airport, gave me a crash course on Japanese culture and taught me the train routes and then I was on my own. It was fun discovering the city by getting myself loss most of the time. Well getting loss was not the agenda of my trip to Tokyo, I was to meet up with the current World Caricature Master: Kagehito Nakanishi (Kage).
Kage won the 2007 NCN Golden Nosey and that is no small feat as it is based on the votes by among the greatest caricaturists from around the globe assembled at the annual NCN convention. He not only has superb drawing skills and great artistry, he also runs a very successful caricature outfit. He took good care of me and it was indeed a humbling experience to be able to exchange knowledge about caricature with him. I learnt a lot from the special tour of his caricature booths and the studio office, he even allowed me to draw at his booth for an unforgettable experience.
Takayuki Watanabe and Kage at the studio office of Caricature-Japan
Note: We established a website specifically for our caricature drawing services in January 2008 at: WWW.CARTOON.SG. More caricatures can be viewed there. Please click here.
