Benny Ng, Independent Market & Lena Lok, Art Wonderland
We always say that Boutiques is a community. One of the greatest joys of growing this community is when talented individuals come together to not just create beautiful work, but join forces to give back to the communities they care deeply about.
Meet Benny Ng, owner of Independent Market, and Lena Lok, owner of Art Wonderland.
Benny launched Independent Market out of a desire to share his appreciation and love for local designers and creative, Singapore-themed products. He also runs a sewing studio, Uyii, which creates soft goods produced in small batches, and Sew Fun, an arm of practical sewing classes. Lena, on the other hand, works primarily with children — as a firm believer in the power of art as an educational tool, she created Art Wonderland, which gives children integrated learning opportunities through immersive art experiences.
For The Gifting Edition 2019, Art Wonderland will be launching a new phonics book — ABCs of Singapore. In conjunction, Benny and Lena have teamed up on a project which will see Art Wonderland working together with Sew Fun. We spoke to them about their shared passion for art and craft, and how sewing lessons five years ago have blossomed into their first collaboration debuting this November.
It’s no secret that Hildra is enthusiastic about clean beauty. You can see it in the glint in her eyes when she jabbers excitedly about a product or as she encourages you to have a free demo. In anticipation of her first time joining us at Boutiques, we popped by her store to chat about oasis:skin.
Benny and Lena, why do you think art and craft is important to children?
Benny: Art and craft teaches compassion and empathy — that we all have the same pair of hands, the ability to create, to express, and that we are all human beings regardless of class, colour, or where we come from.
Lena: I was a very shy and introverted child. Art enabled me to create many worlds with my own characters and narratives. I would create DIY houses out of tissue boxes and furniture out of air-dry clay. I could even spend hours joining A4 paper with tape and drawing intricate worlds where ants, rabbits, and bears would live. I guess [this] implanted a belief in me that with art, there will always be endless possibilities and stories to create.
“I was a very shy and introverted child. Art enabled me to create many worlds with my own characters and narratives.”
I believe that art can be a powerful tool for reaching out to children and helping them relate to the world around them. It can act as a bridge and break down intimidating concepts like science or even history.
Tell us more about your collaboration! How did you guys get started?
Benny: Lena and [her sister], Lydia, were learning how to sew in our studio, and that's how we got to know each other. It's been really fun to see our creative projects evolve and grow over the years. At the last Boutiques, my son, Ruiyang, and his friends spent the longest time playing at Art Wonderland’s art installation. That spurred a conversation about connecting art and sewing.
Lena: Benny was my sewing teacher five years ago and we had been wanting to collaborate since then, but we weren't sure how we could do so.
At the last Boutiques edition in March, Benny saw our installation and we [began] brainstorming how we could make it better. I also decided to send my whole art team to Sew Fun to equip them with new sewing skills so they could create bigger and more tactile art installations.
[Our collaboration] happened at the right time, as my sister and I were developing a local heritage-themed phonics book that would help engage underprivileged children in reading. I knew Benny was the go-to guy for many local designers and merchandisers who wanted to print and fabricate textile products, so I thought it would be amazing if I could get Benny's help to bring characters from our book to life!
Why use local content and culture?
Lena: I believe Singaporean children would be more interested in reading about local food that they can resonate with rather than foreign sounding objects and food. We have more locally designed story books, but there are none yet in the market that integrates phonics. Phonics books [also] tend to be very academic and I’ve noticed my daughter's lack of interest in reading them. I wanted to design something that would engage local children and help them in their literacy journey.
Benny: I agree that local content is what resonates with the heart! Currently, we are also seeing more interest from our audience towards merchandise, events, and exhibits that are locally themed. People are definitely interested in finding out and engaging with activities that feature Singaporean culture — whether it is topics related to hawker food or Singlish.
On the topic of art in a local context, any thoughts on where Singapore’s education system is with regards to encouraging art and craft?
Benny: The education system more or less mirrors how society values art and craft, and we have certainly seen a positive shift in Singapore. For one, there are definitely a lot more jobs and opportunities in this industry as compared to two decades ago! It's the credit of many educator friends who toil behind the scenes, nurturing the next generation of art practitioners and audience. It’s also a sign of how our economy has matured.
Lena: The art scene in Singapore is definitely changing and has evolved a lot since my time.
I remember wanting to pursue art as a graded subject at O levels, but as art back then was reserved for the "not-so-academically-inclined", my school's principal turned down my request to take art because I had been streamed to a mathematics class. Today, the government actively encourages art as something important for building students' soft skills and critical thinking.
When I first started teaching art to children 12 years ago, parents were [also] very preoccupied with the outcome of their kids' drawing and painting — everything had to look "well done" and "nice". Today, I meet a lot of well-educated parents who know that art need not be about the final outcome. It’s about the process and joy of creating and is important in building critical thought and independent decision-making.
Both of you have children of your own. Do you, as parents, ever struggle with the need to balance academic performance and creativity?
Lena: As someone who enjoys reading and learning, I don’t think learning should be so clearly defined and categorised as creative versus academic. Learning should be fluid and integrated, and the government knows this. Imagine if academic subjects were to incorporate elements of creativity such as role-playing, body movements, or art making — we would have [so many more] students that are enthusiastic and engaged! We can't deny the fact that children absorb better when they enjoy learning. If we were to take a step further and remove the need for academic excellence and the pressure of performing well, we might find a new generation of active learners and critical thinkers.
“Imagine if academic subjects were to incorporate elements of creativity such as role-playing, body movements, or art making — we would have [so many more] students that are enthusiastic and engaged!”
Both of you are also big supporters of social enterprises.
Benny: The social impact of businesses is immense. We should be intimately involved in the livelihood of our employees, using Earth's resources responsibly, providing services, and creating products that make a difference.
Lena: From the moment I started my business in 2009, I decided that I would use my skills, passion and knowledge to serve the community. My mission for my company has always been "Bringing arts closer to the community", because I see my art education business as a way of using art to reach out, engage, and contribute to society. I am also a big believer in using the skills and talents that one has to impact and change the world, so I have always tried to support genuine businesses and enterprises that contribute to society.
What changed was that in the last two years, my twin sister, Lydia, decided to take a more active role in helping the underprivileged families in Singapore. She used to oversee policy and legislation relating to abused women and children in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, but she decided to start something on the ground that would change their lives directly. Two years ago she started Curious Thoughts Giving and Curious Thoughts Academy to impact and elevate lives through education. Seeing her intense passion and determination to help families in need led me to question how I could do even more to contribute to our society.
Designer Conversations is an interview series done in collaboration with Public Culture, an editorial experience studio that believes in connection over communication. This feature was photographed by Christopher Wong for Boutique Fairs Singapore and Public Culture.