Aqua Mekong's New Adventures between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Aqua Expeditions is celebrating its first anniversary with enticing new adventures along the Mekong River between Vietnam and Cambodia.

The sleek and contemporary Aqua Mekong is the only vessel on the Mekong River to operate private tenders with the fleet of four aluminium launch boats and bikes taking guests to fascinating local settings not accessible to other cruise companies.

The adventures transport guests by boat, foot and bike, past pastoral Khmer scenes of sugar palm fronds, emerald rice fields, floating markets and families travelling by ox cart while they enjoy ‘meet and greet’ encounters with local villagers, artisans and learned Buddhist monks.

To bring Aqua Mekong passengers deeper than ever into this tropical landscape that has long captivated the imagination of foreign explorers, one can head out on invigorating new excursions by bicycle, tuk tuks or kayak.  A unique way to observe the exotic rituals of daily life along the mighty Mekong is on two wheels, stopping to photograph catfish sellers, the planting of rice paddies or local children playing with the family’s domesticated water buffalo.    

Guests can hop on the bikes to explore the picturesque riverbanks of the Mekong River and stay fit cycling the flat paved and dirt trails while discovering, at their leisure, local village life.
Aqua Mekong passengers have the option of 8 to 15 kilometre biking routes to say hello to a crimson robed monk, photograph stilted Khmer houses and ornately embellished pagodas or, perhaps, enjoy an invitation from a new friend to dine in their nearby home. These all-terrain touring bikes are available for both adults and children.

Double-kayaks are available throughout various locations in Cambodia – in Oknha Tey, guests can paddle to see local silk-weavers at work, or kayak the Moat Khla region by Tonle Sap Lake and/or in the waterways in the Kampong Chnnang Province.

Aqua Mekong cruises per person twin share in First Deck Suite commence from USD3315 for a
3-night Discovery Cruise, USD4420 for a 4-night Explorer Cruise and USD7735 for a 7-night Expedition Cruise, inclusive of all on-board meals and scheduled shore activities.

www.aquaexpeditions.com

ABOUT AQUA EXPEDITIONS
In just eight years, Aqua Expeditions has become a recognised leader in luxury small ship cruising on the world's greatest rivers. The realisation of founder Francesco Galli Zugaro's dream, the architect-designed, custom-built 12-suite Aqua Amazon and 16-suite Aria Amazon cruise ships brought luxury cruising to the Amazon River in Peru, offering travellers nature-based, professionally guided adventures combined with sophisticated 5-star boutique hotel accommodation and gourmet cuisine. In October 2014, building on the growing interest among travellers in small-ship cruising, Aqua Expeditions launched the 20-suite Aqua Mekong on the historic Mekong River between Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Wick and Beyond: Artists and Artisans of the East End. By Ansell Cizic.

Well Hung Gallery, 239 Hoxton Street, London N1 5LG
wellhung.co.uk/art
1 October – 1 November, 2015

Gavin Turk: by Ansell Cizic ©

Photographer Ansell Cizic first came to the East End as a fashion advertising photographer in the 1980s, based in Curtain Road at a time when SCP was the sole local purveyor of aspirational design artifacts. The Bricklayers Arms, The City Beverage Company and a tiny paper/tobacconist shop on the corner of Curtain Road/Old Street were suppliers of his staples. 

Times have changed.

A resident of Hackney Wick now for over ten years, he has had an anthropologist's eye on the evolving communities and their sub divisions; watching them grow and flourish (given the right conditions) only to be consumed within a relatively short space of time by the latest

dominant species/culture.

Andrew Salgado: by Ansell Cizic ©

Like all photographers, Ansell  is an inveterate collector by nature. He collects subjects and in this instance he has chosen to gather together endangered species soon to be erased from their natural habitat. The collection of creative and quite often exotic creatures in this ever burgeoning archive represent only the tip of a colossal künstlerhandwerkerberg......... (Ansell's sure the Germans wish they’d thought of it!) soon to disappear under the tsunami of property development that began almost 40 years ago.

Lizzie Peers: by Ansell Cizic ©

Ansell's brief to himself was very simple: one camera, one lens, daylight and a limited time in which make the photograph. None of the intrusive paraphernalia (lighting, stylists, creative directors etc) of his former photographic incarnation.

He is hopeful that he has avoided a ‘theme’ whilst making these images, and yet, as each image has a unique taste, there is inevitably an aesthetic flavour and humour that is particular to Ansell Cizic.

Paul Sakoilsky: by Ansell Cizic ©

Ariane Prin: by Ansell Cizic ©

Alan Coulson: by Ansell Cizic ©

The Wick and Beyond: Artists and Artisans of the East End 

By Ansell Cizic

Well Hung Gallery

wellhung.co.uk

Ansell Cizic

Well Hung is a specialist printers, framers and art gallery based in the East End of London. With decades of experience, everything produced is made bespoke in-house by skilled craftsmen, using only the best possible equipment and materials.

FutureEverything Singapore

The Chronarium (Loop.Ph.)

ArtScience Museum (Marina Bay Sands)

10 – 18th October 2015
futureeverything.org/festival/singapore

FutureEverything Singapore will be a city-wide festival presenting ideas for the future, made tangible through interactive artworks and adventurous urban play using new and innovative technologies. The first ideas festival of its kind in Singapore, the innovative programme will explore the vision and social impact of digital culture in Singapore.

Internationally acclaimed participants include: PAN Studio - Hello Lamp Post / Usman Haque / Sara Watson / Cheryl Chung / Scott Smith / Ayesha Khanna / Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino

Happening across the city from the 10th – 18th October 2015, FutureEverything Singapore features a conference, live events, city-wide art and design installations, and an innovation lab. The first major festival in Asia from FutureEverything, more than 30,000 Singaporeans, UK and international artists, tourists and international thought-leaders are expected to congregate for the festival.

FutureEverything Singapore will headline The Festival of Technology - Singapore's first tech and art festival - celebrating Singapore's 50th birthday. FutureEverything Singapore will explore the themes of a 'Smart Nation,’ and examine the possibilities this holds for citizens and governance, art, design and technology. The festival will encourage participatory conversations on the development of our digital culture.

FutureEverything Singapore is a partnership between FutureEverything and Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), one of the key government agencies championing Singapore’s efforts to become the world’s first Smart Nation. IDA is the organiser of the umbrella programme, The Festival of Technology (www.festivaloftech.sg).

FutureEverything Founder and CEO, Drew Hemment said; “With our first major venture into Asia, we are delighted to bring our 20 years of experience in championing and bringing innovative ideas to life, to the Singapore public. At a reflective moment for Singapore in its 50th year, we want to engage and stimulate the public to consider how its future society could be positively shaped by technology and innovation”.

Interactive Urban Play: PAN Studio – Hello Lamp Post
City-Wide
Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th October
Have you ever wondered what stories your local bus stop could tell if it could speak? Have you ever thought what it would be like to chat with a lamp post whilst you wait for your friends? Welcome to Hello Lamp Post, a near-future interactive urban experiment where objects across the city come to life. Hello Lamp Post encourages everyone to rediscover their local environment, share memories of their city and uncover the stories that other people leave behind.

Every object in Hello Lamp Post has a name and number, in the form of identification codes. Players can talk to the objects by sending personal SMS messages to each code, including lamp posts, post boxes, utility boxes or telegraph poles – and maybe even some of the iconic landmarks across the city.

Hello Lamp Post encourages you to look at the city with fresh eyes and engage with systems we often take for granted – a chance for us to slow down, reflect and see the city as a playground. By chatting to these smart objects, the Singaporean public can shape thinking on the future of a smart city. The artists and FutureEverything will create a presentation on the views of Singaporeans at the FutureEverything Singapore Conference.

To participate and find out more, visit the Hello Lamp Post hub (Location to be announced) to start playing.

Loop.pH - The Chronarium Sleep Lab
The Cathay
Saturday 10th – Thursday 15th October
People living today sleep significantly less than generations before and sleep disorders are on the rise costing the economy billions. We are only just beginning to understand the impact that sleep disorders have on people's lives and society at large, such as depression, weight gain, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. With the quantity and quality of sleep being constantly challenged by round the clock communications and globalised business, it’s becoming increasingly important to improve the quality of our resting time and develop the necessary skills for sleep. The Chronarium Sleep Lab by UK-based artists Loop.pH explores the role of public space in tackling this challenge as a shared resource for health and wellbeing.

The Chronarium is a public sleep laboratory and faraday cave presented as an immersive audiovisual environment that totally transforms its location into a restorative, calm and contemplative experience, responding to the Smart Nation’s need to tackle the strain on healthcare systems.

Once visitors have entered The Chronarium they will be both shielded from electromagnetic frequencies and exposed to different environmental stimuli that aims to reset their internal circadian rhythm for better, more harmonious sleep. They will be invited to lie back and rest inside a huge hanging catenary net that gently rocks and moves inside the textile space.

The cyclical audiovisual program will be developed in consultation with a leading sleep scientist and look to entrain the brain by encouraging a deep relaxation and rest over a 10-15 minute period using pink noise and a wash of coloured light.

FutureEverything Conference: Signals of Tomorrow
ArtScience Museum
Saturday 17th October, 10am – 7pm
Presented in association with ArtScience Museum

Speakers: Scott Smith, Sara Watson, Cheryl Chung, Andrea Nanetti, Ayesha Kahnna, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Pan Studio, Tong Yee, Dan Hill

What is a smart nation, and what does it mean to be a smart citizen? How are artists, designers, futurists and civic innovators playing with the technology that is weaving itself into the fabric of our cities, economies and infrastructure? FutureEverything’s first ground-breaking Conference in Singapore will look at how life, work and play have been fundamentally transformed by technology, and will form part of a national conversation in Singapore on the place of smart technology in society and culture.

Uniting leading voices from Singapore with selected experts from around the world, FutureEverything Singapore - Signals of Tomorrow will act as a forum for knowledge sharing across disciplines, expertise and communities. It will look at how Singapore reached this new horizon and what’s next, and seek to cross boundaries of art, design, technology and society.

The conference will include sessions exploring topics such as Living Smart, Designing the Data City, Playing the City and The Smart Nation Speaks.

Signals of Tomorrow Innovation Lab
National Design Centre
10th October - 14th October
Sunday Showcase at ArtScience Museum: 17-18th October
Providing a platform for the brightest digital minds in art, design, technology and innovation, FutureEverything Singapore’s Innovation Lab aims to engage citizens with the possible near-future of the Smart Nation. Stretching across the festival programme, a four day lab lead by experts across art and design will result in the opportunity for visitors to experience new participatory prototypes as part of ArtScience Museum’s Signals of Tomorrow showcase from Saturday 17th - Sunday 18th October. These early prototypes will be hosted at ArtScience Museum for the public to explore as part of its Sunday Showcase series.

The Innovation Lab will devise imaginative ways to engage the public in envisioning the future of technology and a Smart Nation. We'll be inviting a range of participants across art, design and technology to work together in imagining what the future for a Smart Nation could entail. FutureEverything’s year round innovation projects create a stream of opportunities and outputs through innovation challenges, knowledge exchange, advocacy, innovation labs, showcase events, and by connecting local talent to global networks.


Notes to Editors
FutureEverything Singapore is curated and produced by FutureEverything - the UK's leading innovation lab and digital culture festival, supported by the IDA. It is the keystone programme of The Festival of Technology, an IDA-initiated event as part of the SG50 celebration.

FutureEverything is an award-winning innovation lab for digital culture and annual festival, established in Manchester in 1995. For 20 years FutureEverything has been exploring the meeting point of technology, society and culture which lies at the heart of the digital debate. Through a community network and regular events it makes connections between thinkers, developers, coders, artists, designers, urbanists and policy makers – inspiring them to experiment and to collaborate in new ways. futureeverything.org / Twitter: @FuturEverything / Facebook: FutureEverything

The mission of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is to develop information technology and telecommunications within Singapore with a view to serve citizens of all ages and companies of all sizes. IDA does this by actively supporting the growth of innovative technology companies and start-ups in Singapore, working with leading global IT companies as well as developing excellent information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, policies and capabilities for Singapore. For more news and information, visit www.ida.gov.sg. Follow IDA on Facebook and Twitter

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is Southeast Asia's leading cultural institution that explores the inter-relationship between art, science, technology and culture. Featuring 21 galleries totaling 50,000 square feet, the iconic lotus-inspired building has staged major exhibitions by some of the 20th century's key artists, including Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol and Vincent Van Gogh, as well as major exhibitions which explore aspects of scientific history.

About Loop.pH
Loop.pH is a Spatial Laboratory traversing the worlds of design, architecture and technology to craft space into experiences that radically rethinks the future. The studio specialises in restorative place making using temporal, ephemeral architecture that hosts spectacular happenings.

The studio was founded in 2003 by Mathias Gmachl and Rachel Wingfield to form a new creative practice that reaches beyond specialist boundaries. Their clients have included TED2015, BMW, EDF and the Amsterdam Light Festival.

National Gallery Singapore: Family of Ng Teng Fong Donates $20 Million to Art Development

                                                         

The National Gallery Singapore has announced the family of the late Ng Teng Fong, founder of Far East Organisation, as its fifth founding partner. The Ng family’s $20 million donation will contribute to the Gallery’s research, curatorial and exhibition work, with a focus on outdoor presentations of commissioned art.

To commemorate the partnership, the Gallery’s roof garden exhibition space located at Level 5 of the City Hall Wing will be named Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Gallery.  This Gallery will also feature the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission series.

National Gallery Singapore CEO Ms Chong Siak Ching said, “The philanthropic contribution from the Ng family will boost our efforts in engaging more visitors with inspiring and differentiated art experiences. By taking exhibitions out of typical gallery spaces, we want to challenge talented artists to create thought-provoking pieces that will be presented against a canvas of lush greenery at the roof garden. This is one of the many ways that we will refresh the way that visitors experience art within the museum.”

The first Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission will be created by Danh Vo as part of the Gallery’s Imagining Southeast Asia programme. It will feature annual site-specific commissions by leading artists that relate to the curatorial narratives of the museum’s collections and permanent galleries. Vo’s art draws on his personal experience to explore broader historical, social and political themes. Most recently, Vo represented Denmark at Venice Biennale 2015.

The family of the late Mr Ng Teng Fong said, “Our family is deeply grateful for the opportunity to be associated with the National Gallery Singapore, an invaluable national heritage and an exciting new icon of Singapore’s evolving arts landscape.

“This gift is made in grateful thanksgiving to God for His grace upon the life of our father. We thank the National Gallery for naming the Gallery’s roof garden and exhibition series after our late father, as a meaningful way to remember him. It is our hope that the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Gallery and Commission will be an inspiring environment that brings art to all amidst a verdant green landscape.”
 
The roof garden is the result of restoration works to preserve the architectural authenticity and character of the former Supreme Court and City Hall. Spanning 3,000 square metres, the garden features a five-metre tall vertical green wall and overlooks the Civic District. The first admission-free exhibition at the roof garden is scheduled to open April 2016.



ABOUT NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE
National Gallery Singapore is a new visual arts institution which oversees the largest public collection of modern art of Singapore and Southeast Asia. The Gallery is dedicated to collaborative research, education and exhibitions, highlighting the importance of modern art in Southeast Asia in a global context. The Gallery also provides a unique visitor experience through its art presentations and innovative programming, positioning Singapore as a regional and international hub for the visual arts.

Situated in the heart of the Civic District, the National Gallery Singapore has been beautifully restored and transformed from the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings – two important heritage buildings of Singapore’s nationhood – into an exciting new visual arts venue. Opening in November 2015, the Gallery will be a leading civic and cultural destination established for the enrichment, enjoyment and engagement of Singapore residents and visitors from all over the world. Information on the National Gallery is available at www.nationalgallery.sg.

The endangered kakapo

© Kakapo by Janet Luxton. www.janetluxton.com.au ©

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kakapo-hope-for-a-future#/story

The Spectacular Treasures of Northern Greece

One of the World Heritage-listed Byzantine monasteries of Meteora in Greece, the Agia Triada. 

From Mount Olympus to the Aegean Sea.

Archaeological and cultural tour specialist Peter Sommer Travels will explore some of the greatest treasures of Greece this year, heading away from the island crowds to reveal the extraordinary history of the region of Macedonia.

A new 14-day expedition, From the Slopes of Mount Olympus to the Shores of the Aegean explores the region through its archaeology, food and wine, linking some of the most spectacular scenery of northern Greece with a rich history dating back thousands of years. 

Hosted by archaeologists and historians Heinrich Hall and Dr Maria Girtzi, the tour was chosen by London’s Sunday Times as one of its top 100 holidays.  It will be held from September 2 to 15, 2015, travelling through beautiful and unusually diverse landscapes, from lofty mountains to fertile plains and the blue waters of the Aegean Sea.

Catering to no more than 16 people, the tour provides a chance to explore grand archaeological sites, mighty castles, serene monasteries, labyrinthine villages and the great city of Thessaloniki, home to many different cultures during its 2300-year history.

It includes the UNESCO World Heritage site of Vergina, where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king and where visitors can view the lavish treasures of the tomb of his father, Phillip II. The tour also visits Meteora, renowned for its striking mountain landscapes in which ancient Byzantine monasteries sit precariously atop sandstone pillars.

Along the way, guests will experience the region’s culture through its food and wine, enjoying excellent meals at specially chosen venues and some of the wines that have emerged from the recent Greek winemaking revival.

From the Slopes of Mount Olympus to the Shores of the Aegean <http://www.petersommer.com/escorted-archaeological-tours/greece/macedonia-thessaloniki/>  operates from September 2 to 15, 2015, and costs £3595 per person (approx A$7220), including transport, accommodation, most meals, expert guides, airport transfers and all entrance fees. Excludes airfares.

For full details and bookings contact Peter Sommer Travels in the UK on 0011 44 1600 888 220, email info@petersommer.com <mailto:info@petersommer.com>  or visit www.petersommer.com <http://www.petersommer.com> . 
  

Source: Press release, MG Media.

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