'Happy House' exhibition explores themes of happiness via music, video, & visual arts

Ever wanted to get deep inside the various meanings of the (sometimes elusive) H-word? An all-new Singapore-based art project seeks to do just that, exploring just what happiness means to multi-disciplined artists taking part in the exhibition.

Running from 14 to 23 January, the warehouse installation features work from 17 emerging artists, incorporating work from the realms of video, visual arts, animation, and music. The featured artists each share their personal understandings of happiness alongside submissions of a selection of their own happy memories – inviting the audience to explore their personal relationships with the most coveted emotion. By arranging inter-generational artists side by side, Happy House investigates what happiness looks like in Singapore through the eyes of a broad spectrum of its inhabitants. It also explores the all-important question: Do we find happiness in the pursuit of happiness?

Co-curated by MAMA MAGNET's Tulika Ahuja in collaboration with Cats On Crack music agency, the dazzling exhibition is running as a part of Singapore Art Week 2022. From analysing celebrity worship to studying the importance of collective listening, the far-reaching project is sure to inspire equal measures of individual soul searching and communal debate.

With these remarkably challenging times through which we're all currently living – perhaps epitomised by the seemingly unnatural requirement to isolate ourselves from the wider community – it feels like there's never been a more appropriate time to reflect on such themes. “Social withdrawal is now officially recognised by urban authorities as a major risk factor, potentially leading to an array of illnesses,” says the exhibition's press release. “Happy House re-creates its environment in a way that encourages connection rather than isolation, and by co-presenting the works of artists and the community, our personal perceptions of happiness are brought to light.”

Happy House takes place at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, #05-04, 39 Keppel Road – and online at happyhouse.sg – from 14 to 23 January, 11 am to 8 pm daily. Admission is free,