Illustrating Kindness I: Shan Tang Culture & Youth Art Exhibition, Singapore
Visual Art · Cultural Education · Community Engagement
Project Type
Public Cultural Exhibition / Youth Art & Cultural Education Project
Time & Location
2024
Singapore
Organizer
Blue Cross Charitable Institution (Singapore)
Co-organized by
Escape Arts Club SG
Role
Project Initiator · Curator · Programme Coordinator
Cai Boxuan (Boosen Tsai)
Background
Illustrating Kindness I marked the inaugural edition of a youth-focused cultural art initiative exploring Shan Tang (善堂, benevolent halls) culture in Singapore. Rooted in the long-standing tradition of Chinese charitable institutions, the project sought to reintroduce Shan Tang culture to younger generations through contemporary visual language.
As many Shan Tang institutions face generational gaps in participation and understanding, the project positioned art and illustration as accessible tools for cultural translation—bridging historical values of compassion, mutual aid, and community responsibility with present-day youth perspectives.
Description
The exhibition invited young participants to engage with Shan Tang culture through research, observation, and creative response. Rather than treating benevolence as an abstract moral concept, the project encouraged participants to understand it as a lived social practice embedded in everyday community life.
Through illustration, graphic storytelling, and visual interpretation, participants transformed historical narratives, rituals, and values into contemporary artworks. The exhibition functioned simultaneously as a public showcase and an educational platform—allowing audiences to encounter Shan Tang culture through fresh visual perspectives shaped by youth experience.
As the first edition, Illustrating Kindness I established the curatorial framework and participatory methodology that later evolved into subsequent editions.
Outcomes
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First edition launch of a long-term cultural education art project
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Engagement of youth participants in cultural research and creative production
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Public exhibition translating Shan Tang culture into contemporary visual language
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Strengthened intergenerational dialogue between charitable institutions and younger audiences
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Laid the conceptual and methodological foundation for Illustrating Kindness II
Keywords
Shan Tang Culture · Cultural Education · Youth Participation · Illustration · Community Heritage · Visual Storytelling · Public Art Programme