In the first of a two-part series, Contented explores busking – street performance that breathes life into a city – and why it is gaining popularity with buskers and audiences alike in Singapore. Some 20 years ago, busking got a bad rep when laws were flouted by those who performed in non-designated areas. Fortunately, National […]

As a young boy from Tacloban City, Philippines, designer and illustrator Dan Matutina attended school with a background in science and engineering and enjoyed watching cartoons like ThunderCats, G.I. Joe and Transformers on local TV stations. Interestingly, attending an art school never really crossed his mind until his senior year in high school. Growing up […]

Growing up in a family where art and photography played a huge part in her everyday life, Renee Stamatis loved the smell of paints and brushes that were often found lying around the house. As much as she has enjoyed drawing and painting, her devotion was not absolute, until she found photography. The Melbourne-based photographer/artist […]

The noise of Hanoi city can be to some ceaseless, incessant and tiresome, but to classically trained composer Vu Nhat Tan, it’s a never-ending opus. The 44-year-old Vietnamese musician has spent his life fusing classical music with ambient noise and sounds from field recordings to create a series of sometimes serene and, most times, frenetic […]