Challenge
Singapore celebrated its 50 years of independence on August 9th, 2015. To commemorate this momentous event, the Singaporean government commissioned a range of ambitious year-long events, activities and performances that culminated in a £9.6m ($15m) public celebration in November 2015. BLACK (a Singapore based creative agency) and Ong&Ong (an architectural firm) were invited to propose and execute a creative community project that reflected residents’ memories of places in Singapore where they lived and played. It had to reflect the changes that have taken place over the last 50 years by capturing what the community holds dear, such as the notion of home, friendships and places. The project also had to capture and share future dreams and aspirations of residents. It was also important that it actively engaged residents, both young and old to participate in the year-long engagement through various community-based projects.
Outcome
The idea was manifested in three overarching stages – Collaborate, Connect, Celebrate. The SG Heart Map web portal enabled Singapore residents to contribute stories of their favourite places in Singapore. The portal also served as an interactive and fun platform that let viewers ‘track’ these popular places, connect with fellow locals through their shared memories and build a powerful database that mapped Singapore’s growth through it’s 50 years of independence. In total, over 100,000 stories were collected and 50 of the most endearing places emerged, creating a first-of-its-kind, crowdsourced map of Singapore. Additionally, the SG Heart Map project included collaborations involving seven lead curators and artists working closely with the community to translate their personal stories into new artworks. The end result of the public’s contributions and co-creation efforts were brought together and showcased in the SG Heart Map Festival, which formed part of the SG50 finale event.
Online Resources
Video explanation of how the project worked: