What's wonderful about wonder?

Let's just play with the "W" word for a bit today... (we'll deal with the numbers 9 and 12 later on in this 'educational programme').

Organised by the National Arts Council, the second edition of the Singapore Biennale (a contemporary art festival every two years) has just announced both its curatorial theme and team. Led by the artistic director of our very first biennale Fumio Nanjo, aided this time by curators Joselina Cruz and Matthew Ngui (both of whome are no strangers to the Singapore art scene), this year's theme is... (drumroll please) - Wonder.

Running from 11 September to 16 November 2008, the team behind SB2008 hope that the theme Wonder will "issue a challenge to the contemporary world, a world that no longer questions choices, nor allows for things and events to awe us. Through contemporary art, Wonder calls on us to question and be curious; to reach beyond the surface, surpassing the apparent and to allow ourselves be surprised, awed, tantalised and challenged. All of which is an aperture to the World."

“With Wonder, we want audiences to question the world around us, to inspire them to have a healthy skepticism about what we know and believe, to be surprised and move them towards a new revelation or understanding of our world. We aim to provide a commentary on the identity of individuals in a multi-cultural world, recognise the dignity of individual human beings and their communities and make reference to the fact that different cultural viewpoints are varied and valid. We want audiences to be involved in the experience and creation of artworks through greater interaction during the next Biennale, resulting in greater development of understanding and critical thought regarding the events of the world.”  says Fumio Nanjo, artistic director of SB2008.

If you walk along Oxford Circus now, there's a certain (huge) departmental store (ok fine, Selfridges) that has as its store window displays something about a Wonder Room too, calling for one Phoenix, or a mating pair of unicorns, etc. The Wonder Room concept - a luxury "cabinet of curiosities" with branded jewelry at its heart - is the store's latest concept to give customers a new experience. And it's a good concept, further aided by a very good marketing campaign.

"What we've learned is how to focus on an experience the customers will really appreciate," says Alannah Weston, creative director of Selfridges. She says she also prides herself on surprises, like the fantasy "palace" with installations by the French artistic duo Dadadandy that is included in the store displays.

Of course one is tempted too to say Wonder Wonder Wonder bra, or Wonder Woman to add to the whole Wonder theme... but ok my point is this - isn't good art supposed to do all that anyway, create wonderment, inquisitiveness in the viewer?  Do we need a biennale to tell Singaporeans that about contemporary art, something one presupposes good art does anyway, it's a given isn't it? Good art should "result in greater development of understanding and critical thought regarding the events of the world", no?

If a departmental store can come up with something like that for its business, I'm just "wondering", could we have come up with something a bit more different? I can't wait for 2008 to see what comes out of this theme. And as a good friend jokingly reminded me, that silly Lemon Tree song which i'm sure everyone remembers, I will definitely be singing "I wonder why, I wonder how..."