Incomplete Urbanism

“We need an open system of incomplete urbanism which accepts conflict, chaos and complexity as well as welcomes new knowledge, cutting edge innovation and unexpected progressive societal changes.”

Lim (2012: 74)

Synopsis
Following William S. W. Lim’s (hereafter Lim) book title, Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts of Critical Spatial Practice is an open-ended exhibition exploring urban possibilities held by Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art. According to Lim (2012: 61), the key theme of the exhibition, incomplete urbanism, is defined as a ‘dynamic hybridised interactive strategy grown out from the remarkable avant-garde urban experiments of post-planning, and the critical lessons from the utopian Eco-city syndrome of the last decade as well as from the urgent need to search for a viable alternative planning instrument while contesting the current rigid hierarchical urban practices characterised by overwhelming order and control’.

To Lim (2012), indeterminacy, inconsistency, and changeability are believed to be vital elements which create possibilities for cities’ future. Focusing on these characteristics and their impacts on urban living, the exhibition not only features Lim’s past publications, work, and initiatives with Asian Urban Lab and Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group (SPUR), traces his role in facilitating and catalysing research-focused urban collectives, but also considers Lim’s encounters and collaborations across multiple disciplines, particularly the art scene.

In short, by presenting the postmodern, the postcolonial, the interdisciplinary, the creative, and the experiential to depict a multifaceted Singapore, the organisers seek to invite visitors to actively participate in the thinking and making of incomplete urbanism in and through the exhibition – an opportunity to showcase the interventions, to spark dialogues, and hopefully to create more meaningful interactions.