This two-part activation and workshop explore the collective experience of listening to vernacular and popular songs from an era when popular forms of entertainment helped shape the cultural fabric of the nation. These popular forms of entertainment included the Rediffusion cable radio service and Singapore’s cinematic landscape. Selected based on the themes of “love and emotions" as well as “weather and nature”, four songs are revisited in each session of the workshop to honour their enduring legacy and reflect on their lasting cultural impact.

The workshop invites participants to move away from a familiar reliance on our visual perception of space. Participants will instead embrace the learning of sonic and textual narratives in multilingual songs as an act of care, fostering openness to differences.

In a round-robin format, participants will learn about each of the four selected songs in groups, sharing memories, stories and facts in the spirit of recollection and exchange. Participants will then collaboratively create a zine about an additional song of their choice, adding their personal versions of oral traditions to a growing repository that will be safekept by Critical Craft Collective (CCC), thus ensuring the preservation of the ways in which song connects us universally.

Photographic and video documentation of the entire workshop will also be taken, potentially contributing to CCC’s production of a reimagined music video, intended for release at a later date. Full details will be shared with registered participants prior to the commencement of the workshop sessions.

This workshop is held on the occasion of Speaking of which – A pop-up activation, in conjunction with Singapore Heritage Festival 2025.