Notes On The Culture

Supermama's interpretation of Singapore Porcelain

For a relatively young country like Singapore, one that is just 55 years old, the tradition of porcelain is not an established one. Still, that did not stop Edwin Low, the founder of local design-led store Supermama, from creating the Singapore Blue range of porcelain as a form of visual documentation of the country’s culture and tradition. “Porcelain is a fascinating material to me. Just like the way we take photos via our phones as records of daily living, human existence [was] expressed through visuals on porcelain hundreds of years ago,” says Low.

The rich traditions and heritage of Singapore were something that Low wanted to capture in this medium. He was intrigued by how the material culture of different countries was captured on porcelain — such as Delftware from Holland, QingHua from the Ming Dynasty and Arita ware from Japan. “Yet, in Singapore, with such a vibrant mix of belief systems, there remains a lack of a kind of canvas that can record our visual cultures. So I thought, why not a type of Singapore Blue porcelain?” says Low.

Low took two unique interpretations to the Singapore Blue range. Understanding that Singapore lacked the know-how for porcelain production, he chose to have the plates made in Arita, Japan. “The plates were made by my long-time partner Kihara from Arita, a region known as the birthplace of porcelain in Japan some 400 years ago. It is interesting to know how Covid-19 didn’t really affect the way we produced across borders. After I send the artwork to Kihara, the staff would translate the imagery onto a brass print plate — which acts as the mould where the print is stamped onto a porcelain plate — via a silicon jig,” says Low.