centres for the arts

Whether it's an open-to-all studio redefining how fashion should be exhibited or a bunch of arty boys democratising a stuffy, old recreational sport, the spaces and people featured here share one thing in common: They offer inspiration, support and refuge in short, a spiritual home to the local creative community. Keng Yang Shuen reports.

- Keng Yang Shuen

THE F&B JOINT REBUILDING AND REJUVENATING THE AFTER-HOURS MUSIC SCENE: OFFTRACK

"We just wanted to give a bit of optimism back to the communities that we've each built; show that there are some good things coming out of everything that went on for the last few years," says Daniel O'Connor of Offtrack, the eight-month-old music-centric cocktail bar and restaurant on North Canal Road that he co-founded with spatial designer Dean Chew. "And I think the reaction to the place has shown that people do miss and want that."

Pre-Covid-19, the two men had masterminded some of the best open-air shindigs on the island. O'Connor is part of the party collective Ice Cream Sundays - known for its down-to-earth, day-to-night pop-up affairs - while Chew is co-founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed underground electronic music label Darker Than Wax. After collaborating on multiple feel-good, dance-fuelled events, it only made sense that the two coalesced their creativity into one shared physical home. "We position ourselves as a sort of in-between place: an alternative spot with no airs where one can get good food and music, before hitting the clubs later in the night," says Chew.

That fluid, amorphous approach reverberates through everything at the Mod-inflected joint - in particular, its robust music programming that may focus on retro Japanese city pop tunes on one night, and Afro-Caribbean-influenced remixes on another. The team had never set out to create themed nights. Instead, the diversity reflects the wide tastes of the founders, as well as that of guest DJs and vinyl selectors invited from around the region to helm the deck that takes centre stage in the 40-seater establishment.