Linke - Artinfo

AsiA PAcific Breweries limited
Street Beat
an arts-savvy asian brewer connects
with young audiences through
an edgy international arts festival
By Adeline Chia
The firsT 2013 ediTion of Tiger TrAnslATe, the streetwise,
not-quite-underground arts festival, took place in Dubai in
January. It was held in a typically offbeat, slightly grungy
location: the car park of the Media One Hotel. The headliner
was Pat Mahoney, best known as the drummer in the awardwinning,
now-defunct electronic band LCD Soundsystem.
Also laying on the grooves was DJ Paul “Seiji” Dolby, a
founding member of the broken beat collective Bugz in
the Attic. Meanwhile, New Zealand street artist Enforce
One (also known as Gary Yong), along with Mongolian artists
A.N. Unaran and Batbayar Purew, attacked the walls of the
car park, covering them with their style of street art.
Tiger Translate is a multi-genre arts mashup that
showcases the work of young, emerging Asian “creatives”—
street dancers, deejays, graphic designers, and graffiti
artists—pairing them with more established international
artists. From staging a dance battle in Bangkok’s famous
Suan Lum night bazaar to throwing a party in an abandoned
prison in Hanoi, Tiger Translate has been making waves
in the Asian underground creative circuit where music,
design, and art intersect.
The festival is an initiative of Asia Pacific Breweries (APB),
a regional powerhouse with breweries in 14 countries and more
than 40 brands of beer. Named for APB’s dominant label, Tiger
Beer, the festival showcases the work of young, emerging Asian
creatives. Launched in 2005 in Auckland, New Zealand, as a
music-themed platform merging East and West influences,
over the years Tiger Translate has grown to encompass a broad
range of creative expression. Last year alone, it travelled to
nine cities, including Ulaanbaatar, Phnom Penh, and Singapore.
While the APB initiative aims to connect the Tiger brand
with a younger audience, senior brand manager Kenny Tang
notes that its more important objective is to uncover emerging
artistic talents before they hit the big time, and to highlight
the work of young Asian creatives while enabling them to
experience and explore different cultures. “Tiger Translate
doesn’t reach out to a mass audience like the football fans;
it has a niche, cult following,” he points out. Creatives such as
Singapore’s Phunk Studio, which took part in the 2006 Dublin
edition, and the New York street-art collective Faile, which
participated in the 2006 Shanghai edition, are among the
more distinguished festival alumni.
BlouinArtinfo.comAsiA | march/april 2013
theMecene
Tiger Translate typically starts as a week-long camp in
each city. The artists immerse themselves in the locale and
are encouraged to brainstorm, collaborate, and create works
together based on a common theme. The intensive retreat
culminates in a bash where these collaborations are exhibited
and the artists demonstrate their skills “live” in the form of,
say, a DJ set, an on-the-spot graffiti art piece, or a
breakdance performance.
Enforce One, aka Gary Yong, calls his participation in this
year’s Dubai edition an “eye-opener.” The Kiwi illustrator and
stencil-and-aerosol artist says that he has been inspired by
the city and the band of artists he’s been travelling with. “With
the artists I meet, I find we share a passion and a great energy for
the arts. Moreover, I’ve also had the chance to meet creatives
in various media, including film and music. Interacting with them
and seeing their works has allowed me to think further and
move out of my comfort zone in exploring other approaches.”
Looking ahead, Tang says that he wants to expand the focus
of Tiger Translate to embrace such disciplines as light art
and other music genres such as dubstep. “The important thing
is to keep one’s finger on the pulse of the times,” he says,
“and to be always on trend.”
The Phare
Ponleu selpak
dance crew,
from Battambang
province in
Cambodia,
performing
in Tiger
Translate 2012.
Anish Kapoor
The Asian Scene
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