SIDFest 2021 Opening Ceremony

After an unfortunate postponement due to tightening measures against COVID-19, the Singapore Interior Design Festival (SIDFest 2021) opened on 18 June 2021, with the opening ceremony held on 17 June via a hybrid conference with members of the media, interior designers, and guests-of-honour in attendance.

SIDFest 2021 will be held at the National Design Centre from 18 June to 18 July, with talks, webinars, and interior-centred installations revolving around the interior design spirit and tools of the trade.

Photo by SIDS

An Optimistic Opening

Professor Keat Ong, President of the Society of Interior Designers Singapore (SIDS), gave his opening remarks on the endeavours of Singapore’s interior designers last year despite the pandemic.

Photo by RenoTalk

The theme of SIDFest 2021 is ‘Optimised/Optimism’, which he noted as timely and apt for interior designers to soldier on, adapt, and even come up with new interior design techniques despite an unpredictable era. He also expressed his optimism for a continual working relationship with interior designers around the globe.

“In our profession, the worse thing we can do is to stay still and be predictable. Innovation and thinking out of the box are what we have come to be known for. It is incumbent that SIDS display similar traits in the work we do as well,” he said.

“As more Singapore designers make their mark on the global stage, we want to shine the spotlight on Singapore design. We will be working closely with Dsg to see how SIDFest can complement the good work they are doing and together, give Singapore designers a bigger voice.”

He also mentioned the upcoming unveiling of the SIDS’s accreditation programme that will “categorise interior designers based on their qualification and experience, allowing for more transparency in the industry” and “help individuals who wish to upskill and gain more knowledge to move up a tier.”

Professor Ong also thanked the sponsors and partners of SIDFest 2021 for their contribution.

• National Design Centre, SIDFest’s Venue Partner
• SIDS’s exclusive Diamond Partner – Sol Luminaire
• SIDS’s Platinum Partners – Peter Tay Studio & Space
• SIDS’s Gold Partners – Nippon Paint and LuxxNewHouse
• SIDS’s Silver Partners – Admira, Ipse Ipsa Ipsum and Lutron
• SIDS’s Bronze Partners – Consentino, Geberit, Synergraphic Design, Singapore Institute of Technology, T1 Glass and TECE
• Prism+ and Tri-Wall

Photo by RenoTalk

Mr Dennis Cheok, Festival Director for SIDFest, spoke next; he asked attendees to think about what being optimistic in a post-pandemic age will mean for them.

“As festival director, I’m indebted to the many passionate people involved in SIDFest, many of whom I personally relied on to help me keep the show running,” he said.
“I’m especially grateful to the many practitioners in the design field who had to juggle between the rigours of running a design business during these troubling times, and the toils and demands of the preparation work behind the festival that you see at NDC today.
Words like RESILIENCE, INNOVATIVE, DEDICATED, OPTIMISTIC only scratch the surface of what these guys have shown in the last year.”

He also spoke more about what SIDFest will offer and highlights to look forward to, such as the ‘Design By Numbers’ showcase.

Photo by RenoTalk

Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development, as well as Honorary Patron for the SIDS, expressed her joy at seeing SIDFest 2021 in motion. She noted that while COVID-19 looks set to become part of the norm, Singapore’s interior designers have picked themselves up and adapted to a new age.

“The design industry thrives on creativity and innovation. In your line, you have to be always up to date with the latest trends and needs, and find ways to incorporate new ideas in the planning of spaces,” she said.

“It is this ingenuity and nimbleness that will put the community in good stead as we adapt to new demands in re-imaging the use of our living and working spaces.”

Ms Rajah also implores the industry to continue exploring, innovating, and “tackle the new ‘asks’ of interior spaces coming out of COVID-19, and turn these challenges into opportunities.”

Photo by RenoTalk

The opening ceremony concluded with a handprint pressing ceremony, where Professor Ong, Mr Cheok, and Ms Rajah implanted their handprints on white clay to signify the SIDS’s aim to make their mark on the world amidst troubling times.

Professor Ong then presented Ms Rajah with a token of appreciation before attendees were invited to preview some of SIDFest’s installations.

Photo by RenoTalk

Festival Events To Look Out For

SIDFest’s events and interactive, multi-sensory showcases revolve not just around the interior design industry’s resilience, but also their tools of the trade - materials, lights, colours, textures, and spaces to paint.

Here are some SIDFest events you can check out:

Design by Numbers

The festival’s main showcase in which designers will use assigned numbered plots on the National Design Centre atrium to build large-scale inhabitable structures of varying heights and sizes.

The showcase is meant to be interactive and multi-sensory, with people able to step into the installations to view and experience them, as well as enjoy them from the various levels of the NDC.

Akin to painting by numbers, the numbered plots represent different segments in the industry, revealing the cumulative sum of the parts as something bigger, better, and with a deeper meaning.

20 Under 45

This inaugural award is both a showcase and an awards ceremony recognising the works of some of the most promising young interior designers in Singapore.

It will honour the best and brightest young talent in the interior design industry, and will be given out at a ceremony at 3pm on July 16. The guest of honour for the ceremony will be Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.

SIDS Symposium (June 26) + Asia Roundtable (June 25)

A hybrid (offline + online) conference supported by the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI). It will be attended both physically and virtually by IFI delegates and the international design community.

The Asia Roundtable will have delegates from 15 countries and territories from the Asia-Pacific region.

Both conferences will discuss key topics surrounding the international design community like the future of design in a post-Covid world.

Generation Next

A showcase featuring works from Singapore youth who were tasked to improve, rethink and tackle issues of today, while impacting our tomorrow. Issues range from social to environmental ones, including the topic of the day - living with the new norm in a post-COVID-19 world.

Notable works from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and more will be displayed. The showcase will also include winning entries from the inaugural Singapore Interior Design Awards (SIDA) Youth 2020.

The students will also be speaking about their works in a sharing session on July 9.

Accreditation Roundtable (June 25)

This will give an update to SIDS’s proposed accreditation programme, which will be launched later this year and aimed at levelling up and professionalising the industry.

The programme will classify interior designers under respective tiers based on factors like the designers’ experience, certification and track record.

This will not only serve as a catalyst for the industry to be more professional, but also allow members of the public a transparent view of the industry and aid them in making choices when picking an interior designer.

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Do note that due to COVID-19 measures, registration is required for some events.

The full festival line-up up can be found at the SIDFest website.

Images of schedule from SIDS

The Singapore Interior Design Festival (SIDFest) 2021 will be at the National Design Centre (111 Middle Rd, Singapore 188969) from June 18 to July 18 2021.