Traditional Chinese Bean Art Workshop

I arrived with no preparation. In fact, I almost forgot that we had the workshop and was heading for lunch at OC until we reached the exit to CTE! Blimey! Thank God  we didn't waste $12! We quickly used our mental navigation system and drove our way to the Esplanade for the workshop. Neat. In time for a quick lunch at "Kopi-O" and then I whisked En Bi off to the workshop while PapaKim hung around the Esplanade with Seo Yeon.

Sidewhisper: Kopi-O food wasn't really fantastic, if you know what I mean. My tea was too sweet, the chicken in the chicken curry noodle was a bit tough (cooked separately and not in the curry). But, given that it most likely is serving the cheapest valued meal at the Esplanade, I guess it's a good quick-fix solution for those who want a fuss-free local fare (before the Esplanade's Makansutra Gluttons Bay opens).


We made our way to the Rehearsal Studio (up from the Theatre Studio and up another 4 flights of stairs) for the Parent-Child Workshop: Chinese New Year Bean Art 亲子学习坊: 农历新年豆豆艺术班 (an Esplanade Presents programme) held during this Chinese Festival of Arts from February 4 - 13, 2011.

I didn't tell En Bi that Estelle and Kimi would be joining us in this workshop too. In fact, she didn't get any briefing from me until we left PapaKim to make our way to the Studio. Just didn't want her to get too excited about seeing her friends and lose her focus. Estelle was already there waiting with her Papa. Paid our dues and waited for Kimi and his Mama to arrive. That handsome boy turned up in his cool sunglasses and swept me off my feet! I don't know about those 2 girls, but I was very happy to see him. Hee!

The workshop started about 10 minutes after 2.30 p.m. as we were waiting for others to turn up. The children chose their seats and started to settle in. They were all very curious about what those beans on the table were for.

When the facilitator begun the workshop and showed us some examples of Traditional Chinese Bean Art, it seemed difficult to me.

The facilitator continued to explain to the group of about 6 children (accompanied by 1 parent each) that Traditional Chinese Bean Art is different from Western-style Bean Art mainly in the way the beans are used to form a picture. Bean Art (Western-styled) creates pictures in the same style as mosaics whereas in Traditional Chinese Bean Art, the beans are individually qualified to, for example, be a watermelon as opposed to just being "part" of a watermelon. I think pictorial illustration is always the best. Don't need me to explain excessively. I searched the internet and found the 2 images below that I think pretty clearly shows the difference.

After a brief outline from the facilitator, we started working on our beans. I was supposed to do one too. Eeks. The facilitators were constantly watching our progress and were very ready to give us further explanation and guidance on how we could do our art pieces.

The steps were simple:
1) Use recycled cardboard boxes for the base frame.
2) Recycle magazines by creating the background of your artwork with it.
3) Plan the bean's "layout".
4) Apply glue and stick those beans on!

What I learnt from this workshop:
- Where the Rehearsal Studio at the Esplanade was;
- 6 types of beans are enough to make an Bean Art artpiece;
- Bean Art is a very simple and engaging activity for children;
- Handling beans trains motor skills;
- Develops our eye for detail when we have to pick a bean of the best relevant size and shape.

A great deal at $5/person!