An arts-led, community-engaged project about the embedded ecologies and intangible cultural heritage of the denizens of Waterloo Street. Amidst today’s climate of constant change and redevelopment, this project aims to bring to light to older and quieter neighbourhoods like Waterloo Street. In particular, this project aims to capture and celebrate the stories, interrelations and cultural heritage of the varied inhabitants who call Waterloo Street home. This project also hopes to inspire those less familiar with Waterloo Street to contemplate about the strangers in their own lives, and connect with the concept of a ‘familiar stranger’, a stranger who one nonetheless recognises from regular, sustained contact despite not forming a personal relationship.
a) Outdoor Photo Exhibition
Dates: Wed, 20 Aug to Sun, 7 Sep 2025
Venue: Back courtyard of Stamford Arts Centre
Set along the locale of Waterloo Street, this exhibition of staged self-portraits traces the residual presence of a city. During nightfall, the artist photographs himself as a speculative mid-century familiar stranger. The city becomes palimpsest, each image drawing the past into view through quiet acts of embodiment. Moving between visibility and disappearance, the work dwells where memory resists the forward march of development. It questions how a place holds its history, and how that history might be conjured—if only for a moment—before vanishing again.
b) Interactive Programme
Dates: Fri, 22 Aug & Sat, 23 Aug | Sat, 30 Aug & Sun, 31 Aug | Fri, 5 Sep & Sat, 6 Sep
Time: 6pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Stamford Arts Centre L1 Project Studio
Familiar Strangers is a participatory arts programme exploring the subtle and often overlooked fabric of social connections in our everyday lives. Through the showcasing of the myriad lived experiences of urban sociality embodied within Waterloo Street, a self-guided activity invites everyone to recall the familiar strangers in our lives – individuals we recognise but do not know – and co-create a community installation comprising a mosaic of stories that celebrates the significance of fleeting interactions in our lives. By encouraging dialogue and self-reflection, Familiar Strangers encourages participants to cultivate a heightened appreciation for, and curiosity about, the lives and perspectives of others around us.
About SMU-ACM
The Arts and Culture Management Programme at Singapore Management University (SMU-ACM) is a second major that provides an interdisciplinary blend of conceptual and skills-based learning to equip students with the foundational knowledge, managerial aptitude and strategic reflexivity for entry into the arts and creative industries. The hallmark strengths of ACM are the close linkages to the arts and cultural policy communities in Southeast Asia, and focus on experiential industry projects intended to sharpen the professional competencies and cultural leadership potential of students.
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