From her nutmeg sculpture at Ion Orchard to a pair of intertwined chilli peppers at next month’s Venice Biennale, Kumari Nahappan gives us a taste of the possibilities in art
Somewhere in the open seas, at this very moment, a pair of gigantic chilli peppers are in the midst of an epic six-week voyage from Asia to Europe.
It’s Singaporean artist Kumari Nahappan’s latest creation, a 2m-high, 850kg sculpture of two intertwined chillies that will be making its debut next month in Venice, Italy.
“It crosses more than 20 seas to get there you know? I hope everything is in order when I go there,” the 66-year-old said, with a slight tinge of anxiety. “Hopefully it will arrive next week, then get to the garden where it will be grounded.”
The massive sculpture, titled Talktime, will be part of an exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre, which runs parallel to next month’s prestigious Venice Biennale, which takes place from May 11 to Nov 24, 2019.
It’s her second time there—in 2017, she brought a bunch of giant red saga seeds for another exhibition during the Biennale, and even floated them along the city’s canals.
Nahappan has a knack for “planting” her giant artworks of chillies, fruits and seeds in unusual places.