Last year Mini turned the neighbourhood of Joo Chiat into an exploratory trail of engaging installations and activities. The second instalment of MINI EXTRAODDINARY returns this year from 22 to 24 November 2019 from 10am to 7pm and will take place in Chinatown focussing on sustainability in today’s world. The Chinatown historic district was chosen to incorporate a piece of Chinese culture in as many installations as possible.
This year’s trail will open the eyes of visitors to new ways of living, from the clothes we wear, to the food we eat and how we build our homes. Engaging installations and activities include wearable pineapple, edible plastic, mushroom building blocks, sewage ink and more.
| EVENT NAME: | MINI EXTRAODDINARY – An Ecocultural Trail |
| EVENT ORGANISER: | MINI Asia |
| MEETING POINT: | People’s Park Complex1 Park Rd, Singapore 059108 |
| DATE & TIME: | 22 – 24 November 201910 am – 7 pm |
| TICKET PRICE: | Free Admission |
| NEAREST MRT: | Chinatown (NE4 | DT19)Exit C |
| DESCRIPTION: | Come explore sustainability through the lens of culture in the heart of Chinatown. From unconventional building materials to foods of the future and other eco-conscious innovations, the exhibits and activities on this self-guided trail will give you a glimpse into our cities of tomorrow. Visitors can look forward to 16 stations on this trail that have been designed to lead them down a path exploring current issues and innovative solutions. Please see the appendix for full details of the stations. |
| HASHTAGS: | #MINI #MINISG #MINIExtraOddinary |
| WEBSITE: | miniextraoddinary.com |
| VEGGIE MIGHT | By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will be city dwellers, posing an even greater challenge to food security. Taking the shape of the Chinese word 生, this oversized installation created in collaboration with ComCrop shows how urban farming can be a much-needed lifeline. |
| PINEAPPLE TRADING STORE | With a name that sounds like a summoning of fortune (旺来), this favoured fruit of the Chinese is set to become a favourite fashion staple too. Drop by our fruit stall and browse juicy accessories crafted from Pinatex, a leather-like material made from pineapple leaves that are usually thrown away after the fruit is harvested. |
| GUARDIANS OF THE FUTURE | Like they say, the future is not cast in stone. The building blocks of tomorrow have very different roots — the ‘roots’ of mushroom, to be exact. Walk through an archway flanked by a pair of Imperial guardian lions which are grown into shape by Mycotech using mycelium, replacing the use of stone obtained from destructive mining. |
| CHANGING ROOM | Conventional textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water, releasing toxic chemicals into rivers and seas. What if a change of clothes can result in a change for the better? Our changing rooms show the way with natural fabrics from Arane which are dyed and printed using only plants and their leaves. |
| VERTE COUTURE | Swap fast fashion for green fashion at this workshop. Learn how to dye and print fabrics the all-natural way with Arane using a variety of plants and leaves. The workshop will be conducted at selected timings. |
| WITS VS WASTE | In this game of Chinese chess, play against one of Earth’s most formidable opponents. The chess pieces, table and stools are made entirely of upcycled plastic trash, giving you a one-up in the war on Waste, projected to hit 3.4 billion tons per year come 2050. |
| WHAT GOES AROUND | Just 9% of all plastic thrown out since 1950 is recycled, leaving 5.7 billion tons as waste that will remain in the environment for more than 400 years. In opposition to this ugly fact, Robries Gallery shows the beauty of recycling with a collection of stylish homeware created out of discarded plastic. |
| KOPI GU | You can’t pick up a drink at our kopi cart, but you can pick up ideas on how your favourite brew can give our food security a boost too. Using coffee waste as part of the substrate, Bewilder cultivates edible mushrooms that are not only a good source of antioxidants and vitamins, but also known for their immunity-boosting properties in Chinese cuisine and medicine. |
| CHA, CHA, CHA | The health benefits of Chinese tea have been recognised for millennia. Take a breather mid-trail at our tea kiosk, and enjoy a cup of Craft & Culture kombucha concocted from Tie Guan Yin and Xiang Pian. Tasting is available at selected timings. |
| MUSHROOM STYLE PTE LTD | No, they’re not made from leather. Neither are they made from pleather. Add this new material to your sartorial vocabulary: myleather created from mycelium, the ‘root’ structure of mushroom. Discover a range of myleather accessories from Mycotech, and see how you can develop a killer sense of style without the sacrifice of animals. |
| MEATLESS PACKING DISTRICT | Bak kwa without bak? Have a taste of Brawn & Brains’ recipe and you may well agree a future without meat is not impossible. Providing just 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of protein, livestock uses a disproportionate 83% of farmland and produces 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is clear that meat will not meet our needs. Tasting is available at selected timings. |
| ALL I GOT WAS THIS TRASHY SOUVENIR | It doesn’t get any trashier than this: keepsakes formed from 100% recycled trash by Robries Gallery. While not for sale, may these souvenirs serve to remind us of the plastic epidemic sweeping through our lands, our seas, and even our selves — we may be inadvertently ingesting a credit card’s weight in plastic weekly. |
| SOUP FOR THE ECO-SOUL | Herbal soup’s great, plastic soup not so. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the sea is three times the size of France, with plastic waste like single-use packaging contributing to its growth. Imagine a plastic that can be dissolved in water instead, or eaten together with the food it wraps. Evoware has made this a reality with its seaweed-based alternative. Catch a demo at selected timings. |
| REWRITING OUR FATE | Actions speak louder than words, unless the latter are auspicious greetings for the Earth and exhortations to look after Nature — penned in Sum Waste ink processed from sewage no less. See our calligraphy masters from Nanyang Calligraphy Centre in action at selected timings. |
| SCUM & SCRUMPTIOUS | This live food installation presents tomorrow’s protein source — in the tank right next to your seafood. Algae like the spirulina farmed by Ness are high in nutrients while requiring fewer resources to produce double the protein of fish. With 90% of fish stocks exploited, overexploited or depleted, the catch of the day will soon be tiny and green. |
| FORTUNE IN A COOKIE | Get in queue for a taste of the future at our cookie station. Inside every Flourish spirulina cookie lies a revelation: the fortune of the Earth is in our hands. Tasting is available at selected timings. |
