If you expect Art Stage this January to be an upsized version of last year’s, you may be in for a surprise. Instead of going for a larger scale, the organisers have instead redefined “space” by focusing on works that are monumental, challenging chosen artists to physically outsize their works.

“I have asked, especially emerging artists in Asia, to use Art Stage as a platform to do something they otherwise wouldn’t have the space to do. And quite a few have taken up the challenge,” says CEO and fair director Lorenzo Rudolf, who has spent the past year travelling around Asia scouting out established as well as fresh talent. “I am looking at individuals who see art in totally new ways and in the process make Art Stage Singapore a must-visit for galleries, collectors and artists around the world.”

You can’t get any more unusual than works by the Gao Brothers. For Art Stage, they will be staging a performance installation called World Hug Day (pictured). The stage: the open property outside Marina Bay Sands. The performance: some 150 strangers hugging each other for 15 minutes, proceeded by a group huddle for another five to 10 minutes.

Since 2000, the Gao Brothers have staged such displays around the globe and are in the process of proposing a series of World Hug Day events via the Internet. To them, hugging strangers is a way of breaking down barriers, with the embrace reminding us that we are all humans – a crucial first step to understanding different cultures and races. 

Brace yourself for the more than 35,000 visitors as more than 120 galleries from around the world take part in what has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the local art scene. But first, it’s time for a group hug. 

Art Stage Singapore is on from Jan 12 to 15 at Marina Bay Sands.

“In the wrong shape, even a plastic cup can outperform one of our products,” CEO Georg Riedel gamely admits during a recent wine tasting session. Yes, we’re all aware that red and white wines should be served in different glasses. But few of us know, as Riedel goes on to demonstrate, that matching the wine to the vessel can go down to such specifics as the varietal in question. 

The German stemware manufacturer has been producing varietal-specific glasses since 1973. While most of their red wine ones have characteristically wide, round balls – all the better to oxidise complex flavours and capture escaping aromas – each of them has a subtle difference in shape. And those subtle differences can have a startling impact on the taste of your tipple.

Try putting a syrah into Riedel’s Bordeaux Grand Cru glass and you will be greeted with overwhelming tannins. But sip the same wine from the Hermitage glass and the acidity disappears, leaving only a delicious juiciness. Both have similar tulip shapes, but the science lies in the size and rim.

The large Bordeaux glass sends the wine splashing all over your palate at once, ideal for bold, full-bodied wines. “This is a bit of a troublemaker,” notes Riedel. “Because of its classic shape, it’s our bestseller, but it’s not the most tolerant glass. Only cabernet wines will work with it.”

A different shape will direct the liquid to different parts of your palate, such as the flared-rimmed Burgundy Grand Cru, which brings the wine to the front of your tongue, where it best detects sweetness – an ideal candidate for pinot noir.

“You don’t drink wine to quench your thirst,” he concludes. “So the least you can do is to be careful about what you drink it from.”

Cross-border clashes in Sudan. Genocide in Rwanda. Civil war in Congo. You wouldn’t ordinarily associate African conflict with exquisitely made accessories, but New York-based jeweller Fonderie 47 is determined to convert all that violence into beauty.

How? By buying up the weapon of choice in those war-torn areas – the ubiquitous Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle – and incorporating it into an elegant collection comprising earrings, rings and cufflinks.

These cufflinks, designed by master craftsman Roland Iten, are made using 18K white and rose gold as well as metal from decommissioned AK-47 rifles. They are handcrafted in Geneva and production is limited to just 20 pieces. At 30,000 Swiss francs (S$42,000) a pair, they don’t come cheap. But the high price is perhaps the point of it all.

According to Fonderie 47, every pair of cufflinks purchased enables the company to buy up and destroy as many as 100 rifles. Working in partnership with non-governmental organisations in Africa, Fonderie 47 has helped fund the destruction of thousands of rifles and hopes to eventually drive up the price of the weapon enough to stop its use through the continent.

“A transformation is needed to break this cycle of violence in Africa. To this end, we are turning the power of the AK-47 against itself,” says Peter Thum, social enterprise entrepreneur and co-founder of Fonderie 47. ”Not only do we destroy these weapons, but we invert what they stand for by remaking them into wearable art.”

It’s certainly a creative way to take aim at the problem. And if it succeeds, it’ll give the term “precious metal” a whole new meaning.