Where Land Meets Sea is the sixth edition of Art Encounters, presented by Art Outreach Singapore in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board at the lawn of the Malay Heritage Centre, Kampong Glam, from 6 November to 16 December 2021. The programme returned to this richly layered site with a vibrant installation by local artist duo Ripple Root, comprising Liquan Liew and Estella Ng, celebrating the history of Kampong Glam as a flourishing 19th-century port where travellers and tradesmen from the Malay Archipelago gathered.

The installation explored the material and visual culture of seafarers who made their livelihood from the sea and surrounding islands, alongside the Malay communities who settled along the banks of the Rochor River — centring on the concept of tanah air, meaning land-water, or homeland in Malay.

Inspired by the Malay Heritage Centre's collection and artefacts featured in the special exhibition Cerita, Ripple Root layered their bold, colourful visual language over archival images and reimagined historical objects, enlivening the past and inviting audiences to see it with new eyes. Life-sized cut-outs of a traditional boat and Gelam tree were sited on the lawn, and during the opening weekends the duo live-painted inside the containers in their signature tag-team manner — each adding freely onto the other's interpretation — offering visitors a rare insight into their collaborative process.

As organiser and presenting institution, Art Outreach commissioned and produced Where Land Meets Sea, bringing Ripple Root's community-rooted, site-responsive practice to public audiences at a site already rich with cultural significance — reflecting the organisation's commitment to creating meaningful encounters between contemporary art, place and diverse communities across Singapore.