Vietnamese singer and political activist Mai Khoi was detained for eight hours in a move that Human Rights Watch says points to intensified government efforts to stifle political opposition Vietnamese singer and pro-democracy activist Mai Khoi was detained for eight hours by authorities at Hanoi airport yesterday morning as part of an ongoing government crackdown […]
Alice in Wonderland by L’arietta, Aliwal Arts Centre, 29 Mar – 1 Apr This Easter, take a trip down the rabbit hole with your kids and your parents as Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of whimsy and wonder come to life again, reimagined into a 75-minute opera with a modern spin, which promises to be fantastical fun
Weekly Picks: Singapore (26 March – 1 April 2018) Read More »
SINGAPORE: Jalan Besar Town Council has taken down the gold mylar sheets, which were hung by Singapore artist Priyageetha Dia at Block 103 Jalan Rajah four days ago, after receiving complaints from residents saying it reminded them of joss paper. Dr Lily Neo, who is the MP for the Jalan Besar GRC, told Channel NewsAsia on Thursday
Good Southeast Asian literature and its related commentary can be hard to find for some of the people living in this region’s – however, it is possible. One such gem is the Mekong Review, a quarterly literary journal that aims to bring the region’s literary and intellectual life to a broader audience. Publishing fiction, essays, reviews
Mekong Review, The Accidental Southeast Asian Literary Journal (via Eksentrika) Read More »
By Akanksha Raja The Singapore International Festival of Arts 2018 takes place at different venues across the Civic District, including Victoria Theatre, its sprawling Empress Lawn, and the Esplanade Theatre. Nestled comfortably between these locations is The Arts House, dubbed the Festival House. If SIFA 2018 were a living, breathing person, the Festival House is
SIFA 2018: The Festival House and The Outdoors Read More »
Dinh Q. Lê: Monuments and Memorials, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, 17 Mar – 12 May 2018 Dinh Q. Le’s “Splendor and Darkness” series of woven photographs is a depiction of the Cambodian history that blends images of Khmer temples with portraits of Khmer Rouge victims killed at Tuol Sleng. Singapore Tyler Print Institute presents these
Weekly Picks: Singapore (19 – 25 March 2018) Read More »
In an example of cruel irony, October 20 is when we celebrate annual Vietnam Women’s Day, and also the anniversary of the passing of Mai Nga (commonly known as Nga Nhi), the lead singer of Go Lim – a Hanoi-based female post-punk band that, albeit short-lived, struck a blow for women’s representation in rock and
For nearly three decades, the American master weaver Carol Cassidy has been working with Laotian silk weavers on the grounds of a grand old colonial mansion in Vientiane. The outdoor workroom in a lush garden not far from the mighty Mekong River seems a world apart from Paris. A dozen Laotian women talk among themselves
The Woven Art of Laos (via The New York Times) Read More »
Duration: 22 min In March’s edition of Fresh Blood, we get to know Thereabouts Theatre, a new young theatre group interested in site-specific performances and dance theatre. Their first production Set Apart, which broadly explores the notion of the taboo through the use of movement and text, opens on the 24th of March at Emily Hill.
Podcast 36: Thereabouts Theatre Read More »
These days you can find all sorts of Indonesian YouTubers, from travel vloggers, makeup tutorials, to those specializing in pulling pranks. While these videos might be entertaining – addictive even – there’s more to life than on-point makeup or adventurous travel or silly stunts. Enter Frame and Sentences, a YouTube channel created by two Indonesians
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – Works by 18 established and emerging artists from Southeast Asia offering their personal experiences of global migration, notions of identity and ongoing humanitarian crises in Myanmar are on currently on display in a group exhibition in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. The contemporary art exhibition “Diaspora: Exit, Exile, Exodus of Southeast Asia”
By Akanksha Raja (780 words, five-minute read) Pangdemonium’s first play of 2018, The Father, revolves around the 70-year-old titular character, André (Lim Kay Siu), and the harrowing effects of his increasingly uncontrollable symptoms of dementia on daughter Anne (Tan Kheng Hua), her partner Pierre (Emil Marwa), and Laura (Frances Lee), one of a series of
Pangdemonium’s “The Father”: Dementia Becomes Us Read More »
By Akanksha Raja The Singapore International Festival of Arts 2018 is just over a month away, and the programme offers an extensive palette of art and performance not only from Singapore but also as farther afield as Germany, Palestine, India, Cape Verde, and more. It’s hard to define or label the types of shows on
SIFA 2018: Top Ten Picks for the Art Lover Read More »
Much like meeting your idols, seeing your favourite artists’place of work is fraught with danger. What if you discover that the birthplace of their artistic creations looks more like what you’d find in an Ikea catalogue rather than the paint splattered artistic equivalent of a hydrothermal vent where ideas spring to life on the canvas? What
North Dagon: A hub of artistic creation, who knew? (via Myanmar Times) Read More »
Duration: 30 min This year, Esplanade’s The Studios series runs from 29 March to 29 April at the Esplanade Theatre Studio, and features five deep and thought-provoking works by five female creators: Edith Podesta, Faith Ng, Kaylene Tan, Michelle Tan, and Zizi Azah. Corrie Tan speaks with Edith, Faith, Kaylene and Michelle about their inspirations, the
Podcast 35: Esplanade’s The Studios 2018 Interview Read More »
Singapore Improv Festival 2018, Aliwal Arts Centre, 15 – 18 Mar Remember that rib-tickling TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which brought comedic improv theatre to the masses? Catch Singapore’s own improv talents take the stage for the second annual Singapore Improv Festial (SIF) at Aliwal Arts Centre this weekend where they present impromptu sketches and
Weekly Picks: Singapore (12 – 18 March 2018) Read More »
Hanoi: Mai Khoi Do Nguyen has long been described as Vietnam’s Lady Gaga. In more recent years, as her political activism has come to the fore, her expressions of rude dissent, she has also been compared to Russia’s infamous protest band, Pussy Riot. Both comparisons hold true, and yet neither do. Mai Khoi is both a serious
Vietnam’s answer to Pussy Riot furiously dissents (via The Sydney Morning Herald) Read More »
Sandar Khine, 46, is one of the few women artists in Myanmar who paint nudes, a courageous choice in a country where some equate images of a naked human body with pornography. A member of the Myanmar Fine Arts Collective who exhibits at New Treasure Art Gallery in Yangon, Sandar Khine was one of the
A national resource centre will be set up for freelancers in the arts sector to allow them better access to resources, training and networking. Speaking at the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Parliamentary Secretary Baey Yam Keng said the centre will exist in “both physical and digital
Freelancers in arts sector to get resource centre (via Channel NewsAsia) Read More »
Chloe Chotrani is a movement artist and writer based in Singapore. She has set up the performing arts archive, Talking Circles, a digital archive of performing artists from South, Southeast Asia and its Diaspora. A continuous work in progress, the archive stands as a blog – Talking Circles; where you can find informal interviews of performing artists where we
The importance of documenting & archiving the performing arts (via ASEF Culture360) Read More »
Textures – A Weekend With Words, The Arts House, 9 – 11 March Presented by The Arts House and co-commissioned by #BuySingLit, Textures – A Weekend With Words is an inaugural literary festival taking place from 9 – 11 March, chockablock with performances, workshops, book-themed exhibitions, and over 30 panel discussions, all in honour of homegrown literature, and the
Weekly Picks: Singapore (5 – 11 March 2018) Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (920 words, four-minute read) On the heels of Objectifs Centre’s January showcase “we will have been young”, a group exhibition of works by fledgling Southeast Asian photographers themed on contemporary youth culture and the future, comes a very different solo showcase. This latest exhibition reverses its gaze, looking backwards on snippets of
Lui Hock Seng: The Past and Passing Read More »
You know a Nine Years Theatre production when you see one. There’s the smell of precision about it, from the calibrated ensemble to the period-perfect set pieces. Every single performer seems to be breathing in and out in perfect sync. The language is exact, the direction exacting. The company has made significant strides since it
Kuik Swee Boon and Nelson Chia, dreamers of dance and drama (via The Esplanade) Read More »
Cambodian photographer Ly Min has been recognised in the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards, with his image Cave of Skulls being selected among the top 50 in the world in the Open Travel Category The Open competition rewards the best single image across ten categories, and Min’s photo has been acknowledged as one of the
Cambodian photographer’s image honoured as one of the best in the world (via SEA Globe) Read More »
Ama-Lia by Teater Kami, 1 – 3 Mar, Goodman Arts Centre Teater Kami continues its practice using theatre as a tool for education and social and cultural awareness with this performance written and directed by Keatar HM. Performed in Malay, this semi-musical tale of two girls, Ama and Lia, and the toy shop run by
Weekly Picks: Singapore (26 February – 4 March 2018) Read More »
Cambodian Living Arts believes that arts and cultural expression are essential to a thriving future for Cambodia. This month, we tell the story of Phal Saravuth, leader of Yu Vek Selapak troupe, a group of young artists skilled in dancing, music and theatre. Phal Saravuth formed the troupe Yu Vek Selapak out of the Khmer
Inspiring Arts: Phal Saravuth (via AsiaLIFE Cambodia) Read More »
The Kingdom of Cambodia was established in 1993 after suffering the Vietnam War, the horrors of Pol Pot and his regime, civil war and countless rebellions. The reconstruction of this country has been supported by around 3,500 different international non-government organizations (NGOs), working in many fields, from the environment, to infrastructure, human rights and fighting
You can’t go to the Myanmar Art Museum to study the evolution of Myanmar art because there is no such thing as an art museum in Myanmar. Some even fail to notice that there is an art booth at the National Museum, which has been in existence for 66 years. Paintings in the booth by
Evolution of Myanmar Art On Display in New Exhibit at National Museum (via The Irrawady) Read More »
Despite working with limited funds, the spectre of state censorship and the difficulty of only having three working cinemas in the country, local directors are creating a thriving film industry in Laos Mattie Do does not hold back. In her films, the women drink, they wear lingerie, they steal, they murder. In the final moments
Lao film industry finding its feet on international stage (via SEA Globe) Read More »
A Malaysian artist and prominent opposition activist was jailed for a month on Tuesday for publishing a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak looking like a clown, a ruling likely to exacerbate concern about free speech. Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy recently announced plans to amend a law to stamp out fake news, the latest step
Malaysian court jails, fines artist for clown caricature of PM (via Reuters) Read More »
