Ke Weiliang, Author at ArtsEquator

Singapore Arts Emerging from the “Great Pause”

The last two years have been significant for those working in arts and culture. In Singapore, this period has seen interesting initiatives focused more on creating meaningful shifts in the scene – from changing the ways we work, to improving and professionalising craft, and decentralising discourse and learning. Nabilah Said, Ke Weiliang and Lee Shu […]

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The Substation's Facebook page, taken by Mish'aal

The Substation: An unstoppable force and an immovable object

By Nabilah Said, with additional reporting by Ke Weiliang On Saturday, 6 March 2021, almost 300 members of the arts community came together in a Zoom Townhall to discuss the fate of independent arts centre The Substation. The Townhall had been called by the board of directors of The Substation after a month-long back-and-forth involving

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From GoLi to Zoom: “The Lesson – An Online Experiment” by Drama Box

By Ke Weiliang (2,400 words, 8-minute read) I had the pleasure of attending The Lesson in September 2015, when it premiered at Toa Payoh Central as part of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA). That encounter was a serendipitous one, for I initially had not planned to attend the show and only happened to

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Emotional asymptotes in Checkpoint Theatre’s The Heart Comes to Mind

By Ke Weiliang (2,500 words, 8-minute read) Sunday, 7 June 2020 circa 1230 hrs I press the ‘play’ button on The Heart Comes to Mind for the first time. As per director Claire Wong’s suggestion, I grab my favourite drink – a bottle of Teh Botol Sosro, kurang manis -, plug in my earphones

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Photo courtesy of LASALLE

From the Macarena to Chicago: A LASALLE performer’s journey

By Ke Weiliang (1,719 words, 7-minute read) Monday, 20 January 2020. It is 8.45am and I am seated inside one of the dance studios at LASALLE College of the Arts. Over the course of the next 75 minutes, I watch as Pat Jon Gregory and his coursemates from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Musical Theatre

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The Pond Photography

KNOTS: An open letter to 艺族 STRANGER

By Ke Weiliang (1,131 words, 6-minute read) Dear 艺族 STRANGER, After spending my Saturday afternoon with you at the Esplanade Theatre Studio, I struggled long and hard to make sense of the titular ‘knots’ that your inaugural play endeavoured to grapple with. Over the course of an hour, you gave me a glimpse into the

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Courtesy of Asian Arts Media Roundtable

Asian Arts Media Roundtable 2019: When Asian Critics Meet

By Akanksha Raja and Ke Weiliang (1,444 words, 6-minute read) The inaugural Asian Arts Media Roundtable (AAMR) took place between 24 to 25 May 2019 at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Organised by ArtsEquator, the two-day gathering of over 20 arts journalists, critics, editors and members of the media and cultural industries from ten

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Sandi Tan’s “Shirkers”: Moving Backwards in Order to Move Forwards

By Ke Weiliang (1180 words, six-minute read) NB: It is important to differentiate between the two versions of Shirkers that were filmed. In this article, Shirkers refers to the 2018 documentary film that I am reviewing, whereas Shirkers 1.0 refers to the road movie that was originally shot in 1992. “Memory is the sense of loss,

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Was a Skeptic, Still a Skeptic: A Festival-Goer’s Impressions of SIFA 2018

By Ke Weiliang (2,470 words, 10-minute read) In March 2017, Gaurav Kripalani was officially unveiled as the Festival Director for Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2018 – 2020. I was over the moon, but only because a rare opportunity to stop indiscriminately splurging my money on arts events seemed to have finally presented itself.

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Front of House: Behind the Scenes

By Ke Weiliang (1700 words, 15-minute read) One of my earliest front of house (FOH) memories was at a rock concert held at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. On any other day, the combination of ‘outdoor’ and ‘rock band’ could easily have been an anagram for ‘Murphy’s Law’. Thankfully, most of the patrons were well-behaved. But

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