An exercise of privilege: “The Class Room” at M1 Peer Pleasure 2019
By Adeeb Fazah (1,400 words, 6-minute read) When I signed up for The Class Room, a participatory theatre piece created and facilitated by veteran theatre practitioners Li Xie, Kok Heng Leun and Jean Ng, I was expecting a thought-provoking experience,…
What is the music of my country? Race, harmony and diversity in Singapore
By Bani Haykal (2,600 words, 10-minute read) “All music, any organization of sounds is then a tool for the creation or consolidation of a community, of a totality.” – Jacques Attali “Gua jahat ada hajat boy” – Akeem Jahat…
Uncovering the Enigma of Lin Bo: “Caught” by SRT
By Akanksha Raja (1,500 words, 6-minute read) It’s a party … It’s unbridled and free and outrageous. It demands a full-body, full-mind engagement. That’s how New York-based director Ed Sylvanus Iskandar describes Caught, Singapore Repertory Theatre’s latest production, a socially…
Looking away for clarity: “First Fleet” by Nine Years Theatre
By Nabilah Said (1,100 words, 6-minute read) “The best seats are on the sides.” A friend’s advice guided my decision when I went to review First Fleet by Nine Years Theatre. Mindful of spoilers, she had not said why, but…
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Malaysia mulls on Jawi calligraphy; racism in Singapore
ArtsEquator Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the…
Celebrating the monstrous other: “Anak Pontianak” and “Nobody” at LumiNation
By ila (1,100 words, 6-minute read) The year is 2049: two hundred years since the Pontianak first appeared in writing, marked insignificantly in Hikayat Abdullah as residues of superstitious and foolish beliefs of the Chinese and Malays that have persisted…
The working processes of artists: .gif
In this video, indie-electronic duo .gif, made up of Nurudin Sadali and Chew Wei Shan or Weish, are interviewed by students Narrel Wisaksono and Aqid Aiman. They talk about their sound, the nature of cross-disciplinary collaborations and wearing chicken suits…
“In Time To Come” at LumiNation 2019
We asked our readers what they would put in a time capsule. The answers were heartwarming, quirky and intriguing – through each of them, there was a consideration of what deserves preservation, and an imagination of our futures. In Tan…
“MAT” at Objectifs: Pluralisms, perceptions and podcast failings
(3,747 words, 12-minute read) Editor’s note: This is a transcript of a podcast recording which cannot be shared due to poor audio quality. It has been lightly edited for clarity. ArtsEquator (AE): Hello everyone. Welcome to the ArtsEquator podcast. My name…
Weekly S.E.A. Radar: ARTJOG as art festival; Rich Brian; Thai dissident band hiding out in Laos
ArtsEquator Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. Here’s…
Staying woke: “Awakenings” at National Gallery Singapore
By Nabilah Said (1,000 words, 6-minute read) My friends that have visited Singapore in recent times have been given the following non-food recommendations by me: I point them to Haw Par Villa for its wonderfully macabre dreamscapes of punitive Asian…
Hitting the right (heart) notes: 10toONE by ONE Chamber Choir
By Shahril Salleh (932 words, 5-minute read) ONE chamber choir has a formidable reputation. It is one of Singapore’s premier community choir – one that made waves and built bridges for our nation in the international choral music scene. Its…
Podcast 62: Unpacking the Contemporary in Traditional Dance
Duration: 47 min Podcast host Amin Farid alongside fellow dance scholars Elizabeth Chan and Aparna Nambiar discuss their respective fields of study within traditional dance. They share their thoughts on current particularities and problematics within the Malay, Chinese and Indian…
Tender notes on violence in “A Notional History” by Five Arts Centre
By Patricia Tobin ( 700 words, 5-minute read) It starts with a song. Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri strums the ukulele and gently sings about hope and the future. For a lecture-performance, A Notional History, a work in progress by Five Arts Centre, is…
Fahmi Fadzil’s “GE14”: The sound and fury signifying everything
By Patricia Tobin ( 700 words, 5-minute read) “GE14 will be the arts festival to outdo all arts festivals,” said performer-politician Fahmi Fadzil. He is referring to the live spectacle: from theatre productions to political speeches, performativity is a constant….
Podcast 61: The Media Landscape in Thailand
Duration: 20 min In our latest podcast, Thai theatre critic Amitha Amranand gives a comprehensive overview of the media landscape in Thailand, discussing the impact of the political and legal system on the arts and the paradoxical freedom that arts…
Migrant Ecologies Project: A Grain of Wheat Inside a Salt Water Crocodile
By Lucy Davis (600 words, 5-minute read) Another Chinese tradition, which probably has no connection with the previous one is that the Butterworth cannon belonged to ‘Panglima’ (Warrior) Ah Chong a bravo of the Inter-Chinese wars which took place in the Larut tin…
Binary at M1 CONTACT 2019: Breaking all the rules with “Stigma” and “Dan-su”
By Chloe Chotrani (1,130 words, 6-minute read) The 10th anniversary edition of Binary – International Artist Showcase presented two returning artists to the festival. Last performed here in 2013, Stigma is a dark and enigmatic solo by highly acclaimed Danish…
Transgression, triggers, and the thousand cuts of “Blunt Knife”
By Corrie Tan (2,700 words, 13-minute read) Content Warning: Mentions of a sexual relationship involving a teenager This response contains major spoilers for Blunt Knife by Eng Kai Er and A Doll’s House by Theatre of Europe. Dear Kai,…
Sharjah Biennial 14: Embarrassment of Riches
By Sharaad Kuttan (878 words, 5-minute read) Landscape and memory – grand themes in the analysis of culture – came together at the Sharjah Biennial 14 (SB14) in the most unexpected ways. Perhaps for the outsider, like me, who had…
Open Call and Opportunities: June 2019 (Singapore/SEA)
[Updated as of 27 June 2019] Ten Years After: Call for articles on Asian cinema TEN YEARS AFTER is a special online-only edition of NANG magazine organised in memory of Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc, two committed young film critics who…
Reconstructing the Virtual in “Frogman”
By Shawn Chua (1,088 words, 6-minute read) Having securely fastened the headgear, I am submerged into the virtual world of Frogman. The instructional voice of the Queensland Jury service informs me through an earpiece that I have been selected at…
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…
“Disappearing Act” “NAMUH” “DBL.TAP”: What’s In A Name? DiverCity at M1 CONTACT
The M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival returns this year for its 10th edition with 20 shows and over 30 classes and workshops. Returning platform DiverCity, which in past years was combined with M1 Open Stage, stands on its own this year…
Pretty Displaced: Staging Sexual Assault in the Age of #MeToo
By Nabilah Said (1,887 words, 7-minute read) Trigger/Content Warning: Discussions of sexual assault I watched two shows in the span of two weeks recently. Besides the fact that they were Singapore plays, they did not, from the outset, seem…
Go Big or Go Home: “Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner” Takes Flight
By Helmi Yusof (1,387 words, six-minute read) Why do people choose to go into poor, dangerous, war-torn countries to work as humanitarian workers? Do they have boundless courage, hope and kindness? Do they have a death wish? Do they believe…
“A Dream Under the Southern Bough: Reverie”: Down the Ant Hole
By Jocelyn Chng (1,138 words, five-minute read) My strongest memory from the first instalment of this three-year series by Toy Factory, A Dream Under the Southern Bough: The Beginning, was its dramatic cliffhanger of an ending. There, the protagonist, disgraced…
Mad women, divine punishment, and “Dionysus”
By Corrie Tan (1,700 words, eight-minute read) This review contains spoilers and/or plot points for The Bacchae, a 2,500-year-old ancient Greek tragedy; Beware of Pity, a 1939 German novel adapted for the stage by the Schaubühne Berlin and Complicité; as…
“Invisible Habitudes”: The Personal Goes Political Goes Global
By Nabilah Said (621 words, three-minute read) On a Monday afternoon in Goodman Arts Centre, I am watching a group of dancers working. They are leaping. They are climbing. They are pushing. They are sweating. They are making me feel…
Podcast 59: The Truth About Voguing in Asia
Duration: 20 min Podcast host Chloe Chotrani (assisted by Chan Sze-Wei) uncovers the world of vogue culture and voguing in Asia from legendary mother, Koppi Mizrahi, who hails from Tokyo, Singaporean drag queen Vanda Miss Joaquim and Singaporean dancer Amin…