By Akanksha Raja (1,715 words, 7-minute read) The George Town Literary Festival returns for its ninth year next weekend (21 – 24 November) with the theme of forewords/afterwords, a decidedly future-oriented focus pertaining to notions of transitions and new beginnings. Some of the festival highlights include a conversation with 2019 Man Booker International Prize winner […]
Words in Transit: George Town Literary Festival 2019 Read More »
Theatre critics Corrie Tan, Nabilah Said, Carolyn Oei and Kathy Rowland discuss the recent production of WILD RICE’s Merdeka / 獨立 /சுதந்திரம், in a critics-led post-show conversation held in front of an audience on 19 October 2019 at WILD RICE’s Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre. The Critics Live session is organised by ArtsEquator. The transcript below
Podcast 68: Critics Live! Wild Rice’s Merdeka Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
By Bernice Lee (1,507 words, 7-minute read) Forward Shift, a new platform for works-in-progress within Esplanade’s da:ns festival, begins with much fanfare. Members of the public were treated to three performance experiments featuring artists whose artistic and audience development have been supported steadily at #mydurian. In What She Said, choreographer Raka Maitra and music composer
Progress at work: “Forward Shift” at da:ns festival Read More »
By Elaine Chiew (1,050 words, 6-minute read) Now in its fifth edition, Objectifs returns with its annual showcase in the Women in Film and Photography series. From its early years of blockbuster-ish exhibitions held in conjunction with Magnum or featuring other groups of women photographers, the Objectifs showcase in the last two years has carried
Rage or Loss: Women in Photography 2019 | Remedy For Rage Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The new SEA Creative Cities; Vietnam’s film censorship Read More »
Antara pengarah teater yang kurang dicanang dan disebut-sebut dalam pementasan teater kontemporari adalah Sharul Mizad atau lebih senang dikenali sebagai Ejad. Beliau merupakan graduan terawal Akademi Seni Kebangsaan (kini ASWARA) bersama beberapa seniman teater seperti Nam Ron dan Norzizi Zulkifli. Dalam bidang teater beliau lebih dikenali sebagai pelakon, dan kebanyakan projeknya merupakan lakonan solo. Antara
Jelmaan Baharu Teater Tradisional dalam “Hikayat Cendawan Putih” Read More »
Trigger warning: Descriptions of sexual assault. This review contains spoilers for The Professor. I began Faisal Tehrani’s new novel, The Professor, with the hope that he might provide some new images for Malaysian literature. We desperately need human and nuanced female characters, as well as real representations of female intimacy, so I was intrigued by
The architecture of patriarchy: The Professor by Faisal Tehrani Read More »
Theatre reviewers Matt Lyon and Naeem Kapadia are joined by ArtsEquator editor Nabilah Said in this newly rebooted theatre podcast discussing recent productions Urinetown: The Musical by Pangdemonium, and Lim Boon Keng – The Musical by Musical Theatre Ltd. This local edition of Urinetown, directed by Tracie Pang, sets the satirical piece against the backdrop
Podcast 67: Urinetown and Lim Boon Keng – The Musical Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Cambodia’s Charles Dickens; Yangon’s graffiti scene Read More »
Scenario: You are visiting the Ten Courts of Hell in Haw Par Villa. Your friend who likes asking deep questions suddenly asks: how would you fare in the afterlife? You pretend you don’t hear them because it’s your rare day off, but you do start to wonder… Tags: Quiz
How would you fare in the afterlife? Haw Par Villa: ArtsEquator Edition Read More »
Jauh perjalanan, luas pandangan. Mungkin itulah prinsip yang diambil oleh dua orang seniman Jakarta, Irwan Ahmett dan Tita Salina apabila mengambil keputusan untuk menjalankan kajian sosial dan artistik selama 10 tahun menjejaki negara-negara Lingkaran Pasifik. Setelah lima tahun kajian dibuat, mereka telah menjelajah ke beberapa negara di rantau Asia Tenggara, Jepun, Chile, New Zealand dan
By Chan Sze-Wei (786 words, 4-minute read) I’ve recently been reading articles about how childhood trauma is determinative of one’s risk of future health issues from asthma to cancer. Also how ancestral trauma is recorded in our DNA. Snow White is the original first Disney Princess. She is 82 this year (!) and it’s quite
Fantasy issues: “Princess” by Eisa Jocson Read More »
Podcast host Chan Sze-Wei and guest Melissa Quek discuss new works platforms at the M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival, as well as other new works platforms organised by dance companies and entities in Singapore such as Dance Nucleus, P7:1SMA and Frontier Danceland. The M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival is organised by THE Dance Company. This
Podcast 66: M1 CONTACT & New Works Platforms (Part 2) Read More »
Anyone following the news about the Thai art scene must have already known about all the rough storms the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) has been sailing through in the past couple of years. First, there was the announcement that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) would cut all funding to the BACC starting from
BACC: Whose art centre is it anyway? Read More »
By Corrie Tan (3,800 words, 15-minute read) I. “They are constantly making magic look like it’s very simple.” You could call it love at first sight – the moment Ellison Tan and Myra Loke encountered The Finger Players, they knew they wanted to work with the beloved Singaporean theatre company. For Myra, that show
This is what succession looks like: The Finger Players Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
By Akanksha Raja (830 words, 4-minute read) On 1 November, The Arts House plays host to an unlikely wedding celebration titled A Bigger Party Than Expected, which features “silent disco” dances to an Eurasian folk song, multidisciplinary art installations, and an assortment of performances. These unusual nuptial festivities are how The Arts House is
A Bigger Party Than Expected: Honouring Rex Shelley at SWF 2019 Read More »
In this video, LASALLE students Nicole Kessler and Marian Saturno speak to musician Tim De Cotta on his (many) musical influences, how he talks about social issues through music and how to keep your art pure. Tim De Cotta is a vocalist, bassist, songwriter and producer styled in R&B and hip hop, and founder of
The working processes of artists: Tim De Cotta Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
By Nabilah Said (890 words, 5-minute read) Draw a straight line. Draw a straight line freehand Draw a straight line freehand, with a 100g weight attached to your wrist. Repeat, ad nauseam. The moment you walk into Goodman Arts Centre’s Block O for RAW Moves’ latest work, you notice a sort of landscape artwork. On
RAW Moves’ “Being, and Organs” and the unbearable whiteness of Block O Read More »
Join critics Corrie Tan, Nabilah Said, Carolyn Oei and Teo Xiao Ting in a post-show conversation about W!ld Rice’s Merdeka. Critics Live is a critics-led programme series created by ArtsEquator to give arts audiences an insight into how critics formulate their responses to performances. REGISTER NOW at criticslive19.peatix.com PLEASE NOTE: This event is open to
CRITICS LIVE: A post-show response to “Merdeka” Read More »
By Nabilah Said (2,500 words, 7-minute read) In 1968, Lee Kuan Yew uttered the words “Poetry is a luxury we cannot afford” to a roomful of University of Singapore students. There have been some quibbling over, even mythologising of, what he may have meant. To Prof Koh Tai Ann, then the young student whom he
5 Singapore poems not to quote out of context Read More »
Contemporary visual art exhibition the Singapore Biennale 2019 will return on 22 November with Every Step In The Right Direction, featuring artworks by over 70 artists from Singapore, Southeast Asia and beyond. In the lead-up to the opening of the sixth edition, Lee Weng Choy speaks with artistic director Patrick Flores, and curators Andrea Fam,
Singapore Biennale 2019: Interview with artistic director and curators Read More »
ArtsEquator’s 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 region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Is film programming underrated?; Ramayana x SEA Read More »
By Nabilah Said (1,900 words, 7-minute read) In less than a week, Drama Box will premiere Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts, a production revolving around the theme of histories, those that are remembered, and those who are sidelined. Tanah•Air features a team led by the company’s artistic director Kok Heng Leun, playwrights Neo
Translating Homeland: Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts Read More »
By Patricia Tobin (561 words, 4-minute read) Constellation of Violence consists of a very simple setup: a giant screen on stage, a historian, two artists and a group of individuals. These elements are combined, in varying degrees, to form a three-part artistic investigation on the Cold War in Indonesia in 1965. Indonesian artist Irwan
The brutal examinations of “Constellation of Violence” Read More »
By Patricia Tobin (1,140 words, 6-minute read) The concluding production of TPAM 2019 was Constellation of Violence, a lecture-performance by artist Irwan Ahmett, which focused on the culmination of the Cold War in Indonesia in 1965, from its lead-up to its aftermath. Irwan is an artist who positions his existence in the complexity of
The Personal, the Humour and the Horror: Interview with Irwan Ahmett Read More »
By Faezah Zulkifli (1,020 words, 4-minute read) “ORANG_” The wordplay in Teater Ekamatra’s A Clockwork Orange is no accident. An inventive linguist, author Anthony Burgess, who lived in Malaysia in the 1950s, borrowed the title for his magnum opus from a Cockney expression, and introduced the pun on the Malay word ‘orang’ into the subject.
Say No To Droogs: Teater Ekamatra’s “A Clockwork Orange” Read More »
In this video, LASALLE students Michelle Fonseca and Hazeline Ali speak to Sheng player Michael Lee, who has played the classic Chinese musical instrument for more than 50 years. Being a Sheng maestro has brought Michael Lee all around the world, taking up roles as concert master, music director, conductor and teacher, but why does
The working processes of artists: Sheng player Michael Lee Read More »
