Torch the Place: Shedding the Dead Weight
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (800 words, 5-minute read) The first thing one sees upon entering the Fairfax Studio in Arts Centre Melbourne for Torch the Place is a…
Podcast 76: The Runaway Company
Duration: 30 min Nabilah Said speaks to Izzul Irfan and Mahirah Abdul Latiff of The Runaway Company about structures, succession and misconceptions about their work. The Runaway Company has an upcoming show, The Story of Tonight, which runs from 6-8 March…
Wretchedness and absurdity: Thoughts on Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite
By Teo You Yenn (760 words, 4-minute read) I watched Bong Joon-ho’s award-winning film Parasite later than most people I know, and after many people had told me I had to see it. It is indeed, as everyone promised, amazing….
Between Worlds: Café Sarajevo, ATARA and No Place
By Nabilah Said and Germaine Cheng (1,580 words, 7-minute read) What does it mean to be between worlds? To behold yet not belong? Three works – Café Sarajevo, ATARA and No Place – presented as part of M1 Singapore Fringe…
Leading art collectors put pressure on Balai Seni Visual Negara
by Kathy Rowland In a first for Malaysian art history, a Collectors’ Petition signed by 55 private art collectors have warned Balai Seni Visual Negara that they will no longer be lending works from their collection to Balai in future…
Behind the scenes with the Women of SIFA
By Nabilah Said ArtsEquator speaks to four women that are part of the local commissions of SIFA 2020 – Siti Khalijah Zainal, Jodi Chan, Ellison Tan and Mia Chee. SITI KHALIJAH ZAINAL, THE YEAR OF NO RETURN Siti…
Podcast 75: Patch and Punnet
Duration: 25 min Nabilah Said speaks to Krish Natarajan and Astley Xie of Patch and Punnet about their upcoming production, Fika & Fishy, which is billed as a kids’ show made for adults. Warning: This podcast contains language that is…
Arts censorship: At the end of the day, this is not new
By Kathy Rowland (1400 words, 8 minute read) Balai Seni Visual Negara Malaysia (Balai) is once again accused of censoring artists’ work. The victim this time is noted visual artist Ahmad Fuad Osman, who was honoured with a mid-career solo…
Inspired moves: Five years of ILHAM Gallery
By ila (2,270 words, 10-minute read) Located in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle in the heart of the CBD is ILHAM Gallery. The gallery is relatively new – it turns five in August – yet is considered by many to be…
Tangled and tackled: Black Ties at Sydney Festival 2020
By Maria Herminia Graterol Garrido (550 words, 4-minute read) The challenges of fusing and representing more than one culture while planning and executing a memorable wedding are well-known to us in real life and in fiction. Movies like My Big…
A sound collaboration: 宿 (stay) at Sydney Festival 2020
By Maria Herminia Graterol Garrido (571 words, 4-minute read) There is a huge difference between watching a great piece of theatre with a beautiful original score, and experiencing a process that gives equal importance to all the creative aspects, including…
Podcast 74: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020
Duration: 30 min Matt Lyon, Naeem Kapadia and Nabilah Said discuss three productions at this year’s edition of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival – Contemplating Kopitiam & Kampong Wa’ Hassan by NAFA and Oliver Chong; A Tiny Country by Attempts;…
Pico Iyer and Raffles Hotel, or the Nowhere Hotel
Celebrated writer Pico Iyer spent fifteen days in Singapore last August doing a residency at the newly reopened Raffles Hotel as its first official writer-in-residence. His new book, titled This Could Be Home: Raffles Hotel and the City of Tomorrow, published…
ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Picks of TPAM 2020
The Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama will focus on dance and physical expression this year. Since it was established as the Tokyo Performing Arts Market in 1995, the annual event has never quite stopped moving – including a move to…
20 Arts and Cultural Festivals to Visit in Southeast Asia in 2020
It’s the year 2020 and the world is rife with new Instagram filters, hashtag 2020vision (yes, we get it) and the perennial “new year, new me” declarations. Well, if you’ve got travelling and #jetsetter on your new year’s resolution list,…
Alternate Realities <3 <3 <3: "I Dream of Singapore"
By Poh Yong Han (1,279 words, 7-minute read) I Dream of Singapore follows an injured Bangladeshi migrant worker, Feroz, who is temporarily residing at a Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) shelter, Dayspace, as he waits for his case to be…
Podcast 73: Spacebar Theatre
Duration: 21 min In our latest episode of our Fresh Blood podcast, Nabilah Said speaks to Lee Shu Yu and Eugene Koh of Spacebar Theatre about their latest production, The Utama Spaceship, which imagines what happens when Singaporeans are sent…
Serendipitous releases: “PheNoumenon” by T.H.E Dance Company
By Casidhe Ng (1,156 words, 7-minute read) The first thing one notices about the space is its fluidity. I am part of the second set of audience members to enter the Esplanade Theatre Studio. It is bleak, dark, and saturated…
In a Material World: IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020 & Justice for All
By Aditi Shivaramakrishnan (1,200 words, 5-minute read) When it comes to analysing an artwork, the artist’s choice of materials can be as revelatory as other elements in suggesting what they might wish to communicate. Two forthcoming shows due to open…
The top ArtsEquator articles of 2019
Here’s a list of the top 10 ArtsEquator articles in 2019: Enter Stage Right: Tay Tong by ArtsEquator “It is amazing how one’s identity is so associated with one’s job. Especially for me – after 30 years, all of…
Podcast 72: ArtsEquator End-of-Year Theatre Podcast 2019
Matt Lyon, Naeem Kapadia, Kathy Rowland and Nabilah Said discuss their top picks for theatre in 2019. Content warning: Mentions of sexual assault/violence, self-harm and suicide. Duration: 38 minutes Stream Podcast 72: Also available on Spotify. Download Podcast 72 here (right-click…
Podcast 71: ArtsEquator End-of-Year Dance Podcast 2019
Soultari Amin Farid, Chan Sze-Wei and Germaine Cheng discuss their top picks for dance in 2019, and discuss trends they’ve observed in the scene this year. Duration: 36 minutes Stream Podcast 71: Also available on Spotify. Download Podcast 71 here (right-click…
Everything In Its Right Place: The Body Politic and the Body
By Nabilah Said (1,400 words, 7-minute read) “You’re a guest, you’re a guest, you’re a guest.” This anodyne version of the Beauty and The Beast song played in my head as I walked through the exhibition The Body Politic and…
Chain reaction: Lie With Me by Intercultural Theatre Institute
By Kathy Rowland (1,014 words, 6-minute read) ITI’s graduation production, Lie With Me is filled with broken characters, caught in capsules of emotional decrepitude. The work, written by Kaite O’Reilly is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, repurposed to examine…
Slow food: liTHE 2019 by T.H.E Second Company
By Chan Sze-Wei (1,031 words, 7-minute read) “Dance making in Singapore: an instant noodle culture?” I’ve never forgotten the title of this talk hosted at the Dance Nucleus in 2016 (then helmed by Foo Yun Ying). At the time, local…
Podcast 70: The Hawker & Rumah Dayak
In this latest podcast episode, Kathy Rowland, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss recent productions The Hawker by Second Breakfast Company, an immersive piece that pays homage to individuals in a hawker centre, and Rumah Dayak by new theatre collective…
Lightfay ofway ancyfay: “Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens” by Wild Rice
By Naeem Kapadia (1,062 words, 7-minute read) It’s quite impossible to bid the year goodbye without WILD RICE’s traditional holiday pantomime, a veritable institution on the Singapore theatre calendar. Over the past 15 years, the company has developed a niche…
Embracing A Bigger Human Identity: “PheNoumenon” by T.H.E Dance Company
By Joelle Cecilia Quek (900 words, 6-minute read) I sit cross-legged on the floor in Goodman Arts Centre, the beat from the speakers thumping my chest as I watch the forms in front of me twist and writhe. Their pounding…
Monsters’ Ink: A Fiend’s Diary & Heather
By Nabilah Said (1,500 words, 7-minute read) Spoiler Alert: The following contains major spoilers for the shows A Fiend’s Diary and Heather. I watched the stories of two monsters in the theatre recently. In A Fiend’s Diary, Oliver Chong…
Podcast 69: Playfreely by The Observatory
Nabilah Said chats with Cheryl Ong, Dharma and Yuen Chee Wai from The Observatory about their free improvisation music festival, Playfreely, which features free improv musicians from Southeast Asia and the larger region. The 7th edition of Playfreely takes place…