Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to watch Underclass, please note that this review discusses certain plot points. By Corrie Tan (2,200 words, 11-minute read) You know that auntie. You’ve waved her off at the hawker centre, or maybe you’ve apologised, under your breath, because “I already have tissue”. You’ve plotted paths of avoidance around her […]
“Underclass” twists the knife in your middle-class guilt Read More »
“These are not the places we discussed, nor I wanted to go,” Singaporean photographer Billy Mork exclaimed in exasperation to his Bhutanese guide. Mork had just flown via the Royal Bhutan airline and landed at the taciturn kingdom’s Paro Airport. The guide picked him up and amiably brought him to take in some of the town’s famed tourist sites. Upon
By Nabilah Said (2,220 words, 11-minute read) Had Malaysian artist-poet Latiff Mohidin been French, he might perhaps strongly identify with the idea of the flâneur. Coined by French poet Charles Baudelaire, the French word for someone who strolls in the city found cachet as a description of the artist-poet who drew inspiration from the city
Making Our Own Centres (Of) Ourselves: Latiff Mohidin’s “Pago Pago (1960-1969)” Read More »
Whenever he returns from a foreign country, Khin Zaw Latt feels unwell with frustration. He feels sick, but not because of Zika or SARS, but at the drought of art in his country. Art museums and communities in countries like the United States, France, Singapore, and Indonesia where he has been make him realize what
Artist strives to develop Myanmar art scene (via The Irrawady) Read More »
Performing a dance in red stilettos is not allowed at Angkor Archaeological Park, but that’s not stopping Khun Sreynoch from working on it. As members of Cambodia’s first contemporary dance company, Ms. Sreynoch and her closest colleagues have known each other since they were children studying Cambodian classical dance, or Apsara. But in fusing old
One might argue that we are entering the new golden era of Indonesian cinema. For the first time in the history of post-Reformation cinema, in two consecutive calendar years, the boxoffice top ten are fully dominated by films with more than one million viewers. In 2016 Anggy Umbara’s Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! Part 1 took the pole position
6am is a pretty unremarkable time. It’s the time Singaporean students are woken up by alarm clocks or family members, blearily rubbing the sleep from their eyes to prepare for another school day. It’s the time people start making breakfast or getting ready for work. It’s that quiet, dim hour before the sun rises over
Voices on Death Row: GroundZ-0’s “0600” at SIFA 2018 Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Jakarta and Bali from 14 – 20 May 2018 Komunitas Salihara is organizing a lecture on the 15th of May 2018 titled 20 Tahun Reformasi: Majukah Rasionalitas dan Budaya Ilmiah Kita? The talk looks at how after 2 decades of reformation, Indonesia is still dealing with basic primordial
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Pissed Julie by Nine Years Theatre, KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT, 17 – 20 May Nine Years Theatre’s rendition of August Strindberg’s Mies Julie brings the 19th century European tale head to head with the concerns of 21st century post-colonial Asian cities. This production is born from a collaboration between the Singaporean theatre
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By Lainie Yeoh Majlis Himpunan Warga Seni PH (Pakatan Harapan), Auditorium MATIC, 15 May 3pm Despite the name (Assembly of Artists PH), this is not officially sanctioned by Pakatan Harapan, nor does it seem to be organised by Pakatan Harapan supporters (although political allegiances in the arts have been tenuous lately, so who knows). This
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (14 May – 20 May 2018) Read More »
‘Some people asked me why I didn’t paint Lord Rama [Phra Ram from the Ramakien epic] green,” said 88-year-old Aree Soothipunt in his husky voice, pointing to his abstract painting from the late 70s of a blue-skinned Rama. “The literature never specified that he was green. Anyone who said he’s supposed to be green can walk
Art is for everyone: Aree Soothipunt (via Bangkok Post) Read More »
The Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) Shakespeare In The Park returns to Fort Canning Green, after a year’s hiatus, with Julius Caesar—a play that has recently seen a resurgence in performance, perhaps because of its poignant resonances with the current political zeitgeist. Sprawled out upon the cascading slope of the Green, audiences bear witness to power
Shakespeare In The Park’s “Julius Caesar”: I Am She Read More »
Thousands of dancing fans gathered before an enormous digital cube covered in screens displaying memes, video game cutscenes, clips of endorphin-addled cartoon cats and random flashings of screensaver-esque visualizations while synthesizer strings slithered across a thumping bassline punctuated with warped blurts distorted to the point of warbling. This overwhelming performance was all controlled by the
The artistic intention to merge histories and futures is almost always poised as a double-edged sword. One mounts the impossible task of adhering to an imaginary time that is not re-presentable; the other conjures the multitude of never-ending possibilities that are only constrained by the material world. The perfect marriage lies in how the creators
“Anticipation of One”: Futuristic Rituals of Sight and Sound Read More »
By Jocelyn Chng (813 words, 5-minute read) A Festival Commission for the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2018, Toy Factory’s A Dream Under the Southern Bough – The Beginning is, as the title suggests, the first part of a continuing work. The second and third parts of the complete trilogy are planned for subsequent
“A Dream Under the Southern Bough – The Beginning”: Kun Opera for the Millennial Stage Read More »
A growing number of Thai street artists are turning political and getting their anti-corruption messages across with spray paint. Most keep their identity secret for fear of reprisals from the authorities. South China Morning Post speaks with three artists. There are many ways to fight the establishment, and Headache Stencil does so with graffiti. The
Hasanul Isyraf Idris is a Malaysian artist who works with a variety of different materials to present his often intricate and surreal ideas, inspired by his home country’s colourful history. Hasanul Isyraf Idris’s fourth solo feature with Richard Koh Fine Art took place last week, showing at VOLTA art fair, New York. Titled Environment of
How one artist is exploring his roots through vibrant, surreal artworks (via SEA Globe) Read More »
By Chan Sze-Wei (849 words, 5 minute read) L-E-V Dance company’s OCD Love is tightly choreographed and intense in its physicality, as might be expected from a choreographer issuing from years dancing, choreographing and directing for the iconic Batsheva Company whose Gaga style of dancing and theatrical physicality has become iconic of Israeli contemporary dance.
“OCD Love” by L-E-V Dance Company: Mental Illness Plus Dance Equals Ballet and Horror Read More »
Visual Arts Angkor: Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City by Asian Civilization Museum (ACM), 8 April – 22 July 2018 The ancient civilisation of Angkor left an artistic legacy that lives on most spectacularly in its architecture and sculpture. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the archaeological complexes are today acknowledged as great masterpieces. But until the late
Weekly Picks: Singapore (7 – 13 May 2018) Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Jakarta, Denpasar, and other cities in Indonesia from 7 – 13 May 2018 If you’re in Indonesia this week, here are some events that you might be interested to attend. Indonesia’s biggest European film festival returns this year from 3 to 12 May 2018. Europe on Screen
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By Lainie Yeoh GE14 Results Night at Merdekarya 9 May, 5pm until all GE14 results are announced Things get inevitably political this week as Malaysia holds its 14th General Election. Merdekarya will be making an event out of it, with live crowdsourced GE14 results and election-night shenanigans. There’ll be a big screen scoreboard, and
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By Dan Koh (1,715 words, 15-minute read) At this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), the two films from Southeast Asia are documentaries, or hybrid-documentaries—just like last year’s three, curiously. Despite the glaring gaps that remain in the funding, distribution, marketing, and audience reception of our internationally overlooked non-fiction, plus their increased local censorship
Mayfly Docus: “Die Tomorrow” and “14 Apples” at SIFA’s “Singular Screens” Read More »
Oleh Fasyali Fadzly (1075 patah kata, 9-minit bacaan) Saya mengambil masa yang lama untuk menyiapkan tulisan mengenai teater Version 2020 yang diarahkan oleh Mark Teh. Ia sebuah teater yang memerlukan pengamatan yang tajam, pengetahuan yang luas dan pemahaman terhadap konteks keseluruhan pementasan ini. Kajian teater ini turut mengambil masa yang lama dan penuh kritikal –
By Akanksha Raja & Corrie Tan (2,300 words, 12-minute read) Corrie Tan: When Edith Podesta first told us during our Studios podcast interview that Leda and the Rage would feature the life and paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi, I felt a jolt of excitement – I’d seen her work at an exhibition at the National Gallery
The Glorious Anger of “Leda and the Rage” Read More »
The woman in the cheongsam and upswept hairdo walks into the audience’s line of sight from behind a pillar, carrying a tiffin carrier. She poses, every gesture and expression countenanced to project drama and artifice, and many of her poses are notably contorted, emphasising an arched foot, her thrust out hip. The man enters, dressed in
Despite the government’s desperate attempts to position Singapore as Southeast Asia’s arts hub, flagging figures at major shows and accusations of artificiality have put the city-state’s art scene under more scrutiny than ever Singapore has long tried to combat its reputation as a cultural desert. An influx of state funding in the past two decades
Is Singapore losing its standing as the art hub of Southeast Asia? (via SEA Globe) Read More »
Shakespeare in the Park – Julius Caesar, by Singapore Repertory Theatre, Fort Canning Park, 2 – 27 May Opening this Thursday is the return of SRT’s Shakespeare in the Park with Julius Caesar. Shakespeare’s histories from over five centuries ago have never been more relevant. This renowned classic is turned contemporary in the light of
Weekly Picks: Singapore (30 April – 6 May 2018) Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Makassar, Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta from 30 April – 6 May 2018 It’s an exciting week for art in Indonesia as we have 2 festivals that are opening this week! The Makassar International Writers Festival is back this week from 2 – 5 May 2018. Since it was
Weekly Picks: Indonesia (30 April – 6 May 2018) Read More »
By Lainie Yeoh If Walls Could Talk at The Gaslight KL, 8pm 30 April Fondly known as Walls, this poetry open mic show is a must-try event in KL. Many wonderful poetry acts have been discovered in Walls, and the energy from the audience is always warm and generous. Each volume has a feature act —
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (30 April – 6 May 2018) Read More »
An enchanting French evening of aerial circus performed to live music. …Sodade… is a nostalgic ode to life, a fable of love and loss in the air as told by two musicians playing and singing on a unique circus structure of huge twin wheels, each over two metres in width, between which a 21-metre long
…Sodade… at SIFA 2018 Read More »
