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 »
By Akanksha Raja (950 words, five minute read) Even before watching Michelle Tan’s monologue, I am trying to say something true, the title struck me: the sentence-case format portends a quiet sense of conversational intimacy, compared to the conventional, title-case naming of theatre productions. The proclamation folds the struggle of confession with emotional vulnerability while
“I am trying to say something true”: A Distant Intimacy Read More »
Duration: 40 mins Podcast host Chan Sze-Wei leads a discussion on dance-making and dance programming for/in gallery spaces. Joining her are three guests: Vanini Belarmino, Assistant Director of Programmes at the National Gallery Singapore; Lim Chin Huat, cross-disciplinary artist and performance-maker whose recent dance work In Her Hands took place earlier this month at the
Podcast 40: Dance in the Gallery Space Read More »
Duration: 19 mins A Dream Under The Southern Bough by Toy Factory is a series of three plays commissioned by the Singapore International Festival of Arts, to be staged over three editions of the festival. The first instalment, titled The Beginning, premieres at SIFA 2018 later this month. This three-part modern-day spin on the classic Ming
Podcast 39: Toy Factory’s “A Dream Under the Southern Bough” at SIFA 2018 Read More »
Singular Screens by Asian Film Archive, Screening Room at The Arts House, 28 April – 11 May, various timings The Singapore International Festival of Arts 2018 opens later this week! Singular Screens is its film programme that organised by the Asian Film Archive and is an eclectic showcase of 13 new works having their Singapore premiere
Weekly Picks: Singapore (23 – 29 April 2018) Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Makassar, Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta from 23 – 29 April 2018 For our first pick this week, we’re bringing you to Makassar in South Sulawesi. If you’re a dance practitioner, join Densiel (enci) Lebang’s 3-day Contemporary Dance Workshop. This workshop aims to get participants to develop awareness and
Weekly Picks: Indonesia (23 – 29 April 2018) Read More »
By Marcus Yee (970 words, 7-minute read) Tucked in Queenstown Residence Committee Centre is a heartfelt homage to Tanglin Halt and the nearby Rail Corridor, nexus of human and bird relationals, collected by Railtrack Songmaps Roosting Post 1. Conceived out of a collaboration, or chorus between artist Lucy Davis, designer Zachary Chan, photographer Kee Ya
“Railtrack Songmaps Roosting Post 1”: The Featherlight of Complexity Read More »
Duration: 43 min The latest collaborative production between Singapore theatre companies Drama Box and The Necessary Stage is Underclass 《贱民》, which explores poverty, inequality and human dignity in Singapore. It runs from 16 May to 3 June 2018. In this podcast interview, Corrie Tan convenes Alvin Tan, artistic director of The Necessary Stage, Kok Heng Leun,
Podcast 38: “Underclass《贱民》” Interview with Alvin Tan, Kok Heng Leun, and Teo You Yenn Read More »
New Margins Exhibition Tour and Book Launch, DECK, 20 April 7pm Art is often seen as intimidating and distant. What if you held art in your hands, like a book? Can books be seen as art medium, like a painting or a sculpture instead of an object to be purchased in a book shop? This
Weekly Picks: Singapore (16 – 22 April 2018) Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Jakarta, Bandung, and Solo from 16 – 22 April 2018 Indonesia celebrates Hari Kartini on the 21st of April, a day to remember the work of Raden Ajeng Kartini in fighting for female’s rights to education. It is also a day to celebrate and continue the work towards
Weekly Picks: Indonesia (16 – 22 April 2018) Read More »
Ruby Ibarra is a rapper you’ve probably heard, but haven’t heard of—at least not yet. The Filipina-American recently made the rounds in a nationwide Mastercard commercial that also featured musicians like SZA, Radkey, and Victoria Canal. Each artist performed their take of the 1962 Bo Diddley song “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover.” For
This Rapper Is On a Mission to Empower Filipino Women (via Broadly) Read More »
Recently, GRRRL GANG MANILA, a feminist collective inspired by DIY ethics and punk aesthetics, celebrated its first anniversary in the Philippine capital. A long discussion of women’s issues, a film screening, spoken word performances and art exhibitions, and then hours of outspoken and confidently excellent music, brought together a frankly impressive gathering of young Filipinos
One year of Filipina punk feminism and rebellion (via Dazed) Read More »
By Patricia Tobin (780 words, five-minute read) It is 2007 on a Thursday night, and I am at the old Phuture on Zion Road. “Smack that, all on the floor,” Akon’s hit single Smack That is booming from the club speakers. “Smack that, give me some more,” the song continues. The club is brimming with
“Thick Beats for Good Girls” Keeps It 100 Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1,000 words, six-minute read) Four of the five productions from this year’s season of The Studios are commissioned works revolving around the theme of “Between Living and Dying”. Most of these are new, original monologues recounting deeply introspective journeys that navigate the melancholy of loss and seek hope and meaning within grief.
Many Lives in “A Good Death” Read More »
0600 is named for the time that executions are carried out. What makes an artist take on the polarising topic of the death penalty in Singapore? Zelda Tatiana Ng has been a fixture in the Singapore performing arts scene for over 20 years. Her newly founded collective, GroundZ-0, makes its Singapore and SIFA debut with
SIFA 2018: Walking death’s footsteps in Zelda Tatiana Ng’s “0600” Read More »
Dapunta Hyang: Transmission of Knowledge by Zai Kuning returns from its showing at the 2017 Venice Biennale for a month long exhibition at Theatreworks Singapore. The exhibition runs from 12 April through 13 May 2018. A series of public talks and performances are planned. On 19 April, Professor John N.Miksic will present a public lecture,
Zai Kuning’s “Dapunta Hyang”: Homeward Bound From Venice Read More »
By Corrie Tan (2,400 words, 13-minute read) Four Horse Road is The Theatre Practice’s show pony of the year. It’s got a lot of performance buzzwords going for it – site-specific, interactive, multi-generational, multilingual – and promises an epic odyssey into both the history of the company and of the country it shares a birth
“Four Horse Road”: buried histories and blind spots Read More »
By Kathy Rowland (400 words, 3 minute read) “I asked her out six times in thirty seconds.” In 2013, a Youtube video by slam poet Neil Hilborn went viral. In the clip, Hilborn delivers an impassioned performance of OCD, a poem that celebrates, then eulogies, a love affair that falls victim to one lover’s obsessive
SIFA 2018: “OCD Love”‘s Dancing in the Face of Love Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta from 9 – 15 April 2018 If you’re in the Yogyakarta region, catch MELAYUMINATI, a solo exhibition by Singaporean artist Rafaat Haji Hamzah. MELAYUMINATI invites us to look at the codes hidden in artworks. Through these works, can we identify the constructed codes that
Weekly Picks: Indonesia (9 – 15 April 2018) Read More »
Ugly in the Morning’s 3 or More If You Can Afford It Album Launch Concert, Esplanade Annexe Studio, Saturday 14 April 8pm Join alternative funk/rock band Ugly in the Morning for the launch of their third album, 3 or More If You Can Afford It, a 10-song journey of funk beats, catchy melodies, tight vocals,
Weekly Picks: Singapore (9 – 15 April 2018) Read More »
By Corrie Tan (1,160 words, six-minute read) The audio tours of spell#7 – the husband-wife duo of Kaylene Tan and Paul Rae – promise a variety of small adventures. In their previous work, they’ve invited us to move through several spaces in Singapore, peeling back layers of stories and eavesdropping on conversations as the tours
The Loud Echo of “In the Silence of Your Heart” Read More »
For many Cambodian music fans, March 20 was a heartbreaking day because Kak Channthy – the 38-year-old female vocal of the band The Cambodian Space Project – passed away in an accident in Phnom Penh. Founded in 2009, The Cambodian Space Project is widely known for their 60s-influenced psychedelic tunes, Channthy’s soaring vocals and playful persona.
The Legacy of Kak Channthy, Cambodia’s Rock and Roll Heroine (via Saigoneer) Read More »
By Elaine Chiew (1,135 words, six-minute read) Spectral and iconic, Dinh Q. Lê’s first major solo exhibition in Singapore premieres his Monuments and Memorials series of works, created as artist-in-residence at STPI – Creative Workshop and Gallery. Born in 1968 in Ha Tien, on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam, Lê fled the Khmer Rouge
Dinh Q. Lê’s “Monuments and Memorials”: A Double Haunting Read More »
The most significant display of contemporary art on the island during 2015 featured many of Bali’s finest artists exhibiting side-by-side with emerging talent. Violent Bali – Bali Art Intervention #1, opened at the Tony Raka Art Gallery, Ubud in November presenting eighty-five works raising issues such as identity, gender and cultural conflicts, and the New Order regime
Citra Sasmita captures the Indonesian contemporary art spotlight (via Life As Art Asia) Read More »
