Articles

Supernatural Vietnamese Comic “Gateway to Underworld” Wins International Manga Award

Can Tieu Hy is one of the most prominent young artists in the Vietnamese comic scene, known for her refined drawing techniques and stories with mysterious, supernatural elements. From nearly 300 submissions, hers was one of a total of 14 winners, including one Gold Award and three Silver Award winners, that were chosen following the selection […]

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Philippine folk stories set to take the stage during National Arts Month in February (via The Theatre Times)

In celebration of the National Arts Month in February 2017, the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) recuperates the kuwentong bayan (folk narratives such as epics, myths, legends, folk tales, etc.) as important repository of ideas, information and even knowledge through a festival billed Salaysayan: K’wentong Byan, Kaalamang Bayan (Storytelling: Folk Narratives, Folk Knowledge). Tags:

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Lavish production of Rizal’s ‘Noli Me Tangere – The Opera’ at Cultural Center of the Philippines (via Inquirer.net)

The successful staging in 2014 of the opera adaptation of Rizal’s masterpiece by National Artist for Music Felipe de Leon, with libretto by another National Artist, Guillermo Tolentino, led to Sibal’s decision to mount another, and bigger, production under his own outfit J&S Pro ductions. And this time he is the director, artistic director, stage,

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In Bangkok, the first stage adaptation of MR Kukrit Pramoj’s “Lai Chiwit” (via The Nation)

If theatre-goers feel as if they’ve been going to Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts almost every month in 2016, it’s partly because Thailand’s first tertiary institution to offer a bachelor’s degree in modern theatre –Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Dramatic Arts – is celebrating its 45th anniversary. And as part of this celebration, the department

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An Anthology of English Poetry from Brunei (via Cha: An Asian Literary Journal)

Under the Canopy and other poems, which first came out in late 1998, was the first ever English-language collection of poems produced in Negara Brunei Darussalam. There is a very long tradition of writing poetry—especially sajak and ghazal and pantun—in Bahasa Melayu in Brunei Darussalam (for example, the epic Syair Awang Simawn), but here I

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3 #Millennials Read “Fight Club”. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!

By Akanksha Raja (1200 words, 20-minute read) There are so many performance modes packed into the approximately 70 minutes of FIGHT! PALAST #membersonly  – confessional monologue, workshops, live fighting, interactive sketches – that it is difficult to classify. Performance makers have been using this form of super-hybridity for a while now, but it still takes

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Short film by Malang director wins Australia-Indonesia cinema competition

A film by Indonesian newcomer director Mahesa Desaga, Nunggu Teka (Waiting to Arrive), was named winner of a short film competition in the 2017 Australia-Indonesia Cinema Festival (FSAI) at XXI Senayan City cinema in South Jakarta on Sunday. The 14-minute film follows a mother who lives alone in an old traditional house. While waiting for her only son to come home during

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30 Jan – 5 Feb 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Solo, Bali, Yogyakarta from 30 January – 5 February 2017   JAKARTA   Kompilasi Festifal Film Dokumenter, 30 January 2017, 7:30 PM, Kineforum, Jakarta Kineforum, the alternative cinema in Jakarta, presents 4 out of the 8 documentaries that was submitted to the Festival Film Dokumenter Yogyakarta in 2016. The 4 films

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Pawit Mahasarinand foresees Thai theatre in 2017 for The Nation

We said that the commercial theatre companies would put on fewer musicals and we were right. From their independent counterparts we expected more international collaboration thanks to support from foreign cultural institutions and again our words were prophetic. Now we are predicting that these two trends will continue in 2017. With the official mourning period

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Thailand’s thoughtful “Railway Sleepers” and more films at 14th World Film Festival of Bangkok

In Railway Sleepers, a minutely observed film shot entirely on-board a Thai train, we see kids on school trips, young men travelling north and south, hawkers selling food and horoscope books, families and lovers, vacationers who turn the sleeping car into a party venue. They’re passengers, and they’re also humans. They are, as director Sompot

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Singapore indie rock outfit Astreal shines a “Light”, their first album in over a decade

As their lead single Colossal suggested, the veteran outfit haven’t lost a step in the preceding decade, jumping right back into a sea of distortion and wash of sound. But it’s more than just those stylistic hallmarks – their new seven-track release makes you feel the same feels that prime Astreal did – which probably means that prime Astreal never

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Thai photographer Tada Hengsapkul probes the naked at Gallery Seescape

Bangkok Post interviews Tada Hendsapkul, on his latest exhibition, “The Things That Take Us Apart”. “I have fallen in love with the language of human bodies. Bodies are more interesting than objects because there are also the minds that are hidden under, and their complexity shifts according to time…” Tags: Nudity  Tada Hengsapkul

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Two Visionaries of Indonesian Theatre

Teguh Karya and Suyatna Anirun were each inspired by traditional and popular forms of theatre throughout Indonesia, as well as the Western forms of theatre they adapted for the stage. Their style of theatre resided in the realm of intercultural practices that all theatre artists in Indonesia now revere. Tags: Inside Indonesia  Suyatna Anirun  Teguh Karya  Theatre Directing

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See what’s made to order at North Korea’s blacklisted art factory (The Nation)

…The North’s art scene is tightly controlled – there is no abstract art, which is regarded as anti-revolutionary – and even the top artists earn monthly salaries that bear little relation to the sale value of their work. “We produce pieces that are demanded by revolution, that move people to revolution,” says Hong Chun-Ong… Tags:

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Art that Moves: Time and Tuition

This essay is the first in a new series where artists and writers reflect on artworks that were personally important to them. Syria, climate change, Brexit, Trump, the loss of beloved public figures from Prince to Muhammad Ali — my friends and I couldn’t wait for 2016 to end. But the sense of renewal that

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The Enduring Power of Southeast Asia’s Traditional Shadow Puppets

For centuries, shadow puppet theater not only captivated audiences across Southeast Asia but also held ritual significance for various local communities. Held outdoors at night, the performances unfolded around the simple setup of a stretched white cloth, lit by an oil lamp, on which the shadows of puppets would dance to orchestral music. Spectators would watch from both

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23 – 29 Jan 2017: Singapore

Deruma by Azpirasi & Dian Dancers, 26 – 27 Jan at Esplanade Theatre Studio Presented as part of Esplanade Theatre’s Pentas series, which is its second annual programme of Malay arts, apart from Pesta Raya. Deruma follows the local folktale of Si Tanggang. It’s a story about filial piety and gratitude told through Malay dance and traditional

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23 – 29 Jan 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta from 22 – 29 January   JAKARTA   Islamic Art Public Lecture, Komunitas Salihara Black Box Theatre, 24 Jan, 7:00 PM Komunitas Salihara, supported by Institut Francaise Indonesia, presents an Islamic Art public lecture featuring Yannick Lintz, Director of Islamic Art Department at Louvre Museum, Paris. The lecture will explore two

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