Articles Archives

Podcast 96: Writer Grace Chia talks about crime and The Arches of Gerrard Street

In the first of a two-part episode on the Singapore Writers Festival 2021, Nabilah Said chats with author Grace Chia about her book The Arches of Gerrard Street, and her thoughts on writing crime while exploring themes surrounding the experiences of minorities and the Chinese diaspora in London, and exoticism. Grace is part of SWF […]

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So You Wanna Be An Independent Art Curator in Singapore?

By Syed Muhammad Hafiz (1,000 words, 3-minute read) For the uninitiated, art curators are a mysterious bunch. Even scary, sometimes. Usually associated with big, stuffy museums, they speak a particular language that only they would recognise, and write essays that would require you to have a dictionary on hand. Fortunately, most of those stereotypes are

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Courtesy of Zinkie Aw and Drama Box

Reframing The Mental Health Discourse ‘With Time’

For his directorial and playwriting debut, Drama Box’s resident artist, Chng Yi Kai, wants to reframe the discourse around mental health. This might seem ambitious for a young artist of 29, but this issue has been percolating in his mind since he was in university a couple of years ago. “I was going through some

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Keluarga Besar En. Karim: Pressing play on family drama

By Faezah Zulkifli (921 words, 3-minute read) The setting is familiar—every Sunday night, my family gathers in the living room to watch TV. Tonight, we are watching Checkpoint Theatre’s Keluarga Besar En. Karim (The Karims). It was déjà vu; versions of this image of the TV in the living room have greeted my Instagram feed

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Air Con: Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Who do you want to be when you grow up? At the end of the play AIR CON, the character William (Nick Davis) asks the character Asif (Ryan Lee Bhaskaran) this question. This stuck with me because I found myself asking the question: What happens when a play grows up? Does it? Are plays allowed

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Raphael Hugh

Yale-NUS closure: Artistic legacies and loss in (de)liberation

In August, the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced unilaterally that Yale-NUS College would be shut down by 2025, marking what many see as a premature end to the partnership between Yale University and NUS that started in 2011. The months since have seen an outpouring of grief, anger, and resistance against the decision to

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The working processes of artists: Daly Filsuf

“I want to bring all the Asian kinds of music to the world, with our language,” says rapper and music producer Daly Filsuf. In this video, the artist talks about dikir barat as a genre, and how he has fused elements of dikir barat and Malay traditional music into his work with Malay hip hop

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Screen Shot 2021-09-29 at 5.10.12 AM (2)

Kornkarn Rungsawang

Performance Making during a Pandemic: Of Innovation, Form and Embeddedness

By Adriana Nordin Manan (1,000 words, 3-minute read) If arts panel discussions are meant to reflect the times, “Critical Responses to Performance-Making in A Post-Pandemic World” positioned itself well: at this stage of the pandemic, it was less about open-ended contemplation of how the performing arts can retain vitality amidst the prohibitive circumstances, and more

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Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Jo Kukathas for Air Con

We cakap-cakap (chit-chat) with Jo Kukathas about The Instant Café Theatre Company’s upcoming screening of Air Con, an award-winning 2008 play written by Shanon Shah. The play revolves around the murder of a sex worker near an elite boys school in Kedah and how it roils the school community. The play, which was directed by

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Cultivating Arts Writing Ecosystems: Criticality and Creativity amidst Necessity

By Adriana Nordin Manan (995 words, 3-minute read) Personal narratives on professional pathways to becoming arts writers in four Asian countries were the departure point for the rich discussion at “Critical Writing Training: Models, Methods and Pitfalls,” a panel session held on 15th September in conjunction with the Asian Art Media Roundtable (AAMR). This was

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The working processes of artists: Sonia Kwek

“Probably your body is the one space you can be the most autonomous still”, says artist and performer Sonia Kwek. In this video, the artist talks about the politics of using the female body in her works, and how this relates to the experiences of marginalised communities. She also shares about her recent work Red

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BIPAM 2021: Delight, despair, dialogue and the despot

By Nabilah Said (1,800 words, 6-minute read) I’ve never actually attended the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM). This year, the pandemic allowed me to, as BIPAM offered a five-day digital programme full of showcases, talks and other activities. It brought me, a Singaporean, a world of imagination – colourful and joyous in parts, provoking

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10 Things You Should Know About: Malay Dance

10 Things You Should Know is a series of short animated videos on aspects of Malay culture and heritage, made in partnership with Wisma Geylang Serai. In the first video of this series, we share 10 things you should know about Malay traditional dance, known as tarian. The video features research by Soultari Amin Farid,

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The working processes of artists: Luqman (Flair Brothers)

Singapore hip-hop dancer Luqman from Flair Brothers gives us a lesson in the dance and also the lifestyle, introducing terms that are well known in the scene, and sheds light on how the scene has changed over the years. “If let’s just say there is any oppression, there will always be hip-hop.” This video is

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W.O.W Classics: Neo Wen Xin on Constance Singam

In this video, part of the W.O.W (Women on Women) Classics project, Neo Wen Xin shares about “Where I Was”, a 2013 memoir by Singaporean activist Constance Singam. Constance Singam is known for being a longterm president of AWARE, and for championing the rights of various minority communities in Singapore. Wen Xin was mentored by

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Bernie Ng

Bedside Banter: Cyril & Michael by Bridging the Gap Collective

By Naeem Kapadia (800 words, 2-minute read) Two strangers meet on gay dating app Grindr and share an encounter in a hotel room. Except it’s not just fast, meaningless sex. Budding playwright and theatremaker Theo Chen’s assured two-hander, presented by Bridging the Gap Collective, is a deceptively simple play that slowly draws one into its

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Where are the Malays?: Locating the Singaporean Malay in Singa-Pura-Pura

Singa-Pura-Pura boasts an eclectic collection of short speculative fiction from a minority ethnic group in Singapore, exploring worlds where robots are therapists, prayers are read from preloaded cards, and humans are migrating to Mars. Edited by Nazry Bahrawi, the stories consider various spiritual, social, and economic themes, with many leaving me with questions about where we

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The working processes of artists: Grace Kalaiselvi

Theatremaker Grace Kalaiselvi talks about her journey in theatre, the Tamil theatre scene and issues of diversity and representation in Singapore theatre in this video, titled Creating as a Tamil Artist in Singapore, directed and conceptualised by LASALLE students Nur Ashikin Ali and Raman Mruthika. “We wanted to shed some light and understanding on the

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Arts House Limited / Nine Years Theatre and The Pond Photography

Podcast 95: Three Sisters and _T0701_ at SIFA 2021

In this episode of the ArtsEquator theatre podcast, Naeem Kapadia, Matthew Lyon and Nabilah Said discuss Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre and _T0701_ by Zeugma, which were both part of SIFA 2021. Stream Podcast 95: ArtsEquator · Podcast 95: Three Sisters & T0701 at SIFA 2021 Also available on Spotify. Podcast Transcript Naeem:

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Kelecung, Bali.

Dialogues with Mountains: Preserving indigenous culture in Taromak and Kelecung

By Wennie Yang (1,400 words, 6-minute read) Let’s face it. Leisure travel feels like a distant memory at the moment. I’ve been trying to envision what a collective future means for destination hotspots in Southeast Asia, whose economies used to be propelled by foreign tourism. These thoughts were further spurred after attending a one-day online

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Courtesy of Syarifah Nadhirah

Caring for the Carers: How Malaysian artists working with communities hold space

I had forgotten how loaded the words “how are you,” or “apa khabar,” can be. I’ve always had issues with the greeting – I used to think that it was a statement/question that stops someone cold the moment they are asked, as how can you even summarise how you are doing if you start reflecting

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Lychee Bye in boudoir_1_Image courtesy of Win (@cheetouk)

Lychee Bye in boudoir. Photo by Win (@cheetouk)

Festival of Women N.O.W. 2021: Bold claims on identity

By Patricia Tobin (1,382 words, 4-minute read) Led by artistic director Noorlinah Mohamed, this year’s online edition of the Festival of Women N.O.W. 2021 explores issues pertaining to women that are often forgotten or overlooked. There is Not Grey: Intimacy, Ageing & Being, a series of livestreamed and pre-recorded virtual performances featuring 15 women aged

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The working processes of artists: Bani Haykal

Artist, composer and musician Bani Haykal shares about his video work Trouble With Harmony, created in collaboration with art critic and writer Lee Weng Choy, as well as his other experimentations with text and music. In this video, directed and conceptualised by LASALLE students Rose Sutrina and Siti Nurlisa, he also articulates his thoughts about

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Nguyen Dinh Toan

Fragments of History: Loc Vang, the Yellow music singer from Hanoi

It was perhaps the melancholy of history that was the most palpable presence in the livestream action Fragments of History, which I organised as part of Mekong Cultural Hub’s Mini-Meeting Point held on 17 July 2021. Though it took place in under 30 minutes, the event brought me and the audience onsite and on Facebook

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Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Salty Xi Jie Ng

In this month’s Cakap-Cakap (chit-chat), ArtsEquator speaks with artist Salty Xi Jie Ng, whose most recent project, Not Grey: Intimacy, Ageing & Being, excavated what intimacy means for older Singapore women (hint: it’s not all about sex!). The digital experience, comprised of video vignettes, interactive performances and writing, was presented by T:>Works as part of the

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The Second Breakfast Company

The frenemy’s handshake: The Singapore Trilogy as political theatre

My phone vibrated one night, with a notification that Singapore political party Workers’ Party (WP) was premiering a live video on Instagram. Curious, I tuned in – digital and social media being the default, on-tap mode of infotainment during the pandemic. It turned out to be an “office tour”, via live video feed, of LO

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The Second Breakfast Company

Podcast 94: The Singapore Trilogy by The Second Breakfast Company

In the episode of the ArtsEquator theatre podcast, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss The Singapore Trilogy by The Second Breakfast Company, which ran from March 11 to March 21 2021. Stream Podcast 94: ArtsEquator · Podcast 93: The Singapore Trilogy Also available on Spotify. Podcast Transcript Matthew Lyon (ML): Hello, everybody,

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Pangdemonium

Podcast 93: Girls & Boys by Pangdemonium

In the episode of the ArtsEquator theatre podcast, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss Girls & Boys by Pangdemonium, which ran from 25 Feb to 14 Mar 2021. Stream Podcast 93: ArtsEquator · Podcast 92: Girls & Boys by Pangdemonium Also available on Spotify. Podcast Transcript Naeem Kapadia (NK): Hello everyone, and

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Can the arts solve community issues in the region? The SEA*5 think so.

Can the creative society in Southeast Asia support each other in finding solutions to problems in our communities, powered by compassion and empathy? That’s one of the questions at the heart of the existence of Project SEA*5. The group comprises five creative practitioners working across different local community contexts: community architect-urbanist Joanne Mun advocates for

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The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre

The performing arts industry of Malaysia is drowning

As many parts of Southeast Asia are hit by recurrent waves of Covid 19 infections, arts industries across the region face imminent collapse due to prolonged closures and scant state support. In Malaysia, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Artistic Director Joe Hasham and his wife and co-founder, Datuk Dr. Faridah Merican, recently released an

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