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…
Podcast 88: Critics Live: The Journey by Scott Silven at SIFA 2021
Critics Ben Valentine (US), Kathy Rowland (SG), Michael HB Raditya (ID), Sharmilla Ganesan (MY) chat about The Journey by UK-based illusionist and mentalist, Scott Silven. The performance took place from 18-30 May 2021 as part of the Singapore International Festival…
Expand, Exchange, and Beyond: A reflection of the Asian Arts Media Roundtable 2021 at SIFA
By Gladhys Elliona It was a laid-back day at the end of April, when I got the email from ArtsEquator informing me that I had gotten into the Asian Arts Media Roundtable (AAMR) at the Singapore International Festival of Arts…
Meeting Point 2021: The cultural worker in a time of social change
By Wennie Yang (2,000 words, 8-minute read) Laptop fully charged, professional Zoom background selected – Meeting Point 2021 organised by the Mekong Cultural Hub and its partners took place virtually between 20 to 22 May 2021. Artists, cultural intermediaries, academics,…
Master Conversations: Costume Design with Catherine Kodicek and Lyn Gardner
Costume designer and supervisor Catherine Kodicek shares about her practice and process, and issues around costume awareness and advocacy within the UK theatre context, alongside UK theatre critic Lyn Gardner. This session took place on 25 May 2021 as part…
SEE WHAT SEE (May 2021): SOUTHEAST ASIAN DOCUMENTARIES
By Joel Tan To borrow and distort the title of David Shield’s lyrical manifesto against fiction: I’ve been HUNGRY for reality in the month of May. And so for this month’s edition of SEE WHAT SEE, I’m training my sights…
AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency: Meet the Writers (Part 1)
We recently announced our selected resident writers for the inaugural AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency, focusing on the development and promotion of critical writing about arts and culture in Southeast Asia. They are: Nhuan Dong from Saigon; Dwiki Aprinaldi from…
Hitting up the Producers SG Directory: Taufik Darwis, Racy Lim and Khor Seng Chew
What is producing within the context of the arts? It is a question whose answer might vary depending on who you ask. Producers SG is a community of independent producers, arts managers and self-producing artists interested in nurturing support systems…
ArtsEquator’s Hot List: March 2021
Every first Wednesday of the month, ArtsEquator releases our editor’s picks of shows/events/programmes that our readers can look out for in that month. This list in published in no particular order. 1. Little Mournings Physical show: 4-7 March, various…
Jatiwangi Art Factory: Cultural work that breaks the mould
By Nia Agustina, translation by Eka Wahyuni (1,980 words, 6-minute read) In one corner of West Java, Indonesia, in the Majalengka Regency, a group of volunteers work hand in hand to distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), groceries, food, and medical…
ArtsEquator, Deadline Now
by Kathy Rowland ArtsEquator sometimes feels like a mythical creature. Looking back over the past 4 years, it takes the shape of a unicorn, a joyful improbability. With Covid-19, it can weigh like an albatross, cash flow statements instead of…
Orang Phebien: Telling the story of the Baweanese
Lesser known narratives involving migration in Singapore are in the spotlight with The Arts House’ latest edition of LumiNation. A new webisode series focusing on the Baweanese community in Singapore recently premiered with its first episode on August 1. The…
Seasons of Love: Southeast Asia-style
It started out as a “small project” amongst friends. Peter Ong, a musical theatre performer based in Malaysia, wanted to do a recording of the song Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson, to create a message of…
Reading in isolation: Tiffany Tsao’s The Majesties
By Kathy Rowland (760 words, 4-minute read) This review may contain spoilers. Tiffany Tsao’s The Majesties begins with a horrific mass murder. Three hundred guests at the 80th birthday of Irwan Sulinado are poisoned, deadly fungi slipped into the shark’s…
Podcast 79: Asia TOPA (Part 2)
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by In this latest podcast episode, Nabilah Said and Carolyn Oei discuss various productions that were recently presented at Melbourne’s Asia TOPA: Are You Ready To Take The…
Eko Supriyanto’s “IBUIBU BELU”: Uncomfortable Questions
By Sharmilla Ganesan (754 words, 4-minute read) As the five women onstage came silently together in a halt, spot lit and wrapped once more in the tenun textile they had first appeared in, there was an initial hush. Ironically, for…
International Women’s Day: Inspiring Women
By ArtsEquator For International Women’s Day, ArtsEquator asked 11 women arts leaders in SEA to tell us about a woman who has inspired, supported or mentored them on their arts journey. Their stories recall mothers, bosses, Hollywood directors and an…
Hades Fading: Modern-day Ancients
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (708 words, 5-minute read) In Hades Fading, Eurydice has a memory problem. She can’t remember where she comes from. The books all tell her…
Metal: An Improbable Alchemy of Dance And Heavy Metal
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (762 words, 5-minute read) I am not a fan of heavy metal music – or heavy metal anything – so I took my seat…
The Seen and Unseen: A Search For Self
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (638 words, 4-minute read) “Embracing life means embracing every element of dualism in it. Embracing the good and the bad, the happy and the…
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,…
The brutal examinations of “Constellation of Violence”
By Patricia Tobin (561 words, 4-minute read) Constellation of Violence consists of a very simple setup: a giant screen on stage, a historian, two artists and a group of individuals. These elements are combined, in varying degrees, to form…
The Personal, the Humour and the Horror: Interview with Irwan Ahmett
By Patricia Tobin (1,140 words, 6-minute read) The concluding production of TPAM 2019 was Constellation of Violence, a lecture-performance by artist Irwan Ahmett, which focused on the culmination of the Cold War in Indonesia in 1965, from its lead-up…
Contortions and Gentle Songs: SEA at Venice Biennale
By Teo Xiao Ting (1,414 words, 6-minute read) A vivacious viscous zoo swirling with prestige and art, the Venice Biennale spins me exhausted after 45 days. When I was asked to write about the Southeast Asian artworks I’ve encountered here,…
Asian Arts Media Roundtable 2019: When Asian Critics Meet
By Akanksha Raja and Ke Weiliang (1,444 words, 6-minute read) The inaugural Asian Arts Media Roundtable (AAMR) took place between 24 to 25 May 2019 at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Organised by ArtsEquator, the two-day gathering of over…
Mad women, divine punishment, and “Dionysus”
By Corrie Tan (1,700 words, eight-minute read) This review contains spoilers and/or plot points for The Bacchae, a 2,500-year-old ancient Greek tragedy; Beware of Pity, a 1939 German novel adapted for the stage by the Schaubühne Berlin and Complicité; as…
“Beautiful Water”: Intercultural Theatre Made in Threes
By Ken Takiguchi (1,229 words, 6-minute read) As I enter the auditorium of Kirari Fujimi, a public theatre located about one hour away from the centre of Tokyo, I find myself in the waters of somewhere in Asia. The audience…
Female artists, art biennial to grace National Gallery this year (via The Jakarta Post)
Indonesia’s arts scene is by no means lacking, yet most of its big names are men, with notable female artists largely unexplored. An upcoming art exhibition at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta, titled Into the Future, aims to change…
“Dionysus”: Suzuki Tadashi Brings Vengeance to SIFA 2019
By Kathy Rowland (642 words, three-minute read) Suzuki Tadashi is one of the brand names in the international tour circuit, whose productions have earned critical praise and inspired several generations of audiences. A decade on from his last production in…
ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Picks at the Performing Arts Meeting 2019
Established in 1995, the Tokyo Performing Arts Market (TPAM) was created to be a platform to network Japanese artists with producers and funders. 24 years later, TPAM has expanded in scope and purpose, to include live performance, panel discussions and…