By ArtsEquator From 26 March 2020, 2359 hrs, all theatres in Singapore will go dark in response to COVID-19 measures. We pay tribute to the shows that have been cancelled or postponed in Singapore, through photos – looking at the work that has gone on for the past few months (for some, years), from photo […]
World Theatre Day: Tribute to Singapore shows affected by COVID-19 Read More »
by Nabilah Said As the world contends with the new normal of temperature checks, home quarantines and travel restrictions in the age of COVID-19, artists find themselves reckoning with a lack of paid jobs coupled with an existential question of the meaning of art in these times. There has also been an awakening of sorts
COVID-19 and the arts in Southeast Asia Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Malaysian theatre goes digital; Vietnam’s film industry Read More »
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (1,000 words, 6-minute read) Experimental Chinese theatremaker Wang Chong presented a work-in-progress showing of his newest work, Made in China 2.0, at Asia TOPA in February. Taking the form of a lecture-performance, Made in China 2.0 sees Wang performing
Interview with Wang Chong for “Made In China 2.0” Read More »
by ArtsEquator (1,520 words, 5-minute read) It’s World Poetry Day on 21 March. Is there still a place for poetry in the unfamiliar world we find ourselves in? COVID-19 could remake the world in a few short weeks. There is the immense human cost with lives lost and thousands ill. Money can’t shield the privileged
World Poetry Day: Verse vs. Virus Read More »
Every space tells a story: the empty prison cell speaks of redemptions, of wrongs that were righted, and to the cynical, more earthly, minds, of miscarriages of justice, and the irrevocability of tragedies and the people who made them; the crowded hospital ward hums, sometimes a baleful tune when a heart attack becomes a full-body
The Space of/for Memory: ”Last Night I Saw You Smiling” Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Art in the time of COVID-19 and more Read More »
ArtsEquator Lobang is a list of available open calls, job postings and other opportunities open to people from Singapore and Southeast Asia. “Lobang”, a Malay word for “hole”, is used in Singlish as a shorthand for an opportunity, valuable contact or a tip. [Updated: 7 April 2020] COVID-19-related info/resources [Malaysia] Participants needed for
Open Calls and Opportunities: Mar 2020 (Singapore/SEA) Read More »
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 Law Into Your Own Hands | Hades Fading | À Ố Làng Phố | Dragon
Podcast 79: Asia TOPA (Part 2) Read More »
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: Black Ties | HuRu-hARa | Chinese Square Dancers | The Seen and Unseen | Torch the Place | Metal This is the first of a two-part
Podcast 78: Asia TOPA (Part 1) Read More »
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 all the dynamism of the movements and formations we had just witnessed, it was their voices that somehow continued to echo in
Eko Supriyanto’s “IBUIBU BELU”: Uncomfortable Questions Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Why I sing in English; how Cambodian art can survive Read More »
By Katrina Stuart Santiago (936 words, 6-minute read) The past as a point of reference for contemporary cultural work is not new, and neither is the need to rethink it, reconsider it, or respond to it. Anyone who works in culture after all is inextricably bound to tradition, and to some extent, all major cultural
“No. 60”: Klunchun unmasks the Khon Read More »
By Amitha Amranand (1,350 words, 5-minute read) Thai dancer-choreographer Thanapol Virulhakul is certainly not the first artist to wonder whether art could become more of a part of our daily life nor to attempt through his art to make it more so. It is difficult to see that attempt in The Retreat, or to even
Thanapol Virulhakul’s “The Retreat”: Dance, Uncontained Read More »
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 overlooked composer from the 19th century. We are inspired by the varied ways that women
International Women’s Day: Inspiring Women Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Rashomon in KL; Burmese cartooning pioneers Read More »
OCT 2022 UPDATE: Dragon Lady returns to Esplanade for her debut in the Singtel Waterfront Theatre, on 21 and 22 Oct 2022. Here for tickets and more information. (1,357 words, 4-minute read) Doyen. Icon. Self-professed Dragon Lady. These are some of the facets of Margaret Leng Tan, Singapore’s Cultural Medallion award recipient in 2015. Margaret
By Ke Weiliang (1,719 words, 7-minute read) Monday, 20 January 2020. It is 8.45am and I am seated inside one of the dance studios at LASALLE College of the Arts. Over the course of the next 75 minutes, I watch as Pat Jon Gregory and his coursemates from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Musical Theatre
From the Macarena to Chicago: A LASALLE performer’s journey Read More »
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (730 words, 6-minute read) You go into a circus performance with certain expectations. You want the big shebang, the SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR. The physical feats that no average person can do. Cirque du Soleil has come to define the hallmarks
À Ố Làng Phố: Less trick, more treat in Vietnamese bamboo circus Read More »
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (638 words, 5-minute read) Note: This review may contain some minor spoilers for Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep by Margaret Leng Tan. ONE: “Music; this is where the counting belongs.” In Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep, Margaret Leng Tan –
Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep: Brilliance Is Margaret Leng Tan Read More »
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 something different – her mother was a water nymph, no, a wind nymph or was
Hades Fading: Modern-day Ancients Read More »
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (670 words, 5-minute read) I watched Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands by Sipat Lawin and Friends on 26 February 2020, 34 years almost to the day of the People Power Revolution, which toppled
Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands: Tongue Scrapes Against Cheek Read More »
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 in the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, with trepidation. I was there for the world premiere
Metal: An Improbable Alchemy of Dance And Heavy Metal Read More »
In this latest podcast episode, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss the recent production of Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet, the collective’s first production for the year about the friendship between a dog and a fish. Trigger/Content warning: Allusions to domestic/sexual abuse Nabilah Said (NS): Hello everyone, welcome to the
Podcast 77: Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet Read More »
By Naeem Kapadia (914 words, 4 minute read) Everyone tells us that a person battling mental health issues should seek professional help. But how exactly does one find the means to get the help they need? When confronted with a loved one who experiences such issues, how does a family unit react and figure out
Dancing with the Demons: “The Son” by Pangdemonium Read More »
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (800 words, 5-minute read) The first thing one sees upon entering the Fairfax Studio in Arts Centre Melbourne for Torch the Place is a huge mountain covered in cloth, and an old piano. The dutiful eldest daughter in a
Torch the Place: Shedding the Dead Weight Read More »
Duration: 30 min Nabilah Said speaks to Izzul Irfan and Mahirah Abdul Latiff of The Runaway Company about structures, succession and misconceptions about their work. The Runaway Company has an upcoming show, The Story of Tonight, which runs from 6-8 March 2020 at Stamford Arts Centre Black Box. Stream Podcast 75: Download Podcast 75 here. (right-click
Podcast 76: The Runaway Company Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources – so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Hallyu love and cementing disaster Read More »
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 sad, life and death,” writes Kamila Andini, director of the spiritual dance-theatre, The Seen and
The Seen and Unseen: A Search For Self Read More »
ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region. In the weekly Southeast Asia Radar, we publish a round-up of content that have
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The woes of Ballet Philippines; Saigon’s forgotten museum Read More »
