Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Alicia Chong (700 words, 5-minute read) Attempts: Singapore by Rei Poh – presented as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018 – creates a theatrical performance that immerses its audience in an ‘escape […]
“Attempts: Singapore”: Fluid Fragments and Fragile Illusions Read More »
By Isaac Lim (468 words, 4 minute read) A woman’s place is in the kitchen. Or is it? Israeli theatre-maker Emanuella Amichai’s The Neighbor’s Grief is Greener attempts to quell all notions of the ideal woman we know from 1950s American pop culture. It all gets pretty bloody. Set in a pristine home, a Stepford
“The Neighbor’s Grief is Greener”: Past Imperfect Read More »
By Richard Chung (700 words, 5-minute read) A peek inside the macabrely funny world of The Neighbor’s Grief Is Greener, set in a 1950s American suburban kitchen. In 1940s America, men went off to war, leaving the running of the country to women. Many wives and daughters stepped foot into factories and worked for the
“The Neighbor’s Grief is Greener”: Exquisite Macabre meets Slapstick Comedy Read More »
By Patricia Tobin (538 words, 5-minute read) From Stepford Wives to The Real Housewives, the idealised American woman is always found in the kitchen. But is she happy? In The Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Friedan found that most housewives of this era were unfulfilled within the domestic space. Creator-director Emanuella Amichai addresses this in The
“The Neighbor’s Grief is Greener”: There Will be Blood Read More »
By Teo Dawn (700 words, 5-minute read) 2018 has only just begun, but the women’s rights movement is already making its voice heard with #MeToo dominating social media, and the Time’s Up campaign started by Hollywood celebrities. Sexual violence against women is in the spotlight. Now, Larry Nassar (disgraced former Team USA gymnastics doctor) has
Is “The Neighbor’s Grief” really greener, or are we all the same? Read More »
By Ezekiel Oliveira (565 words 4-minute read) A dreamy, perfect 1950’s housewife stands in the middle of a kitchen, cracking eggs and stirring flour into her bowl. But she isn’t making your regular American casserole; she’s cooking up a far bloodier dish. She dashes the pot on the ground, flooding the kitchen with blood. Emanuella Amichai’s
“The Neighbor’s Grief is Greener”: A Dark Domesticity Read More »
What is the difference between finished and unfinished? No one can tell. It’s invisible to us but looms large in the artists’ minds. What the artist sees as unfinished and unsatisfactory may appear beautiful to our naked eye. Here, six local artists unearthed some of their unfinished and abandoned artworks. Tay Bak Chiang “This was from 2000 or
There’s something inherently sneaky about Thailand’s annual music festival Wonderfruit. The fest, which is fast becoming one of the best in Southeast Asia, is about so much more than music. Sure, those festival memories may have started in the Quarry, but the daylight side of the fest is so packed with informative discussions about sustainability, sexuality,
Live at Reading Room: UnFree & Unspoken by Ethos Books, The Reading Room, 26 Jan, 8pm At The Reading Room (Downtown Gallery, #02-09/10), Ethos Books presents a poetry reading by local poets Joshua Ip, Theophilus Kwek and Marylyn Tan at Yellow Bash. In UnFree (8.00 – 9.00 pm), Joshua Ip and Theophi Kwek will introduce
22 – 28 January 2018: Singapore Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Riau, Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta from 22 – 28 January 2018 RIAU Festival Musik Rimbang Baling, 22-28 January 2018, Koto Lamo, Kampar Kiri Hulu, Kampar, Riau. Immerse yourself in nature and come to this unique music festival while supporting nature conservation efforts! Presented with a theme “Menyemai
22 – 28 January 2018: Indonesia Read More »
We are in a moment where the connection between art, real estate, and the displacement of longtime residents is undeniable. How might artists take responsibility for how we alter people’s lives, in terms of the impacts of real estate speculation and gentrification? How do we refuse co-optation and engage locally with our neighbors? How are
An Artist’s Guide to Not Being Complicit with Gentrification (via Hyperallergic) Read More »
This is not a book about films. It is a book about how films and other forms of popular culture point to the places where interests, positions and desires come together, especially on issues of religious, ethnic and national identity. The author, Ariel Heryanto, examines the complex and negotiated feelings of belonging to religious, ethnic
Book Review: Identity and pleasure, on screen (via Inside Indonesia) Read More »
There’s no denying that at some point, all of us have dreamed of having an entire cinema all to ourselves, along with the freedom to scream, shout and blabber all we want without anyone telling us to tone it down. It’s great to know that AMENIC Film Space is that dream now made real. Founded in late
In the wake of sexual harassment scandals that dominated news headlines in the latter part of 2017, gender-based violence and discrimination have become a hot topic—and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop soon. Women (and some men) around the world are coming together to speak out against abuse (or lend support to those
#therageisreal: tackling gender inequality, one play at a time (via Esplanade Singapore) Read More »
This is an excerpt from “The Pangalay Dance in the Construction of Filipino Heritage” by Joelle Florence Patrice Jacinto. The research discusses how the Pangalay dance of the Tausug people was used as a heritage tool to support the construction of a Philippine culture. The paper was published on the Journal for the Anthropological Study of
The Asia Europe Foundation’s Culture360 and ArtsEquator present a series of 5 co-commissioned articles that look at arts groups, artists and performances in Southeast Asia that are comprised of or address artists with disabilities. In this fifth and final article in the series, Ha Dao meets with Nem, 11, a prolific young artist in Vietnam with autism,
Art, autism and love: the world of Nem Read More »
Duration: 19 mins We’ve just begun 2018 and already our arts calendar is bursting with events, especially with the sixth edition of the annual Singapore Art Week around the corner. Among the slew of Art Week programmes is ArtWalk Little India, a multidisciplinary festival spanning the precinct of Little India. The ArtWalk, in its fourth
Podcast 32: ArtWalk Little India Read More »
In her article, “The Persistent Presence of Cambodian Spirits: Contemporary Knowledge production in Cambodia”*, Courtney Work argues that the presence of spirits in Cambodian culture has been made a subjacent subject in the dialogue of empire, but that the human culture of this complex nation cannot be properly explained without reference to the “other-than-human world”.
Ghost Stories (via Mekong Review) Read More »
We can tell a few things about a theatre scene from the categories in its awards shows. In the International Association of Theatre Critics-Thailand (IACT-T) annual nominations list, there is one particular category for ‘movement-based performance’. This indicates that either there is a sheer variety of movement-based performances in Bangkok, or that its theatre critics
Rantau Reviews: “Something Missing” & “Plan B” in Bangkok Read More »
Ben-Hur Villanueva is a sculptor who is not native to Baguio but has made his studio and home there. He says something about the place that drew him there, and continues to nourish the passion he has for his life’s work. His most recognized sculptures can be viewed at Bonifacioo Global City, Caleruega, and Baguio
Filipino Sculptor Ben-Hur Villanueva (via Murphy Report) Read More »
“We arrive at Dan Sinh market in Ho Chi Minh City on a sweltering afternoon. The monsoon season is just starting. After parking our scooters, we dive into the stands, which sell everything from army apparel to fruit and vegetables. A middle-aged man directs us to an antique stall. Immediately I spot discs inside a
Yellow Music (via Mekong Review) Read More »
[totalpoll id=”23358″ fragment=”results”] Tags: Photography Competition Poll
ArtsEquator Photography Competition: Capture a Moment of Art in the Making Read More »
Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali from 15 – 21 January 2018 JAKARTA Sastra, Hoaks & Humaniora, 17 January 2018, 4 – 7 PM, Dewan Kesenian Jakarta Come join the Jakarta Arts Council’s literature committee in their 10th public lecture titled Sastra, Hoaks & Humaniora. This 10th edition
15 – 21 January 2018: Indonesia Read More »
Acts of Voicing Artist Panel, Parkview Museum Singapore, 19 Jan, 3pm Moderated by Dr. Michelle Lim, Acts of Voicing is a dialogue session which presents the experiences of Singapore artists negotiating fields of artistic production and concept of the ‘international’. The practices and approaches of the shortlisted artists focus on revealing perspectives about society, narratives
15 – 21 January 2018: Singapore Read More »
“Almost a decade ago, professor Jane M Jacobs burrowed herself in research. She was investigating how high-rise buildings were a solution to housing issues. There, she came across Glasgow’s Red Road Estate. The eight towers of apartments arrived at their end and were due to be razed to the ground. “Effectively, we watched a building ‘die’,”
In Singapore, Buildings Made To Die (via the New York Times Style Magazine Singapore) Read More »
“Until recently — the 1990s, let’s say — an American critic keeping tabs on new art would concentrate on New York’s museums and galleries; cast an occasional, often dismissive eye on Western Europe; and perhaps try to visit Los Angeles now and again. No longer. By the ’90s the idea of a single avant-garde was
Southeast Asia Stakes Its Claim in the Art World (via the New York Times) Read More »
“The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is an annual awards show celebrating achievements in cinema across a number of categories from the past year. “First They Killed My Father” is among the 92 films on the Academy’s initial long list, which will be shot down to a handful before the final nominees are
Oscar predictions: Cambodia frontrunner in best foreign language film category Read More »
How does contemporary art in Singapore and Malaysia reflect an alternative to the dominant narrative of history? June Yap’s book produces a concept of ‘Malayan’ history from the 1950s till 2010s through a selection of contemporary art from the region. In re-defining history through these works, Yap is reformulating the vocation of an art historian,
Can you describe the mood of Singapore as you feel/see it? Singapore is how your favorite prawn noodle hawker auntie still remembers you take your meal with extra chili even after you’ve been out of town for six months; Singapore is the scrawny kid in the playground whose name no one can remember—until with showy
The City and the Writer: In Singapore with Amanda Lee Koe (via Words Without Borders) Read More »
“There’s no other place on Earth where such a variety of flora and fauna can flourish together. And it’s in danger.” View Kazimir Lee’s infographic-comic on Southeast Asia’s endangered mangrove forests on The Nib. Tags: comics infographic nature
What Else is Disappearing With Southeast Asia’s Mangrove Forests? (via the Nib) Read More »
