By ila Many of us grew up with ghost stories. For some of us, it’s very much part of our belief system that we share the world with other presences. (If you’re interested, I wrote a speculative text about the Pontianak here.) When I was younger, my mom would use the word “pelesit” each time […]
Pelesits And Where To Find Them: A conversation with NADA and Teater Ekamatra Read More »
ArtsEquator organised a webinar titled “Statistically Speaking: Analysing arts audience engagement in Singapore and Australia” on Thursday, 28 January. This panel brought together representatives from the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Australia Council of the Arts to elucidate on recent research results about arts engagement, and discuss what it tells us about the future
Walk around Kampong Gelam today and it’s easy to forget how much of a rich historical site it used to be. Historical markers abound, and yet, grab any young person hanging out in its many hip dining establishments and they might not know, for example, why Kampong Gelam is so named. Uncle: “It’s even medicinal,
Aliwal Tracks: Mr Gelam and the potential of virtual worldbuilding Read More »
For former jazz pianist Peter Ng, the past year has been one of great change. Set up in mid-2019, Maduro was envisioned to be a jazz lounge and a whisky bar, but Ng quickly realised – hastened by the pandemic – that it needed to evolve. The venue will soon be featured in an online
Maduro, online jazz concerts, SIFA: A jazz bar evolves in a pandemic Read More »
For artist weish, who is one-half of electronica duo .gif, this has been an intense year creatively, and one of increased self-scrutiny. Her most recent project, Did you want more sleep?, combines sound, visual and text, and references the artist’s personal problems with sleep. It is available online via video-on-demand from now to 31 December,
Did you want more sleep?: weish knows people are tired of livestreams Read More »
ArtsEquator speaks to Andy Chia, Natalie Alexandra, Rizman Putra, Russell Morton and Yeo Siew Hua, the creatives behind The Wandering, a dance film about loss connections and a family in crisis, about what it’s like working on the film together, especially during a pandemic. The Wandering runs from 18 to 20 Dec as part of
Why everyone is dancing during the pandemic: The Wandering at SIFA 2020 Read More »
The unabashedly virtual edition of SIFA just launched its slate of year-end programmes, marked by dreamy and lush audioscapes, compelling narratives, and encounters with the audience in places both personal and private. We recommend five events to catch. A Bird Calls You To Moscow What it is: Playwright Joel Tan and director Tan Shou Chen
Year-end SIFA Spotlight: 5 things you should catch Read More »
As Singapore gets used to life under Phase 2 of our COVID-19 relaxation measures, players like Singapore Festival of the Arts (SIFA) – or its gentle rebrand SIFA v2.020 – are responding with programmes that are welcoming us back into a semblance of normalcy. SIFA’s film component, Singular Screens, runs from 4 September to 11
Singular Screens – Cinema, the way you want it Read More »
Singapore’s bicentennial year in 2019 sparked great discussion and debate about the legacies of imperialism and colonialism, which continues till today, in step with larger conversations happening globally around decolonisation, indigeneity and civil rights. With the third edition of The Arts House’ LumiNation festival focusing on migration, historian and academic Timothy P. Barnard delves into
Imperial Creatures: Singapore beyond ‘great men’ history Read More »
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 three-episode series is titled “Orang Phebien”, a term instantly recognisable to Baweanese people as the
Orang Phebien: Telling the story of the Baweanese Read More »
SOURCE X Audible Lands is a film and music programme done in collaboration by The Observatory and filmmaker Eric Lee. The name “SOURCE” comes from an existing programme organised by The Observatory. Commissioned for the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2020, the initial idea for SOURCE X Audible Lands was to present a short
SOURCE X Audible Lands: Spotlight on Singapore’s migrant musicians Read More »
(1,800 words, 7-minute read) [Note: At the time of publishing, due to the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, the production has been cancelled. We hope this article serves as an acknowledgement of the great work put in by the graduands.] Izzathy Halil has been performing since she was four – or two, if you count her
More than sing sing dance dance: The realities of LASALLE Musical Theatre 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
By Nabilah Said ArtsEquator speaks to four women that are part of the local commissions of SIFA 2020 – Siti Khalijah Zainal, Jodi Chan, Ellison Tan and Mia Chee. SITI KHALIJAH ZAINAL, THE YEAR OF NO RETURN Siti Khalijah Zainal is one of the members of the multinational ensemble in The Year of
Behind the scenes with the Women of SIFA Read More »
Located in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle in the heart of the CBD is ILHAM Gallery. The gallery is relatively new – it turns five in August – yet is considered by many to be an influential player in the KL arts scene. Some might say even more so than the state institutions. The gallery presents
Inspired moves: Five years of ILHAM Gallery Read More »
The Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama will focus on dance and physical expression this year. Since it was established as the Tokyo Performing Arts Market in 1995, the annual event has never quite stopped moving – including a move to Yokohama in 2011 – and has come to be known for its consistent spirit of
ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Picks of TPAM 2020 Read More »
By Aditi Shivaramakrishnan (1,200 words, 5-minute read) When it comes to analysing an artwork, the artist’s choice of materials can be as revelatory as other elements in suggesting what they might wish to communicate. Two forthcoming shows due to open during Singapore Art Week 2020 are good examples of how and why materials matter. Happening
In a Material World: IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020 & Justice for All Read More »
I sit cross-legged on the floor in Goodman Arts Centre, the beat from the speakers thumping my chest as I watch the forms in front of me twist and writhe. Their pounding energy sucks me in, the clashing cacophony sweeping and buffeting as it reverberates from wall to wall. Six dancers are doing their final
Embracing A Bigger Human Identity: “PheNoumenon” by T.H.E Dance Company Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1,715 words, 7-minute read) The George Town Literary Festival returns for its ninth year next weekend (21 – 24 November) with the theme of forewords/afterwords, a decidedly future-oriented focus pertaining to notions of transitions and new beginnings. Some of the festival highlights include a conversation with 2019 Man Booker International Prize winner
Words in Transit: George Town Literary Festival 2019 Read More »
