Page 15 | ArtsEquator

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Digital pantomime, Myanmar artist charged with blasphemy

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 […]

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Reading in Isolation: ‘Others’ is Not a Race and Interpreter of Winds

By Kathy Rowland (913 words, 4-minute read) Last November, when there was nary a thought for social distancing, and Corona conjured up visions of lime wedges and grimy bars, I reread Rex Shelley’s 1991 debut novel, The Shrimp People. Shelley was one of the literary pioneers featured in Artistic Director Pooja Nansi’s Singapore Writers Festival

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COVID-19 and the arts: There is a light

By Nabilah Said (1,720 words, 7-minute read) To sum it up in a nutshell, what we need is a place with soul. – From Tan Tarn How’s The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine My back has been killing me, so I have resorted to doing yoga via YouTube tutorial. Turns out my

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More than sing sing dance dance: The realities of LASALLE Musical Theatre

(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

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Zedeck Siew / Tumblr

Creature comforts: “Creatures of Near Kingdoms”

By Kathy Rowland (650 words, 4-minute read) Zedeck Siew’s Creatures of Near Kingdoms is fashioned as a bestiary, detailing the appearance, characteristics, and habitats of 50 animals and 25 plants. Why “near”? Because like the auto-combusting Ash Swallowtail and the houdini-ish Travelling Coconut, each magical creature demands less of a leap, than a side shuffle,

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Via Khmer Times

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The No-COVID(ish) Edition

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The No-COVID(ish) Edition Read More »

Photo by Paul Green on Unsplash

World Theatre Day: Tribute to Singapore shows affected by COVID-19

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

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Photo by Hailey Oldfield on Unsplash

COVID-19 and the arts in Southeast Asia

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

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KLPac

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Malaysian theatre goes digital; Vietnam’s film industry

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Malaysian theatre goes digital; Vietnam’s film industry Read More »

Mark Pritchard

Interview with Wang Chong for “Made In China 2.0”

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

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Bo Kim on Unsplash

World Poetry Day: Verse vs. Virus

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

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Courtesy of artist

The Space of/for Memory: ”Last Night I Saw You Smiling”

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

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Via Philippine Daily Inquirer

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Art in the time of COVID-19 and more

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Art in the time of COVID-19 and more Read More »

Open Calls and Opportunities: Mar 2020 (Singapore/SEA)

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

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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 Law Into Your Own Hands | Hades Fading | À Ố Làng Phố | Dragon

Podcast 79: Asia TOPA (Part 2) Read More »

Podcast 78: Asia TOPA (Part 1)

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

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Hideto Maezawa

Eko Supriyanto’s “IBUIBU BELU”: Uncomfortable Questions

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

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Nyein Su Wai Kyaw Soe | Frontier

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Why I sing in English; how Cambodian art can survive

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Why I sing in English; how Cambodian art can survive Read More »

Hideto Maezawa

“No. 60”: Klunchun unmasks the Khon

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

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Thanapol Virulhakul’s “The Retreat”: Dance, Uncontained

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

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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 overlooked composer from the 19th century. We are inspired by the varied ways that women

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TRBANPHOTO

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Rashomon in KL; Burmese cartooning pioneers

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Rashomon in KL; Burmese cartooning pioneers Read More »

Pier Carthew

Draconic Self-Portrait: An intimate conversation with Margaret Leng Tan on Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep

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

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Photo courtesy of LASALLE

From the Macarena to Chicago: A LASALLE performer’s journey

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

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Nguyen The Duong

À Ố Làng Phố: Less trick, more treat in Vietnamese bamboo circus

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

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Pia Johnson

Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep: Brilliance Is Margaret Leng Tan

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 –

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Courtesy of artist

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 something different – her mother was a water nymph, no, a wind nymph or was

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Sarah Walker

Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands: Tongue Scrapes Against Cheek

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

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Gregory Lorenzutti

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 in the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, with trepidation. I was there for the world premiere

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Podcast 77: Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet

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

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