Preview: Singapore Night Festival 2018

The Singapore Night Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, but that doesn’t mean it’s letting off any steam at all as it steps boldly into its second decade. Returning this August, the annual festival once again invites members of the public to Bring On the Night as all new installations and programmes from all disciplines and all over the world are introduced to the Bras Basah.Bugis precinct.

The 2018 edition of the festival kicks off with the annual Night Lights, this time featuring a whopping 16 light installations from both local and international artists as they are set up all around the arts and heritage district, inspired by the open space to become unique, immersive site-specific works. Besides international artists showcasing their luminous works, the Night Festival has seen an unprecedented number of public local submissions to present their work, resulting in five finalists who will join the Night Lights line-up.

Of these, installations will include past festival favourites LiteWerkz, who proved a hit at the Night Festival in 2016 and 2017. This group of Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) students will this time present a work in conjunction with 3M. The work is titled Orbit, and displays a solar system inspired installation that triggers a unique sequence of light and reflections as they interact with the installation. Meanwhile, Starlight Alchemy also returns with a towering installation titled Ember Rain, where visitors pedal on a bike to ignite a shower of sparkling embers to rain down from a five-metre tall fire tower.

Within Night Lights, expect plenty of first-time entrants as well, such as lighting and technology company Max Lab with their installation titled Light Wave, a visual manifestation of wave energy transmission that has festival-goers weaving in and out suspended light rods reflected across the pool of water above Bras Basah MRT. Also look out for Singaporean accountant turned visual artist Teng Kai Wei with her installation The Leap of Faith, which reflects how she took the risk to move to the art world, as a structure lights up with words of encouragement when visitors interact with it. Finally, fashion too comes into the picture with World of WearableArt, known for spectacular, theatrical creations. In Night Lights, they’ll present eight creations, among which is by Singapore-based designer and NTU professor Galina Mihaleva’s Life Pulse (Biological Micro-universe).

In the second weekend of the festival, from 23rd to 25th August, night crawlers can also look forward to a whopping 27 performances across various genres and disciplines. Expect the unexpected with unique collaborations, such as Let there be___. by local jazz dance troupe EV Dance and local engineering firm Hope Technik, while participants are expected to fully participate with the performances such as the giant horses let loose in Company Quidams’ roving act FierS à Cheval (‘Proud Horses’). Local percussion group MOTUS will join hands with Spanish percussion troupe Deabru Beltzak and dress up as futuristic invaders to present Su a Feu, while UK troupe Lords of Lightning make their Singaporean debut as they shock audiences a dazzling display of nearly four million volts of electricity.

Beyond these installations, the Festival Village will once again be set up at SMU Campus Green over the second weekend from 23rd – 25th August, where local acts will perform and plenty of stalls hawking food and sustainable goods will be setup, with seats of course to rest your tired legs after hours of exploring. And when you’re done, head on over to the back alleys of Armenian Street to catch Arup Singapore’s Graffiti Alive, as motion sensors and lights turn the Armenian Street alleyway into an intriguing night time streetscape.

Says Festival Director Angelita Teo: “As we enter a new decade of SNF, we wanted to challenge ourselves to expand on the idea of creativity and explore possible synergies. New ideas and refreshing innovations can come from the most unexpected partnerships, and showcases the festival as a platform where people from all walks of life are able to come together to celebrate, experience and contribute to the arts.”

Singapore Night Festival 2018 returns 17th – 25th August around the Bras Basah.Bugis Precinct. Admission is free, for more information and full lineup, visit the website here