Preview: George Town Festival 2023

GEORGE TOWN, PENANG – The annual George Town Festival (GTF) returns from 15th to 30th July 2023, promising a spectacular celebration of art, culture, and heritage for all to experience. The 16-day festival presents a myriad of outstanding artistic works by Malaysian and international artists, featuring productions across varied art forms ranging from traditional, contemporary, experimental, and multidisciplinary. This makes George Town Festival 2023 the … Continue reading Preview: George Town Festival 2023

Music Is: An Interview with Singapore Symphony Group CEO Kenneth Kwok

Coming in as the newly minted CEO of the national orchestra was never going to be an easy task, especially when you’re taking over the reins from a predecessor who’s served in the role for eleven years. But for Kenneth Kwok, who became the CEO of the Singapore Symphony Group last December, he’s brought a can-do spirit, an ever-positive attitude, and put in the effort … Continue reading Music Is: An Interview with Singapore Symphony Group CEO Kenneth Kwok

★★★★★ Review: Chimpanzee by Nick Lehane

The hell of animal experimentation is keenly felt in this devastating work of puppet theatre. The beauty of puppetry lies in how easily we project our own feelings onto an object, given breath and life through puppeteers. And for animal puppets in particular, there is a dual layer of suspension of disbelief required, where not only do the puppeteers have to create empathy for a … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Chimpanzee by Nick Lehane

★★☆☆☆ Review: Realm of Silk by Sougwen Chung (SIFA 2023)

An attempt to bring robotics into art making proves the human touch still necessary. Touted as a one-of-a-kind performance bringing together visual art, music, performance and technology, Canadian artist Sougwen Chung’s Realm of Silk breaks convention and genre to explore how art can be created using algorithms and robotics. Inspired by the beauty of silk, Realm of Silk is all about transformation and metamorphosis, as art … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Review: Realm of Silk by Sougwen Chung (SIFA 2023)

SIFA 2023: An Interview with SUKKI, Daniel Kok and Luke George, co-creators of ‘LOVE DIVINE’

Ever imagined an arts event taking place at an elite club? This May, as part of the 2023 Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), Singapore’s Queen of Burlesque, SUKKI joins forces with performance artists Daniel Kok and Luke George to present LOVE DIVINE, a truly unique performance taking place at the lush CÉ LA VI at Marina Bay Sands. Over the course of the evening, as … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with SUKKI, Daniel Kok and Luke George, co-creators of ‘LOVE DIVINE’

SMU and NAFA to jointly offer newAdvanced Certificate Programmes in Arts Management and Design Literacy for Marketing

SMU Academy (SMUA) and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) Centre for Lifelong Education have announced that they will partner to offer two new Advanced Certificate programmes in Arts Management and Design Literacy for Marketing. This marks the first-ever collaboration between NAFA and a local Institute of Higher Learning to deliver continuing education and training (CET) programmes that synthesise arts, design and business.  Advancements … Continue reading SMU and NAFA to jointly offer newAdvanced Certificate Programmes in Arts Management and Design Literacy for Marketing

SIFA 2023: An Interview with ‘BLKDOG’ director/choreographer Botis Seva

The black dog of depression very rarely leaves. And for today’s youth, it seems to follow them everywhere, what with having to cope in a world that’s constantly at war, a place that’s seemingly not built for them. Addressing this issue is Botis Seva’s BLKDOG, a hip hop theatre performance that asks us – How do we fight through our vices and inner demons to … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with ‘BLKDOG’ director/choreographer Botis Seva

Doubt – A Parable: An Interview with director Timothy Koh and the cast of Pangdemonium’s newest show

Is the strength of one’s faith reliant on the absence of doubt? In their second production of 2023, local theatre company Pangdemonium will be staging American playwright John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable, following a stunning production of People, Places and Things in March. Directed by Timothy Koh (Muswell Hill), the award-winning play examines a small religious community in The Bronx in 1964, where the … Continue reading Doubt – A Parable: An Interview with director Timothy Koh and the cast of Pangdemonium’s newest show

Review: There is no future in nostalgia – Studio A by Centre 42 (SIFA 2023)

In Arthur Yap’s poem ‘there is no future in nostalgia’, the Singaporean poet considers that it is better to leave the past behind, as urbanisation comes into play and continues this exhausting process of erasure, over and over again. In response to this, the resident playwrights of crafted new plays inspired by the poem, and were presented as a staged reading in Studio, part of … Continue reading Review: There is no future in nostalgia – Studio A by Centre 42 (SIFA 2023)

Flipside 2023: An Interview with Pityu Kenderes, co-artistic director of The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and co-creator of ‘Famous Puppet Death Scenes’

Everyone knows the best part of tragedies are the epic, bloody, melodramatic death scenes. So why not craft an entire show that gives you the best of the best, with an entire series of death scenes one after another? Enter Famous Puppet Death Scenes, where puppets will do just that for you, showcasing gruesome, shocking, silly, and ultimately, cathartic deaths of puppets. Created by Canada’s … Continue reading Flipside 2023: An Interview with Pityu Kenderes, co-artistic director of The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and co-creator of ‘Famous Puppet Death Scenes’