Preview: Festival House returns for SIFA 2021, with focus on healing and humanity

When Gaurav Kripalani took on the role of Festival Director for the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), he introduced the concept of the Festival House, a central location in the heart of the city, where festival-goers could gather for a drink, talk to each other, and take in the wonder of the performance they had just witnessed. After the festival went on hiatus last … Continue reading Preview: Festival House returns for SIFA 2021, with focus on healing and humanity

SIFA 2021: Completing a Journey – An Interview with SIFA Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani

Gaurav Kripalani reflects on his final year as SIFA’s Festival Director and what lies ahead. 2020 has been a surprising year for many people. In the arts scene, the coronavirus pandemic halted most performances, and changed the way we experience live events as we know it. And for Gaurav Kripalani, what was meant to be his final year as Festival Director of the Singapore International … Continue reading SIFA 2021: Completing a Journey – An Interview with SIFA Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani

Preview: Singapore International Festival of Arts 2021

Even with a hiatus in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Singapore International Festival of Arts never truly left us, taking on a more experimental thrust with multiple digital events held as part of ‘v2.020‘, featuring both local and international artists. But come 2021, with live performances slowly but surely opening up again as the pandemic situation improves day by day, the festival is … Continue reading Preview: Singapore International Festival of Arts 2021

Preview: Francophonie Festival 2021

Celebrating the beauty and culture of the French language and values of the Francophonie, the 2021 Francophonie Festival is here this March, with a particular focus on gender equality. For the first time ever, the newly established Group of the Francophonie in Singapore representing over 20 countries will be taking charge, with a total of 17 programmes will be available, including film screenings, roundtable talks, … Continue reading Preview: Francophonie Festival 2021

Preview: Patch! A (Live) Theatre Festival of Play 2021 by The Theatre Practice

With its most recent edition in 2020 wrapping up just last August, The Theatre Practice’s Patch! A (Live) Theatre Festival of Play is already back to entertain you from the comfort of home this March and April. Now in its 4th edition, Patch! brings together artists and audiences who love the often messy, sometimes raw, but always powerfully resonant nature of live theatre. Reimagined as an … Continue reading Preview: Patch! A (Live) Theatre Festival of Play 2021 by The Theatre Practice

Film Fanatic: Samsung Launches Short & Sharp short film festival

Samsung Electronics Singapore announced that it will launch a short film festival this year – Short & Sharp – to uncover a new generation of local storytellers, while showcasing new storytelling formats powered by the all-new Samsung Galaxy S21 Series 5G. Ahead of the Festival in May, Samsung is commencing a call for entries starting from 27 February for aspiring storytellers and serious content makers to submit a 1-minute short film shot … Continue reading Film Fanatic: Samsung Launches Short & Sharp short film festival

★★★★☆ Review: Offstage 3.0 by Emergency Stairs

Unpacking the absurdity of the arts scene, and the need to keep pushing at our invisible walls. Even before forming Emergency Stairs, Liu Xiaoyi has always been interested in challenging the norm, and provoking thought by asking difficult questions. With his Offstage series of work, he’s managed to put the results of those discussions into performance, reimagining how much importance we ascribe to offstage roles, … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Offstage 3.0 by Emergency Stairs

★★★★☆ Review: Pandan by Rupa co.lab

Examining the hard truths that hurt most. There are always two sides to every person – the public self we present to the world, and the private one we keep to ourselves. And for many of us, these secret selves could spell disaster if they became known, from being shunned by society, to crushing entire careers. But really, why is it that we’re so quick … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Pandan by Rupa co.lab

Review: I, Frida by Ay, Caramba! Theatre

Heartfelt one woman show of a Hispanic family’s struggles as migrants in Canada. In Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Foreign, the Scottish poet invites readers to imagine themselves as a migrant in a strange country, where ‘You think/in a language of your own and talk in theirs’. Unless you’ve lived in a country with a vastly different culture from your own for an extended period of … Continue reading Review: I, Frida by Ay, Caramba! Theatre

Review: Snow Whitening Revisited by New Cambodian Artists

Haunting, moving dance work embodying what it means to hold on when everything is falling apart. When a country has no contemporary arts scene to speak of, it would be easy for one of the only contemporary dancers to use it as an excuse to produce less than stellar work. But for the New Cambodian Artists, Snow Whitening Revisited is more than enough proof that … Continue reading Review: Snow Whitening Revisited by New Cambodian Artists