SIFA 2023: An Interview with dancer Muna Tseng, creator of ‘Me, You, Then, Now’

Hong Kong-born, New York-based dance artist Muna Tseng has made a name for herself over the years, developing a four decade-long illustrious career working at the fluid intersections of contemporary dance, visual design, new music and avant-garde theatre. In her work Me, You, Then, Now, which plays for one night only at the 2023 Singapore International Festival of Arts, audience members are invited to join … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with dancer Muna Tseng, creator of ‘Me, You, Then, Now’

SIFA 2023: An Interview with Andrea Salustri, creator of ‘MATERIA’

The star of Andrea Salustri’s show MATERIA is not a person, but a material – polystyrene, one of the most common forms of plastic. Under Salustri’s manipulation, he allows it to come alive, and questions how we engage with objects, and to consider the life behind the ordinary. MATERIA also explores the balance between being a facilitator and being a performer, as the focus gradually shifts … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with Andrea Salustri, creator of ‘MATERIA’

SIFA 2023: An Interview with Festival Director Natalie Hennedige

In 2022, Natalie Hennedige went from artistic director of Cake Theatre, to Festival Director of the annual Singapore International Festival of Arts. Together with her team, the veteran theatremaker programmed a slew of works in her debut year, and established her own spin on the festival by theming each edition around ‘The Anatomy of Performance’, specifically zooming in on the concept of rituals last year. … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with Festival Director Natalie Hennedige

SIFA 2023: An Interview with Hyerim Jang, choreographer behind ‘Abyss’

The concept of ‘han’ in Korea refers to a feeling of multiple layers of sorrow and sadness that represents the suffering of Korean lives from wars and colonialism. These days, it still persists, even if more removed from its historical context, and continues to plague even the modern Korean person with its sadness. Artistic director of 99 Art Company Hyerim Jang seeks to address that … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with Hyerim Jang, choreographer behind ‘Abyss’

SIFA 2023: An Interview with Brian Gothong Tan and Huang Ruo, co-creators of ‘Angel Island’

With its continued mention across history books, film and other media, most people would be familiar with New York’s Ellis Island, a symbol of the American Dream that welcomed European migrants to America searching for a new hopeful life, along with its proximity to the Statue of Liberty. But few know about Ellis Island’s counterpart – Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, which instead … Continue reading SIFA 2023: An Interview with Brian Gothong Tan and Huang Ruo, co-creators of ‘Angel Island’

SRT’s Shakespeare In The Park 2023: An Interview with ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ director Guy Unsworth, and actors Julie Wee and Ghafir Akbar

As the weather grows ever warmer and the days stretch ever longer, there’s at least one moment of respite that’s looming on the horizon – the long-awaited comeback of Singapore Repertory Theatre’s (SRT) Shakespeare In The Park series, which makes a triumphant return to Fort Canning Park this week, with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With five years between the previous edition (Julius Caesar, 2018) and … Continue reading SRT’s Shakespeare In The Park 2023: An Interview with ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ director Guy Unsworth, and actors Julie Wee and Ghafir Akbar

Gangguan!’s ‘Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns?’: An Interview with writer Edward Eng and director Adeeb Fazah

Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 play Rhinoceros holds an absurd premise: over the course of the play, all but one of the residents of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinoceroses. As strange as it may sound, it is as apt a play at the time as can be, as it wrestled with themes of Fascism and Nazism in a post World War era, and how … Continue reading Gangguan!’s ‘Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns?’: An Interview with writer Edward Eng and director Adeeb Fazah

Crossing the Farther Shore: An Interview with Vietnamese-American artist Dinh Q. Lê

In Carol Ann Duffy’s War Photographer, the Scottish poet writes ‘The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears’ when they see horrific images of war-torn countries in the papers. But while photos of Vietnam in the past focus almost entirely on the Vietnam War, Vietnamese-American artist Dinh Q. Lê seeks to do something quite different from evoking feelings of sympathy in his work Crossing the Farther Shore, … Continue reading Crossing the Farther Shore: An Interview with Vietnamese-American artist Dinh Q. Lê

Of Books and Things: An Interview with Renée Ting, Founding Director of Singapore Art Book Fair

For years now, the annual Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) has been building up a name for itself as a haven for anyone with even the slightest interest in independent publishing, art books and zines. Now, returning for its tenth and largest edition yet this weekend, both the curious and the passionate visitor can once again come down to SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark and … Continue reading Of Books and Things: An Interview with Renée Ting, Founding Director of Singapore Art Book Fair

Per°Form Open Academy: An Interview with Ong Keng Sen on the development of public space for dialogue and exchange

T:>Works Artistic Director, Dr. Ong Keng Sen, sees a multitude of problems all around him. The cost of living for one, has gone up, and weighs down on everyone’s minds. The brain drain and mass exodus of intellectuals who can no longer stand living in Singapore, seems to be a widely accepted fact. And in a post-pandemic world, where everything seems fleeting and temporal, the … Continue reading Per°Form Open Academy: An Interview with Ong Keng Sen on the development of public space for dialogue and exchange