6 Microlectures On Genocides returns to Singapore after tour to Taiwan and South Korea

6 Microlectures On Genocides

As the Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) begins in earnest, get a dose of counter-programming at The Theatre Practice in Waterloo Street.

This is the return of theatremaker Kok Heng Leun’s anthology 6 Microlectures On Genocides, which quickly sold out when it was first staged in January and which subsequently toured Taipei, Taiwan, and Busan, South Korea.

Devised by Rizman Putra and Kok, the hour-long work breaking the silence on genocide comprises six scenes by six theatre practitioners.

Expect thought-provoking scenarios addressing genocide: Some moments are bona fide performance art – like Rizman stuffing gauze into his mouth to perform semi-gagged – while others are more allegorical. A contemporary Malay song becomes a fable of humans and bird culling.

Kok, who independently produced the tour under the banner of theriverproduction with some help from the National Arts Council, says the response in Taipei and Busan was overwhelming.

“These questions always come back: Why is there silence? What are the forces that police such silence? What are artists supposed to do? How do humans react?” 

The reprise was specifically timed for Sifa and the International Society for the Performing Arts congress that will be held in Singapore for the first time from May 19 to 22, when many overseas guests and artists will visit.

Kok adds: “I wondered if we could have a chance to have them also watch the work and spark some conversation. The genocide continues and the war in the Middle East has gone on for more than two years.”

Where: Practice Space, The Theatre Practice, 54 Waterloo Street
MRT: Bras Basah/Bencoolen
When: May 21, 10pm; May 22 and 23, 6 and 10pm
Admission: $20
Info: peatix.com/event/4994174

core_memory

Fresh from her group presentation at the Singapore Art Museum, 28-year-old artist Chok Si Xuan has her first solo show at independent art space Starch in Tagore Lane.

She brings her unusual interest in electronics and primitive computers to gentle life in oscillating alien sculptures. These suspended beings made from industrial materials like threaded rods and fibreglass are clothed in lycra, hosiery and polyester skins – a nod to the forgotten links between computer and textile technologies.

Chok, indicating an alien skeleton she has warped and wefted with malleable phone holders, says: “The loom is the earliest computer. Even in our use of language today, we still say we ‘zip’ files and we follow ‘threads’ on forums.”

For the materials, Chok travelled to Shenzhen’s electronics mega mall Huaqiangbei, wanting to close the distance brought about by the convenience of delivery platforms.

It was her way too of reconnecting with Singapore’s 1990s industrial history when it was a hub for semiconductor manufacturing, and there are still parallels between these Chinese malls and places like Sim Lim Square, she says.

Her latest work on the second floor is a more nerdy deep dive. Titled core_memory, it is her effort at a circuit system that mimics memory storage devices called core memory, popular from the 1950s to 1970s.

These devices were manually woven, often by women. Chok makes the circuit spell out the words core memory which results in a clacking cacophony, while the output is also used by a computer to play a game she created using “c”, “o”, “r” and “e” as navigational keys.

She says: “I see it as a process of translation. As the computer scientists say, ‘We tricked minerals into thinking for us.’”

Where: Starch, 02-11 Tag A Building, 81 Tagore Lane
MRT: Lentor
When: Till May 17, noon to 7pm
Admission: Free
Info: @starch.sg (Instagram)

Wild Rice’s All You Can Eat

Want lighter fare? Theatre company Wild Rice cooks up an unusual feast of 10-minute plays inspired by food, penned by promising Singapore playwrights.

Performed by Wild Rice’s youth wing Young & Wild, the annual ensemble showcase is paired with the company’s script incubation programme The Rice Cooker.

Watch mee soto ingredients spring to life, feel the cringe of a young woman eating hotpot alone on her birthday or hold your breath as a mystery man demonstrates how to prepare a dry martini.

Wild Rice’s resident playwright Alfian Sa’at and artist-in-residence Joel Tan have their own entries, but also provide dramaturgy for the other eight, variously by Alia Alkaff, Miriam Cheong, Dia Hakim Khaeri, Mitchell Fang, Melizarani T. Selva, Rachael Ng, Euginia Tan and Timothy Yam.

Associate artistic director Edith Podesta directs a cast of young actors who have been put through a year-long acting programme. Here is a chance to spot talents who could later become integral to the Singapore theatre scene.

Where: The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre, Wild Rice @ Funan,  Level 4, 107 North Bridge Road
MRT: City Hall
When: May 14 and 15, 7.30pm; May 16, 2.30 and 7.30pm; May 17, 1.30 and 6.30pm
Admission: $40 ($35 for students/senior citizens)
Info: str.sg/xQvy