The Conjuring at Mint Lumens

If the mystery of a haunted doll in supernatural horror film The Conjuring (2013) already gives you the chills, try watching it with a life-size plushie next to you in a vintage toy museum.

This Halloween, you will get a chance to amp up the horror at the Mint Museum of Toys’ newly launched screening room, Mint Lumens, as it is being inaugurated with a screening of Australian director James Wan’s blockbuster film. The free-seating screening room can accommodate 50 to 80 people.

Before showtime, expect a tour of the museum’s spooky horror toy collection – with highlights such as a Frankenstein costume and a mask made in the United States in the 1960s – and a curated wine-tasting session at this 4½-hour programme.

In the future, visitors can expect screenings on the first Friday and last Saturday of every month, as well as on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day.

American director Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990) is slated for screening on Dec 23, and the museum has invited the public to vote on its January selection.

Some of the screenings will draw inspiration from the museum’s toy collection, which includes items from more than 40 countries. Guests can take home a nostalgic wind-up toy after the film screening.

In the spirit of an unconventional toy museum, audiences will get to see professional cosplayers rock up on curated Instagram-worthy movie-inspired sets before the film.

When: Friday, 5 to 9.30pm
Where: Mint Museum of Toys, 26 Seah Street
MRT: Bugis
Admission: $60
Info: emint.com/mint-lumens

In Our Manner Of Speaking: Altered States by The Opera People

The fifth edition of The Opera People’s recital series In Our Manner Of Speaking will use music and song to address the pressing issue of climate change with a strong focus on the Singapore context.

The recital will see the world premiere of two newly commissioned song cycles by award-winning composers set to texts by Singapore Literature Prize-winning poet Samuel Lee and playwright Joel Tan, a nominee at this year’s The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards.

Composer Jonathan Shin’s A Bestiary Of Imagined Creatures is set to texts by Tan. Tan also wrote the libretto to Wild Rice and Victorian Opera’s The Butterfly Lovers, which won in the category of New Australian Opera at the Green Room Awards in Melbourne in May.

Shin says: “Joel’s texts already contain an innate, powerful force of music and always with a sharp sense of theatre. My role is to compose a new layer of literature that is both aware and apart from his senses.”

Composer Tan Yuting, who is setting Lee’s words to music in Parrot, Root, Scientist_Fable, likewise finds a “song-like musicality” in his text, which draws on the mythology of trees in the Malay world.

The recital will be performed by Akiko Otao, Teng Xiang Ting, Kira Lim and Reuben Lai, and accompanied by Shin.

When: Nov 3, 7.30pm
Where: Esplanade Recital Studio, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: City Hall/Esplanade
Admission: $25 (students and seniors) or $35
Info: str.sg/iGgj

Ceramic Expressions: New Earth at Mulan Gallery

Twelve Singapore ceramicists are on show at Mulan Gallery in the sixth edition of Ceramic Expressions. Subtitled New Earth, the works on show respond obliquely to the planet’s various economic, ecological and social crises.

In Lim Kim Hui’s Bolt (2023), the self-taught ceramicist is inspired by playground spring riders and the drive of a charging bull in a work that embraces action and moving onwards fearlessly.

On the other hand, in Hairol Hossain’s Keretakan (2023) – meaning cracks or fractures in Malay – the artist brings together a tapestry of lines, marks and textures and tells a story of endurance and resilience.

Nagoya-born and Paris-based Yoshimi Futamura is the guest artist for this edition of Ceramic Expressions. She will show work from her Rebirth series – responding in part to the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which triggered a profound change for her.

Futamura says: “My works are like a prayer for peace and a better world than the one we currently have. If living art exists significantly within a society, it means that the society is at peace. There is more hope.”

Works on show are priced from $500 to $12,000.

When: Saturday to Nov 30, 11.30am to 6.30pm, closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays
Where: Mulan Gallery, 01-07, 36 Armenian Street
MRT: City Hall
Admission: Free
Info: mulangallery.com.sg