SINGAPORE – Four new commissions anchor 2023’s Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa), which returns from May 19 to June 4. Tickets for the festival, organised by The Arts House Limited and commissioned by the National Arts Council, go on sale on Wednesday at 6pm.
Angel Island, a music theatre piece inspired by 100-year-old verses scrawled on the walls of an immigration station in the San Francisco Bay area, will be co-directed by China-born, America-based composer Huang Ruo and Singaporean artist Brian Gothong Tan.
In Realm Of Silk, Canadian multidisciplinary artist Sougwen Chung, who focuses on robot and human collaborations, uses silk and the silkworm as a metaphor for transformation. Singaporean cellist Leslie Tan will perform on stage with Chung.
Singaporean performers Jean Ng, Li Xie and Joavien Ng take audiences through the Stamford Arts Centre in The School, an interactive promenade piece that reimagines the experience and concept of schools.
Last but not least is Pompeii, a collaboration between Australia-born artist Edith Podesta and local film-maker K. Rajagopal. This multimedia theatre piece is inspired by destruction and rediscovery of the ancient Roman city preserved by a volcanic eruption.
This is a small number of new commissions compared with 2022’s 11 commissions. Festival director Natalie Hennedige says it was a conscious decision to focus, adding: “Let’s meaningfully support these strong artistic commissions as opposed to stretching resources of the festival too thin.”
The commissions are also pushing home-grown artists to test their boundaries and practices, as Hennedige points out. Brian Gothong Tan is known for his multimedia, but Angel Island puts him in the position of co-director with Huang, whom The New Yorker magazine called “one of the world’s leading young composers”.
Hennedige says: “With this work, Brian gets to move the dramaturgy and the design dimensions of the work. It is a theatre piece that is not typical of Brian’s own investigation.”
Similarly, Chung, whom Hennedige characterises as being at the forefront of technology and art, is expanding her practice by incorporating Leslie Tan as a live performer in this new work.
Realm Of Silk also reflects “the festival’s intention to continue to explore technology and art in a meaningful way and not abandon it after the pandemic”, says Hennedige.
As borders reopen, Sifa is pushing home-grown artists to collaborate with international artists in the hopes that commissions can travel. Hennedige says of Angel Island: “A work like this has legs. All the ingredients point to this work having a life after the festival.”
She also cites The School as a production she can envision being staged in other cities around the world.
The founder and artistic director of Cake Theatrical Productions says: “Local artists are the engine driving the work, but there’s also something that’s universal in this work.”
Hennedige, now in her second year as Sifa’s festival director, is organising her three-year tenure under the umbrella theme, The Anatomy Of Performance. This year’s subtitle is Some People, and will also include overseas works for the first time in three years.
Australian artist Joanna Dudley will present a sound and video installation, We Will Slam You With Our Wings, at the Victoria Theatre atrium. The work replaces the subjects of 19th-century imperialistic portraits with young girls.
BLKDOG is a dynamic dance performance by Botis Seva which employs the high energy of hip hop to address the issue of depression. Another equally high-octane performance will be Humans 2.0 by Australian contemporary circus company Circa.
Returning with cutting-edge shows is late-night programme Sifa X, which Hennedige says will continue to champion the experimental and the new.
The highlight will be Love Divine, to be staged at rooftop restaurant and bar Ce La Vi at Marina Bay Sands. This comprises two programmes: Still Lives (Marina Bay) by Daniel Kok and Luke George which features rope art, and Children Of Venus, curated by burlesque performer Sukki.
While last year’s festival, subtitled Ritual, was grander and more ceremonial, Sifa 2023 zeros in on more personal stories.
Hennedige says: “Some People asks us to really look at the intricacies, the intimacies of other people’s perspectives. It’s an invitation to step back and listen to what someone else might be going through. It asks you to expand your world view by taking in another’s perspective.”
Book it
What: Singapore International Festival of Arts
Where: Various venues
When: May 19 to June 4, various timings
Admission: Free; from $38
Info: https://sifa.sg
