Boo Jian Wen Jeremy
She’s clad in a pink frock and ballet shoes, while he’s dressed in bright blue shirt with flamboyant frills. Piercing in her lip. Mona Lisa tattooed on his back. Radiohead blasting through the speakers. Brash, loud, assertive and, you would say, in-your-face.
Their quirkiness and dissimilarity seduce you, so you stop your march home and start speaking to them. You don’t understand what they’re saying at first, but when you finally do, you marvel at their insights and how much their actions reflect life.
That’s our personification of the Singapore Arts Festival 2008 .
To keep you updated on the happenings of the festival, we have prepared a special 9-week Singapore Arts Festival edition that will last from today till July 13. In this edition, expect to find reviews, profiles about the interesting people behind these productions and feature articles that will discuss the different themes embedded in the festival.
This will certainly be an enticing edition as the Singapore Arts Festival has moved beyond the usual and into the uncharted, and sometimes seemingly strange, territories of the avant garde.
Goh Ching Lee, director of the Singapore Arts Festival, told us, “The festival have changed over the last 30 years. When the festival first started, it’s about creating demand for the arts. We wanted to grow the arts audience in Singapore – and I think we have managed to do that over 30 years – so the festival brought in many interesting and accessible programmes in the early days. With a bigger audience in mind, we are now moving towards a festival that takes a more critical look at the art process and the art work itself.”
In this edition, we will be taking a look at performances that range from the world-renowned to the esoteric gem, contemporary ballet to traditional music, and normalcy to the bizarre. Among others, we will be discussing themes of society, people, intellectual disabilities, marginalisation and rejection, and the unknown.
For those of you who are less interested in the arts, don’t fret; we promise to maintain its regular mainstream entertainment content.
But whether you’re interested in the arts or not, we invite you to join us in this 9-week journey. After all, Aristotle said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
The subject today isn’t just about the Singapore Arts Festival, dear reader. It’s about the “inward significance” that will resonate deeply within you, a significance that reflects the different facets of the sometimes contradictory and discombobulating lives we all lead.
Singapore Arts Festival 2008
Main Programmes:
Water Fools: Singapore Arts Festival Opening Show
Edward Clug: Choreographer of Architecture of Silence
The Architecture of Silence Gala Premiere
Lord Of The Rings Symphony: A Preview
no direction
Kok Heng Leun: Director of Drift
Drift
Full Frontal: Rhinoceros Preview
King Lear: A Critical Analysis
Small Metal Objects
Haris Pasovic: Director of Class Enemy
Class Enemy: An Enemy Of The People
Singapore Street Festival:
POWer Graffiti
Battle Of The Year 08
Arts On The Move:
Arts On The Move: An Overview
Association of Capoeira Argola De Ouro
Mayang Sari Fuses Old and New at SAF
Flipside:
Flipside: A Preview
Creator of Auto Auto: The Man Who Smashes Up Cars For Music
Auto Auto
Five Foot Mini Broadway Musicals
Festival Club:
Rock The Sub
Do bookmark this page and check back here often as the links will be updated every time a new UrbanWire’s Singapore Arts Festival Special article is published.