In the past two decades, Bangkok has sprouted several big and small international performing arts festivals -- Bangkok Theatre Festival being the largest event for local productions and Bangkok's International Festival of Dance and Music being the largest for international productions. Then there are emerging festivals spearheaded and run by new bloods like the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting that launched last year and the biannual Bangkok International Children's Theatre Fest now in its second instalment.
But in terms of boundary-pushing and high-quality productions, none of these Thai festivals have yet reached the level of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA). This year, the three-week festival presented over 20 shows from 12 countries, more than half of which were Singaporean productions or featured Singaporean artists in collaboration with international artists.
SIFA 2018, which started on April 26 and ended on May 12, saw a significant decrease in attendees (55,000 from 218,000 last year), according to The Straits Times, but also a shorter time frame and smaller programme.
The festival began in 1977 as the Singapore Arts Festival. It has always been funded by the National Arts Council and is currently run by not-for-profit organisation Arts House Limited. After a two-year break to rebrand and move toward a more independent programming, the festival returned in 2014 as SIFA and with one of Singapore's most internationally recognised directors, Ong Keng Sen of TheatreWorks, as its festival director.
Under Ong, the festival was divided into the pre-festival section from June to July and the main festival in August. The Open (Open, Participate, Engage, Negotiate), or the pre-festival section, was a programme designed to engage the public on issues surrounding SIFA's annual festival theme through performances, exhibitions, panel discussions, screenings, workshops and talks.
This year, SIFA welcomes a new festival director Gaurav Kripalani of the Singapore Repertory Theatre and new CEO of Arts House Limited Sarah Martin, formerly of WOMAD and Formula 1 Singapore. Both have brought their own take on the festival that, at least on the surface, is vastly different from that of Ong's.
For one, the entire festival programme was compressed into three weeks. And both Kripalani and Martin have a different approach for engaging the public than Ong. Apart from performances, the festival this year also featured exhibitions, screenings (Singular Screens), artist talks (In Conversation), book clubs and workshops.
Martin and Kripalani designated The Arts House, formerly Singapore's first Parliament House, as the Festival House, the official space for interaction between audiences and artists. One of the galleries was turned into a pop-up bar and restaurant, House Pour, intended for people to gather before and after shows.
"It was the whole notion of trying to create a unique gathering point. So Festival House was born," Martin said. "That whole notion that you're connecting with a piece of work, you're connecting with another person, you're connecting with a theme -- that whole stimulation is very important especially if you're trying to deliver an entire festival concept."
Palestinian artist Amer Hlehel in Taha. Photo Courtesy of Arts House Limited
Storyteller Kamini Ramachandran and composer and musician Derrick Tay in The Hidden. Photo Courtesy of Arts House Limited
Unlike the previous years, however, there is no theme for this year's festival. The media release bills this year's SIFA as "A Festival Of Multiple Themes And Layers". Regarding his vision for SIFA during his three-year term, Kripalani said: "I think one of the things I've consciously done is not programme work that falls into a box. It is about having a range of work that will appeal to people of every different taste. You can't do that all in one year. For me, it is a three-year journey. Can we programme things that touch different people at different times?" Kripalani didn't specify what this journey would be like, but in 2020, more commissioned work can be expected. "It takes time to develop new work. And by starting the process now, we facilitate the opportunity for artists to create work we would love to premier in 2020."
For more information on SIFA, visit sifa.sg.
Reviews
In the second week of SIFA, there were productions from the US, Israel, Palestine and Singapore. Here are the reviews of the three performances I saw.
The Hidden
Singapore
Directed by pioneer storyteller Kamini Ramachandran, this site-specific performance was one of three works selected from SIFA's open call for projects on monuments. The piece took place in the grounds of the Armenian Church, Singapore's first Christian church. Ramachandran and a musician and two other storytellers told three tales from three cultures as they took us into the church, sat us down in front of the parsonage, and guided us into the Memorial Garden where tombstones of prominent Armenians stand. Intimate, atmospheric, and engaging, The Hidden reminded me of the simple childhood joy of listening to and being submerged in a story.
Taha
Palestine
For outsiders, it may be difficult to imagine Palestine beyond politics and conflict, but this poignant one-man play, written and acted by Amer Hlehel and directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, gives us an intimate glimpse into the pain and indignity of exile through the life and poetry of the late Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali. Hlehel weaves into the monologues (spoken in English) Ali's aching poems (recited in Arabic). His writing and acting are first-rate. Even though he is embodying Ali as an elderly man, it feels like Hlehel is also telling his own story. And yet the play is surprisingly funny. But then again, is there a survivor tale without humour?
OCD Love
Israel
How rare it is to be in Southeast Asia and get to see performances from Palestine and Israel in the same week. Not that both states should only be defined by their conflict, but given the selection from Palestine, it's disappointing that OCD Love was the selection from Israel. On its own, however, OCD Love by the L-E-V Dance Company is yet another proof of Israel's dynamic dance scene. The piece features six dancers from five countries and is inspired by Neil Hilborn's poem OCD. Creators Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar keeps the stage bare, focusing on the dancers' exquisite muscle articulation through excruciatingly slow choreography. As the dance progresses, the rhythm speeds up, the music layers up, and more dancers populate the stage. This beautiful dance made us hold our breath, then it swept us up in frenzy.
