2022 Singapore International Festival of Arts primed to be a winner

[SINGAPORE] The first sneak peek of the programme for the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2022 (Sifa) was something that those who saw it will talk about for years to come.

In what looked like a gorgeous cosmic collision between tradition and the avant garde, the preview performance mounted on Tuesday night transfixed its select audience, and heralded the much-anticipated tenure of Sifa's new festival director, Natalie Hennedige.

Hennedige is well-known for her aesthetically-progressive, multidisciplinary productions for Cake Theatre, of which she is founder and artistic director. But she has never been given a platform this large and prestigious before.

Tasked with programming a mix of local and foreign shows for the national festival, one that simultaneously acknowledges cutting-edge art practices and preserves Singapore's customs and traditions, she has expertly spliced a broad range of artistic forms to bring something utterly fresh and new to the table.

At the disused Pasir Panjang Power House, Indian bharatanatyam dancers, choreographed by Santha Baskhar, flaunted an intricate lexicon of gestures, while dressed in shimmering futuristic outfits. Malay kompang players, led by Riduan Zalani, looked like spectral beings (or orang bunian) summoned to a ceremonial stage. And fashion models, dressed in Max Tan's electrifying creations, walked the runway like fragile mutant orchids.

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To be sure, Hennedige has been doing these artistic mash-ups for years in smaller productions. But to see her dazzling abilities writ large in the country's premier performing arts festival is another matter. She spent five of her early years in the theatre company The Necessary Stage (TNS), training under theatre greats Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan, with fellow protégés Alfian Sa'at and Chong Tze Chien. But she appears more like a progeny of intercultural maestro Ong Keng Sen, who helmed the first four editions of Sifa.

In her maiden speech on Tuesday night, delivered to fellow practitioners, journalists and VIPs, she laid out an elaborate plan to mount a ritual-themed festival that "reflects a dissolution of categories or labels, to invite and adopt artistically fluid collaboration and collaborators.

"Because we live in systems of such complexity, within a world having gone through serious bouts of illness and faced with constant social and political movements… possible solutions have to be creative and fluid, so that we can overcome painful boundaries and reach each other in ways that matter most."

Tan Boon Hui, executive director of Art House Limited (the festival organiser) said in a separate speech that the festival seeks "to embrace the intersectionality of global artistic practices… beyond the silos of physical vs digital, local vs global, Asian vs non-Asian, and accept that contemporary performance globally is informed and transformed by its encounters with other genres and creative disciplines".

New festival director Natalie Hennedige gives her maiden speech wearing a Madonna T-shirt.

As if the festival wasn't progressive enough, Hennedige has conceived an even more radical component of the festival called Sifa X, which offers "alternative", "wilder", "more eclectic" performance offerings at Goodman Arts Centre and Aliwal Arts Centre. The inaugural edition is helmed by SAtheCollective's artistic director Andy Chia, who will create works that evoke oneirism, defined as "an abnormal state of consciousness in which dream-like illusions are experienced while awake".

On top of these esoteric ambitions, Hennedige has instituted other unconventional ideas, such as having the same key designers work across several productions to lend the festival a certain aesthetic consistency - something that's almost unheard of in other festivals.

Hence, fashion designer Max Tan will create costumes for no less than five different acts. Set designer Wong Chee Wai will reimagine Pasir Panjang Power House for two productions. The other key designers are sound composer Philip Tan, multimedia artist Brian Gothong Tan, architect Randy Chan, and lighting designer Andy Lim - all of whom are among the best in their fields.

If Hennedige gets to execute Sifa 2022 exactly how she described it on Tuesday night, the festival - like her opening gambit - will be one for the books.

FIVE RECOMMENDED SHOWS

Sifa 2022 runs from May 20 to Jun 5, with a 20 per cent discount on tickets bought by early birds from now till Mar 31, available on sifa.sg. Among the first batch of titles unveiled on Tuesday, here are five we recommend:

1. Mepaan

By the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Tuyang Initiative

May 20-22, Pasir Panjang Power House

Directed by Hennedige herself, this category-defying performance embodies the festival's overarching theme of "ritual". She has teamed up with a group of star designers and the SCO and Tuyang Initiative - a Sarawak creative agency working to preserve Borneo's indigenous cultures - to create music and images that evoke the centuries-old history and spirit of South-east Asia.

2. Ceremonial Enactments

By MAX.TAN, Nadi Singapura and Bhaskar's Arts Academy

May 21 - 22, Esplanade Theatre

Three of Singapore's most outstanding creatives - fashion designer Max Tan, musician Riduan Zalani, and choreographer Santha Bhaskar - come together on one stage to create separate performances that celebrate the customs and rituals of the Chinese, Malays and Indians respectively. And, no, it won't be a dull social studies lesson - not when it's mounted with spectacular production designs that conjure cosmic awe and wonder.

3. Holly Herndon: PROTO (above)

By Holly Herndon

May 20 - 21, Victoria Theatre

The immensely talented American electronic musician Herndon is set to give her first Asian concert here. She creates sonically dense and adventurous music using her voice and computer, applying everything from voice processors to Artificial Intelligence to create soundscapes unlike anything you've heard.

4. The Once and Future

By Yeo Siew Hua and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker

Jun 3-5, Esplanade Theatre

Winner of the Golden Leopard grand prize at the 71st Locarno Film Festival for his film, A Land Imagined, Yeo sets his new film in a dystopian future, where humans are forced to leave their bodies behind and upload their knowledge and memories onto one massive virtual entity. This film is screened with live music by members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and vocal performance by Anandi Bhattacharya.

5. Bangsawan Gemala Malam (below)

By Teater Ekamatra

Jun 2-4, Victoria Theatre

Malay classical opera (known as bangsawan) has experienced a resurgence lately, with a few productions planned for this year alone. None may be more visually striking than Teater Ekamatra's adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, conceived by Fared Jainal and directed by Alin Mosbit, and with costumes by Max Tan.