Singapore Night Festival: Into the annals of history

WOULD you like a quick summary of the 700-year history of Singapore – one that extends farther back than the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 and into the 13th and 14th centuries? Would you like it even more if we told you that the story would unfold in just six minutes, through a cascade of sound and images dancing across the facade of the National Museum of Singapore (NMS)?

The Singapore Night Festival 2023 is returning from Aug 18 to Aug 26, and one of its highlights is 700 years, an ambitious large-scale video work narrating the story of Singapore through the eyes of a female protagonist. It runs on a loop every night from 7.30 pm to midnight on the museum’s exterior. And it is the creation of playwright Zizi Majid and digital artists Muhammad Izdi and Jeremie Bellot (of multimedia agency AV Extended).

Zizi is a Singaporean playwright teaching drama and writing at Syracuse University in New York. Back here temporarily to work on the project, she says: “Women are frequently erased from the annals of history. So in this story, I’ve created a fictitious female character belonging to a royal family in 13th-century Temasek who gains the ability to see into the future. She leaps across time, lands in critical junctures and interacts with Sang Nila Utama, Sir Stamford Raffles and other figures critical to the making of Singapore as a port city.”

The 14th edition of Singapore Night Festival is themed Singapore, The Great Port City. More than just a festival of spectacles, this year’s edition wants to evoke the country’s past that stretches back several centuries. 

In the past decade, the discourse on Singapore’s history has undergone a significant timeline extension to highlight its early founding in the 14th century and its success as a port of call in the 16th century, among other milestones. The unearthing of the 700-year-old headless horseman statuette in Empress Place in 1998, as well as other ancient artefacts, spurred this expansion. It was later cemented by the 2019 publication of the authoritative book Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore written by historians Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong.

David Chew, the festival director, says: “At different points of these past 700 years, we were flourishing as a port city before the arrival of Raffles. So being a port city has always been part of our DNA. We wanted to acknowledge this rich exchange of goods, cultures and ideas facilitated by the island in the Bras Basah-Bugis district which, in itself, is rich with influences.

“Not only do we have here Muslim mosques, Chinese temples and Indian temples, there’s also a Jewish synagogue and museum in what used to be a Jewish quarter on Waterloo Street, the ‘Little Japan’ on Middle Road, the Armenian Church (the oldest church in Singapore) on Hill Street, and more.

“As a precinct, the Bras Basah-Bugis district is emblematic of Singapore’s history as a place of exchange.”

The festival features over 50 events celebrating that cultural wealth and diversity. Here are some of its highlights. (Note: Most events are free; a few are ticketed. Visit nightfestival.gov.sg for ticket purchasing details.)

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Port Cities Food: A Culinary Pairing Journey Down Middle Road

Various locations Aug 18-19, 25-26; 5.30pm to 7pm Immerse yourself in the historical narrative of our port city through an array of beverages and delectable food offerings. Embark on a guided walking tour down Middle Road, an area once inhabited by a medley of communities including Malay, Hainanese, Japanese, Jewish, Arab and European immigrants.

As a heartfelt homage to eras gone by, a toast with a glass of rum – an esteemed naval tradition – awaits to commemorate your journey. You can also delight in distinctive pairings of kueh (traditional cakes and confections) with cocktails (or mocktails). All the while, you will be regaled with stories of the precinct’s rich gastronomic legacy. (This is a ticketed event.)

Time Is A Black Circle

Gallery Theatre, NMS Aug 18-26, 7.30pm to midnight The museum’s basement gallery has been ingeniously transformed by artist Dawn Ng into a skating and disco wonderland reminiscent of the vibrant 1960s and 1970s. In the past, the Bras Basah-Bugis district was home to numerous discotheques, and Ng’s aim was to resurrect “that certain joie de vivre and ecstatic energy that people often quip is missing in Singapore today. We sometimes forget our origins as a port city, as well as that desire for boldness, freedom and conviviality that’s buried in our DNA”. 

Visitors are offered the opportunity to rent roller-skates on-site – although it’s entirely optional – and groove to the rhythms of a bygone era. Leveraging her multidisciplinary skills as a contemporary artist, Ng hopes to create “an ephemeral moment for the viewer through a world of colour, sound and movement – it’s the synchronicity of these elements that bends time”. (This is a ticketed event.)

Jazz’in @ Capitol Singapore

Outdoor stage, Capitol Aug 18-19, 25-26; 7.30pm to 9.15pm Traders from every corner of the world have been drawn to Singapore’s bustling port city. It’s only fitting that the jazz sessions at Capitol reflect this rich diversity at this free event. Expect a fusion of jazz music interwoven with a tapestry of influences, including classic Shanghainese songs, Indonesian dangdut beats, Japanese enka melodies, Indian pop-rock rhythms and Malay pop yeh yeh tunes. 

The lineup of performing bands includes Varsha, Yvette Atienza, The Sugar Bees, RaghaJazz, The Shanghai Jazz Club, The Jazz Djogets, Cold Cut Quartet, and Sunny Trio & Natt Buntita. Feel free to kick off your heels and dance barefoot on the grass.

The Lost Cities Series: Kampong Port Cities of the Pre-colonial Era

Fort Canning Centre, Atrium Aug 18-Oct 1; 10am to 6pm (weekdays), 10am to 10pm (weekends) Enter the Lost Cities exhibition, where history intertwines with imagination, and echoes of an ancient civilisation resonate with the challenges of the present. Curated by The Oval Partnership and a team of artists, the exhibition reimagines 14th-century kampong cities of South-east Asia as a progressive paradise. 

Here, trees are not merely commodities; they are revered as symbols of life, community and sustainability. Gender equality is not a hotly debated, abstract concept, but a cornerstone of society. Global travellers come here to pursue knowledge instead of possessions, as the heart of this world lies in its values and principles instead of its financial wealth.

The culmination of the journey presents a challenge to visitors: How can we integrate the wisdom of the past into our modern lives? How can we rekindle the kampong spirit – the sense of community and environmental stewardship – in our own neighbourhoods?

Projection mapping

Various locations Aug 18-26; 7.30pm to midnight Projection mappings will be seen at locations such as Chijmes, Canning Rise and NMS. The highlight is 700 Years at NMS, an ambitious portrayal of Singapore’s evolution spanning seven centuries. But the other projections are also captivating. At Chijmes, artists Ashley Yeo, Chris Chai and Sadiq Mansor will transform the heritage building into a dazzling backdrop for an interplay of eclectic, hyperkinetic images with the port city theme.

At Canning Rise’s Farquhar Garden, artist Abdul Shakir (aka Grasshopper) departs from projecting images onto buildings and directs his wizardry towards the unstructured canvas of natural landscapes. His visuals will adorn the garden with traditional wood carving, batik and songket motifs.