Singapore Arts Festival 2008
23 May – 22 June 2008
Singapore

Singapore Arts Festival 2008

Festival Opening at Boat Quay

The Singapore Arts Festival opens to massive crowds of audiences and diners at Boat Quay with a large-scale production by French street theatre company IIotopie. Water Fools will kick up a splash with three free shows for the public from 23 to 25 May 2008. The Opening show on 23 May 2008 was graced by guests-of honours Mr. S R Nathan, President of the Republic of Singapore and Mrs. Nathan together with Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.

A logistically challenging and visually stunning aquatic spectacle, Water Fools is part of the Water Wonders series, the fruit of a new Festival partnership with the PUB and Singapore International Water week. Reviving the historic buzz of activity on the Singapore River, the poetic show of floating water creatures, giant mechanical sets and dazzling fireworks brings Singapore’s iconic waterway alive with a generous dousing of water and wonder!

Reaching Audiences in New Ways

No space is spared when the Festival’s Outreach programme kicks off on 23 May, when some 1065 artists from Singapore and around the world come close to a venue near you. Over 450 free arts performances and events will wade their way into daily life, bringing the pulse of Singapore’s premier arts event to the people nation-wide

A first for the Festival in the Singapore urban jungle, the Festival Maze titled disSPACEments is an installation by local designer Chia Yu Hsien, commissioned by the SAF. The public is invited to wander through the maze of towers and lose their way among three-dimensional forms situated at the busy junction outside Raffles City.

The well-loved Arts On The Move (AOTM) segment is poised to bring three weeks of daily performances to public focal points. The Festival, in collaboration with the National Environment Agency, serves up four weekends of street performances at four of the island’s most popular hawker centres – Tampines Round Market and Food Centre, Newton Food Centre, Tiong Bahru Market, and East Coast Lagoon Food Village, in the new addition of Arts Where We Eat . Dining will never be the same again with a French gentleman playing melodies in Pomme D’or’s Macadam Piano, to Belgian marching mavens of La Guardia Flamenca sauntering their mix of flamenco, zapateado and palmas.

Catch the Three Tai Tai with ‘power’ hairdos and glittery jewellery between City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Orchard MRT Station.

A mass Yoga session will be held on an open field in Little India together with artists from Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts and The Chinese Opera Institute under Asian Showcase, which draws the wells of Asian cultures, celebrating diversity and individuality all at once.

On the visual arts front, one of Singapore’s most internationally recognized artists Matthew Ngui will make his Festival debut with his first solo exhibition in Singapore titled Matthew Ngui: Points of View. Singapore sound artist Yuen Chee Wai brings a subtle installation work Transient Light Whispering Breeze, together with Spanish artist Ruben Ramos Balsa.

Taking the festival to the streets, the Singapore Street Festival is back with an electric showcase of youthful energy and creativity, featuring exciting events such as break dance and yo-yo competitions for Singapore Youths. The Esplanade’s Flipside will feature Singapore artists in its free performances, alongside ticket shows by foreign arts groups such as Australia’s The Kransky Sisters and Germany’s Christian von Richthoften. The Festival Club also turns up the groove while continuing to champion Singapore musicians, by bringing more of the best local indie music onto the stages of Timbre @ The Arts House and Timbre @ The Substation.

A festival for the young and the young at heart, KIDSFEST –Forest In The City – one that weaves ideas of recycling and going green through its theatre programmes, competition, taster workshops and even a crayon mural.

For the first time, the Festival Closing Celebrations will take place at Bedok Reservoir. The Lunatics (The Netherlands) will close the Festival with their latest water fantasy Hydro Sapiens from 20 – 22 June, 8pm.

For more information on the Singapore Arts Festival, please refer to www.singaporeartsfest.com

Text Edited by Eugene Tang. Photography by Eugene Tang. All Rights reserved.