Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2022 is on its way. This year's iteration, entitled The Anatomy of Performance – Ritual, is slated to commence on the 20th of May till the 5th of June, with pre-festival programming having already started.
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The event was announced by Festival Director Natalie Hennedige at the Pasir Panjang Power Station on the 22nd of February earlier this year. Organised by Arts House Limited and commissioned by the National Arts Council, The Anatomy of Performance - Ritual will showcase the two permeating realms that the modern era lives in - digital and physical - and how artists locally and internationally create and practice art without being bounded by artistic genres.
The programming began with +EAT, a series of seasonal capsules curated by homegrown electronic music label Syndicate. Under the programme, Capsule #1 saw local musician and illustrator Anise collaborating with Brandon Tay, Mervin Wong, Sonia Kwek, and Amanda Lee Koe for a hybrid digital art exhibition, as well as an EP release by the musician-illustrator entitlted non-breaking space; its visuals were original illustrations by Tay.
Subsequently, homegrown trio Cyber Cesspool, deførmed, and Claude Glass presented a fictional world littered with digital artefacts and rhythmic structures. It dissected different rituals and attempted to “uncover, conceal and bask in a frenzy of meaning and non-meanings.”
For upcoming Capsule #2 (Movement) in April, Kiat, one-half of the brains behind Syndicate will be collaborating with an LA-based media production company for an NFT video that exhibits a solo dancer exploring the realms of gestures and rituals in a post-pandemic setting, soundtracked by the local producer.
The last of the series, Capsule #3 (Digital Beings) will take place in May and will showcase the works of Singaporean artists Phua Juan Yong and Weish as they explore visuals, poetry, and music. Singaporean hyper-pop artist Yeule will also debut a music video, while Malaysian pop artist Shelhiel is set to showcase a visual journey of Angel-527, a character developed by the artist himself, which culminates in a performance of his track ‘Runnin, Merindu’.
The festival runs with three layers of programming through curatorial means.
Creation, a platform where SIFA showcases newly commissioned works by local and international artists; Life Profusion, a virtual space that houses +EAT, +DREAM, +READ, +GROW, and +DISCUSS; and lastly, SIFA X, an alternative spot for "more diverse and eclectic programming" situated in Goodman Arts Centre and Aliwal Arts Centre.
For SIFA's full programming, visit their website here.
