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Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is an annual arts festival held in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. It is organised b
Arts House Limitedfor the
National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month and incorporates
theatre arts
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
,
dance,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
and
visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...
, etc. Besides local participants, many of the events are by international artists.
It began as Singapore Arts Festival, (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: 新加坡艺术节) organised by the National Arts Council, in 1977, and was a biennial event until 1999. Since 2012 it has been called Singapore International Festival of Arts, run by Arts Festival Limited, and commissioned by the National Arts Council.
The Festival Director is currently Natalie Hennedige.
History
The Singapore Arts Festival started in 1977 as a national arts festival to celebrate local arts from the diverse communities in Singapore. It was a biennial event until 1999 when the Festival of Asian Performing Arts and the Festival of Arts were merged as an annual event.
In 2012, an independent company, Arts Festival Limited, was set up by the
National Arts Council to take over the organising of the festival and it was renamed Singapore International Festival of Arts.
It is commissioned by the National Arts Council.
Local productions
In addition to international acts, Singaporean productions (some in collaboration with overseas partners) in previous Arts Festivals include
ECNAD's Missing In Tall Pillars (2002),
Mark Chan's Little Toys (2003), Opiume (2004) and Dreaming of Kuanyin Meeting Madonna (2007).
Editions
2008
The Singapore Arts Festival focused on water in 2008, with both the opening and closing shows being performed on water.
The opening show of 2008,
Water Fools, was performed by the French group
Ilotopie. It was held from 23 to 25 May at
Boat Quay
Boat Quay is a historical quay in Singapore which is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River on its southern bank. It spans from the shophouses near UOB Plaza, stretching along one bank of the Singapore River, all the way till El ...
. The entire performance was performed in the
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...
.
The closing show,
Hydro Sapiens, was performed by
The Lunatics
''The Lunatics'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Yee Tung-Shing in his directorial debut.
Plot
A mentally ill man named Doggie causes a disturbance while playing at a fish market when the police think that he has take ...
from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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. It was held in
Bedok Reservoir
Bedok Reservoir ( ms, Empangan Bedok, , ta, பெடோக் நீர்த்தேக்கம்) is a reservoir in the eastern part of Singapore, to the north of Bedok. The reservoir has a surface area of 880,000 m², and a capacity of 12. ...
from 20 to 22 June.
2010
The 2010s theme, Between You and Me, was all about getting closer to the arts. For the first time, the Festival will actively reach out to everyone through an outreach programme called com.mune. Together with a stellar showcase of international performances, the Festival will truly touch you in ways you never imagined possible.
2011
Singapore Arts Festival 2011 was held from 13 May to 5 June 2011 and its theme was 'I Want To Remember'. The opening show was When a Gray Taiwanese Cow Stretched, by
Ishinha
Ishinha (維新派) is an Osaka-based Japanese theatre company. Its name means ''revolutionaries'' or ''reformers'', from ''ishin'' (revolution, 維新) and ''ha'' (school or group, 派).
History
The company was founded in 1970 by Yukichi Matsum ...
. About the migration of people from the South Sea islands to South East Asia, Taiwan and Japan, it was Singapore Arts Festival's largest-ever outdoor performance at the
Esplanade Park.
2019
The 2019 edition runs from 16 May to 2 June. The festival director is Gaurav Kripalani.
2020
In response to the Singapore government's measures in light of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Arts House Limited and the
National Arts Council announced the cancellation of the SIFA.
2021
The 2021 edition defined a working model for arts festivals amidst a pandemic – a landmark achievement capping Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani’s final term. Held from 14 May to 20 June, the Festival marked a milestone as one of the largest arts festivals in the world to be staged since the outbreak of the global pandemic in 2020.
2022
SIFA 2022 marked the start of Natalie Hennedige's three-year tenure as Festival Director, till 2024. Held from 20 May to 5 June with the title The Anatomy of Performance – Ritual, the 2022 festival featured new commissioned works by a mix of local and international artists. The SIFA 2022 journey was also extended through the new virtual venue
Life Profusion
See also
*
Singapore Biennale The Singapore Biennale is a large-scale biennial contemporary art exhibition in Singapore, serving as the country’s major platform for international dialogue in contemporary art. It seeks to present and reflect the vigour of artistic practices in ...
*
Culture of Singapore
The culture of Singapore has changed greatly over the millennia. Its contemporary modern culture consists of a combination of Culture of Asia, Asian and European cultures, mainly by Malay Archipelago, Malay, South Asian, East Asian and Euras ...
*
Music of Singapore
Singapore has a diverse music culture that ranges from rock and pop to folk and classical. Its various communities have their own distinct musical traditions: the Chinese form the largest ethnic group in Singapore, with Malays, Indians as well ...
*
Dance in Singapore
Dance in Singapore has been an integral part of its culture despite having a relatively short history of creative, artistic and professional dance. The range of dance reflects the cultural diversity of Singapore, from traditional dance forms t ...
*
Singapore Arts Street
References
External links
*
Music You Can See: Singapore Arts Fest 2007
{{coord missing, Singapore
Arts in Singapore
Festivals in Singapore