Having played a symbiotic and catalytic role in the development of Singapore’s artistic and cultural landscape for the past three decades, the Singapore Arts Festival has rebranded itself as the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), reflecting its refreshed focus on internationally acclaimed acts, and spring-boarding local productions onto a global stage.
Set to enchant people from all walks of life as they engage intimately with the arts, the Festival encourages audiences to understand that the performing arts is about stories; from familiar stories that stem from daily emotions and transform into powerful motivations, to wider perspectives which reflect on histories to actively mould our futures.
The much-anticipated Festival, themed Legacy and the Expanded Classic, runs from 12 August to 21 September, organised by the Arts House Limited (AHL), and directed by celebrated theatre director Ong Keng Sen – marking the first time the national festival has introduced an artist as the Festival Director.
“It gives us great honour to bring Singapore’s pinnacle arts festival back this year, so that we may exemplify how art is all around us, and exists in everything that we do – from the music we listen to and the media we consume, to the way we dress and decorate the spaces around us. SIFA’s return marks the debunking of the misconception that the world of arts is exclusive or inaccessible, with the Festival set up to engage audiences from all walks of life in conversations around the arts, rather than just talking at them.” says AHL’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Lee Chor Lin.
SIFA 2014’s outstanding line-up includes 12 eminent productions spread over six Festival weeks; deconstructing common notions of human dignity and vulnerability, reimagining childhood classics and famous tragedies, and treading the realms of history versus the future, reality versus fantasy.
Bringing these elements to life through drama, dance and music, are the awe inspiring groups such as the Berliner Ensemble and London Sinfonietta; renown masters such as artists Robert Wilson and Jerome Bel, alongside respected playwright Amir Reza Koohestani; and esteemed performance artists Mamela Nyamza and Nikhil Chopra, to name a few.
Event: Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA)
Dates: 12 August – 21 September 2014
Venues: Victoria Theatre, 72-13, Drama Centre, School of the Arts (SOTA)
Info: www.sifa.sg
