Comma 2025 Is The Youth Arts Festival To Know Now
This youth arts festival by *Scape is back for a third edition and its programming is more impressive than ever.
While the upcoming Singapore Art Week is the bigwig that'll be dominating the arts calendar come next month, Comma 2025 more than holds its own. Organised by non-profit organisation *SCAPE, Comma is an arts festival that focuses more on youth art participation, and accordingly, it serves as a platform for emerging artists to build a local arts community.
Back for its third iteration from December 31, 2024 to January 26, 2025 at *SCAPE's usual Orchard Road digs, this year's theme for Comma is PAST X PRESENT = FUTURE, an exploration of how the themes related to the past and present influences our future. Through interactive activities, performances, and exhibitions, artists explore themes like heritage and tradition. Below is our round-up of events that you should be looking forward to.
MUSIC DAY OUT – MAGICAL GARDEN
Featuring a roster of emerging Asian artists, Music Day Out brings in the New Year with various musical talents from around Asia and from different genres.
What: Looking for an musical activity for your New Years celebration? Make sure to check out Music Day Out, which closes 2024 in style with an exciting line-up of emerging musicians across Asia. From local rock bands, to South Korean city-pop acts, this event introduces a range of genres so anyone can enjoy and vibe out. While admission is free, registration is required.
Who: A treasure trove of diverse sounds from around the continent. Local acts include singer-songwriter Fatbear, grindcore band Wormrot, and dark and groovy electro-rock group sub:shaman. From Malaysia, '60s revival band Masdo will also be in attendance, along with city-pop band ADOY. Other acts include emerging math rock band, cotoba from South Korea. With a myriad of unique sounds, there's something for everyone looking to rock out into the new year and discover new sounds.
When: December 31, 2024, 5pm-3am
Where: Playspace and the Ground Theatre, *SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link
For registration: Here
LOST ARTS FOUND
Rediscover lost arts and traditions through the residency programme Lost Arts Found.
What: Lost Arts Found is a residency dedicated to raising awareness of vanishing and underappreciated arts trades such as rattan weaving, traditional coffee making, Chinese opera, Peranakan beading and more. Hosted by Play!, an indoor children's' playground, this interactive activity is for children and adults alike. Unwind, discover new knowledge, and find creative inspiration in lost arts and Singapore's cultural history. While admission is free, registration is required.
When: January 4 to 26, 2025, open from Wednesday to Saturday (Wed, Thurs, Sun 1pm-7pm and Fri and Sat 3pm-10.30pm)
Where: #05-02, *SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link
For registration: Here
MOV:MENT LAB EXHIBITION
This exhibit features four movement art films by local creatives, each with distinct narrative styles. Pictured above is a shot from a feature film Southwest Corner, which tells the story of a divorced mother helping her hopeless son find love.
What: MOVE:MENT Lab is a program for dance filmmaking. For its past two iterations, this program has mentored filmmakers, choreographers, dancers, and movement artists alike to create artful and experimental films. This year's exhibition features a series of films created by local artists, each exploring Comma 2025's theme, PAST X PRESENT = FUTURE. For film buffs and casual appreciators alike, this exhibition flexes Singapore's growing community of filmmakers. While admission is free, registration is required.
Who: Four original movement art films will be featured, each with a distinct style. Latex Labyrinth, directed by Wey Yinn Teo, explores themes of memory, labour and resilience in the story of the Hakka diaspora in Malaysian rubber plantations. Uneven Steps is directed by Toh Jia Jun and explores the process of cartharsis through how the body experiences and persevers through pain in butoh (a form of Japanese dance theatre).
Southwest Corner (pictured), directed by Zachary Yap, tells the story of a divorced mother-turned-fengshui master who is trying to find her adult son a wife. Lastly, Kemboja, directed by Ow Hong Xu, is a surrealist story about on navigating self-identity.
When: January 11-26, 2025, 1pm-9pm
Where: #03-02, *SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link
For registration: Here
EXPERIMENTATION GROUND
Experimentation Ground showcases performances that are truly experimental, offering a unique experience with performance through two performances, A Place We Could Not Name (pictured above) and Auction for The Afterlife.
What: Experimentation Ground is an incubation space for performance artists. In collaboration with HOTHOUSE (a space for artists of various practices to experiment and produce their art). this year's showcase features performances that delve into experimental art, offering an unconventional art experience. Showcasing two original performances, each are avant-garde through interdisciplinary artistic practices. While admission is free, registration is required.
Who: A Place We Could Not Name by butoh artist XUE explores how space is a mutable construct that is redefined through how the body interacts with it to question the themes of agency and identity. Meanwhie, Auction for The Afterlife by digital artist Vicki is an exercise of how we decide what is important to us and how this may change because of the people around us. It is a take on grief practice, inspired by the Chinese cultural practice of burning paper for loved ones who have departed.
When: January 17-18, 2025, various times
Where: The Ground Theatre, *SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link
For registration: Here
HOMEGROUND
At Comma 2025, Homeground showcases dancers who are itching to share the passion and talent with not just other dancers, but for the wider public.
What: Homeground is a street dance showcase that features diverse dance styles. In collaboration with student dancers and professional dance crews, Homeground flexes Singapore's vibrant dance community. Featuring styles like Girls' Style, Vogueing, Locking and Krump, experience the passion and talent by dancers who are building Singapore's local dance scene. With two sessions, one for student dance groups and another for Homeground residents and professional dance crews, each session has a $5 admission fee.
Who: The showcase features student dancers from various schools, including dance groups from: Nanyang Technical University, National University of Singapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and Institute of Technical Education. Additionally, residents from street dance choreography group, Break the Frame, and dance crews Limited Edition, House of KasiCunt, Under The Bridge, and M Dance Crew will also be busting out some moves.
When: January 25, 2025, 2.30pm-9pm
Where: The Ground Theatre, *SCAPE
For registration: Here