Things To Do In Singapore: i Light Singapore Kicks Off With A Spectacular Show & More
Our weekly edit of things to check out.
By Keng Yang Shuen,
This week, don't miss out on the many beautiful artworks dotting the Marina Bay precinct with the launch of i Light Singapore, the annual light-based festival that's always a major draw. Details below.
i Light Singapore, Asia's leading sustainable light festival, is back with a bumper crop this year. There'll be some 20 installations by artists from 14 countries spread out all over the Marina Bay precinct, each aiming to call attention to sustainability and environmental issues through different means.
For example, Underworld (pictured) by Swedish artist Aleksandra Stratimirovic and Argentinian artist Leonel Kaplan depicts an imaginary undersea settlement with giant lanterns made of discarded fishing nets. Set against the backdrop of a soundscape featuring haunting echoes of the sea, the artwork calls attention to the fragility of our marine ecosystem.
Other works such as the Waste Not Want Not installation by local art collective Tell Your Children will feature four larger-than-life inflatable sculptures of fruits and vegetables commonly found in our homes, but with a stylised twist. Depicting “ugly” food – which is in no way lacking in nutrition or taste, yet often ends up discarded as waste in the bins purely because of their less-than-optimal aesthetics – this artwork challenges these stereotypes and prompts the question: “What makes food beautiful?” It implores visitors to look beyond the surface, rethink their choices, and consume more consciously in a world where food waste is a perennial and worsening problem.
Check out the full listing of artwork locations and programmes here.
Opens June 3 to June 26 at various locations
It's graduation season and like its peers, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) is also putting on a showcase titled The Grad Show for students across various disciplines.
Unlike the past two iterations, this year's edition will include a physical exhibition alongside a digital version – the better to see the works of nearly 500 students across students from NAFA’s Fine Art, 3D Design, Design & Media, and Fashion Studies programmes. There will also be a physical runway show for the Fashion Studies students which we believe is probably still an optimal way in which to see how the designs move in person.
Check out the graduates' works online here.
June 2 to July 20, noon to 7pm at NAFA Campus, 1 & 2, 80 Bencoolen Street
The Singapore International Festival of Arts is the biggest and most prestigious performing arts event on the calendar and this year's buffet of programmes is more inter-disciplinary than ever before, so there's really something for every demographic.
Organised by Arts House Limited, this year's edition is helmed by new festival director Natalie Hennedige, better known as the artistic director of Cake theatre (the latter is lauded for their spectacularly experimental works). Under Hennedige's direction, SIFA has increasingly blended and combined many different art forms. This includes fashion, which saw fashion designer Max Tan conceptualising and designing pieces for a performance piece as a sartorial love letter to his mother, eschewing traditional labels such as "dance" or "theatre".
The entire festival was conceptualised in three layers of programming – Creations (original commissions by local and international artists), Life Profusions (works designed for the virtual realm), and Sifa X (home to more alternative shows). It can feel a bit confusing and overwhelming, but that's the fun and challenge of it when you open your minds to trying new things.
Check out the full line-up here.
On now till June 5 at various locations