Programme line-up for SIFA 2023 revealed, early bird tickets now on sale

Running from May 19 to Jun 4 is the 2023 edition of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), titled The Anatomy of Performance – Some People.

Festival goers can expect to be treated to four newly commissioned productions and 11 invited international presentations. The Festival will continue to keep its digital presence with a new series of writing and animated art.

The works aim to inspire reflection on the depth and diversity of human experiences and how people can find empathy and expand their worldviews by taking in performance, according to Arts House Limited, the organisers of SIFA 2023.

SIFA 2023 will be hosted across three platforms, CREATION – featuring 15 unique presentations including festival commissions and invited works, LIFE PROFUSION – SIFA’s parallel virtual entity, and SIFA X – a platform for experimental expression.

Here is a quick look at the presentations audiences can expect:

A one-of-a-kind performance which intersects the worlds of visual art, performance and technology, REALM OF SILK by Canadian multidisciplinary artist Sougwen Chung combines the hand-drawn line with different types of algorithms.

These computational technologies are inspired by the beauty of silk and the natural, complex art of the silkworm, whose silk embodies the potential for transformation and metamorphosis, just like technology. 

To be presented at Victoria Theatre on May 20, it is in collaboration with Singapore master cellist Leslie Tan who will perform live in response to Sougwen’s newest creation. There are shows at 3pm and 8pm, each lasting for 45 mins with no intermission. Tickets are priced at $38 and $48.

Exploring English as the predominant language of political power, LOLLING AND ROLLING is a powerful one-man show that traces the shadow of linguistic imperialism within Korean society, and questions its impact on the “inaudible voice” of the subaltern.

It takes the phenomenon of tongue-tie surgery as a starting point, an operation performed in South Korea to pronounce the English-accented “r”. Through a blend of multimedia elements and performance, Jaha Koo unveils a practice which tries to silence minorities and deny their cultural agency.

LOLLING AND ROLLING will be performed in English and Korean with alternating subtitles. It will be held at Drama Centre Black Box on May 27 and 28, at 6pm. Each session will last 45 mins with no intermission. Tickets are priced at $38.

MOJOKO explores the duality of living life online and off in contemporary society alongside seven digital artists, creators and image-makers, including prolific photographer Aik Beng Chia and digital illustrator Barbarian Flower.

Through a series of 10 animated artworks, PR1V4CY uncovers what privacy means to artists from around the world as they ponder the questions: Is being tracked 24 hours a day healthy? What is this doing to our collective mindset? Today’s hyper-connected society willingly sacrifices privacy to stay connected to our digital lives, and how ‘SOME PEOPLE’ behave differently when their identity is disguised or unknown.

The artworks can be viewed via LIFE PROFUSION for free from May 19.

Setting the stage at nightclub CÉ LA VI, SIFA X presents LOVE DIVINE featuring artists SUKKI (formerly Sukki Singapora) and Daniel Kok & Luke George in a display of burlesque, vaudeville, and rope performance-installation that turns rope art into statements of care and social commentary.

LOVE DIVINE will be presented on May 26 and 27, at 7pm. Tickets are priced at $58. Audiences are required to be at least 18 years of age.

Natalie Hennedige, who is in the second year of her three-year tenure as Festival Director, says: “This year’s Festival is an invitation to meditate on the spectrum of the human experience. We live in this world, but we do not experience the world in the same way – our pathways differ depending on the given, or imposed circumstances.”

Early bird tickets for SIFA 2023, which offer audiences savings of 15 per cent, are on sale now till Mar 31, 11.59pm.