*SCAPE to hold inaugural ‘comma’ arts festival; to feature young artists from different art disciplines

Music conferences, workshops, a dance residency showcase and an art project exhibition are just some of the things visitors can expect at comma by *SCAPE.

comma, a creative arts festival consisting of curated programmes focused on music, dance, and visual arts, will run from Dec 16, 2022 to Jan 15, 2023.

The name comma, which indicates an unfinished sentence, is said to reflect the “fluidity of the arts and never-ending pursuit for excellence among our young creatives”.

According to *SCAPE, the inaugural festival is aimed to inspire, showcase and celebrate youth in their artistic pursuits. It will feature an array of creatives who have journeyed with *SCAPE over the years through mentorships, incubations, or residencies.

One of the events of comma, Music Day Out!, held from Dec 21 to 23, will see a series of music conferences and workshops featuring a variety of speakers and networking opportunities.

The event aims to support local indie artists by providing them a space to meet creative and cultural entrepreneurs, organisations, and practitioners to expand their knowledge and resources in the music industry.

As part of fringe activities, music-lovers can also enjoy a music scoring workshop that features members of the industry including Alex Oh and Teo Wei Yong. They will be sharing techniques, strategies and problem-solving skills in music scoring for a variety of media such as short films and advertisements. 

These final works will be screened in February 2023 as part of efforts to support local music. More information on the screening will be released in January 2023.

Another event at comma is my_space, the first dance residency showcase by *SCAPE, featuring its 2022 dance residents on Jan 6 and 7, 2023.

my_space will feature two performances, each choreographed by a different *SCAPE dance resident that explores the relationship between humans and the spaces they occupy.

This year, residents will also be experimenting and performing with HoloLens technology to give audiences a look at how technology can be incorporated into dance choreographies.

From Dec 14 to Jan 14, 2023, youths can also participate in a variety of dance programmes taught by South Korean street dance instructor Girin Jang. They can also catch performances and workshops by dance groups K-Pop Dance Off, Roar City Grounds and Lion City Lockers.

Another highlight of comma is MOV:MENT, which will feature four incubated dance films from MOV:MENT Lab – a workshop that invites youth filmmakers, choreographers, dance and movement artists to collaborate and create screen-based works. 

MOV:MENT, will also be part of Singapore Art Week 2023.

As part of the exhibition, selected works from local and international artists will also be showcased.

Making an appearance at comma as well is Wallflowers Somerset, an exhibition of a community art project where participants were invited to translate the hidden sights and sounds of Somerset into art, music, and video creations. 

Visitors of the exhibition can rediscover the everyday lives of Singaporeans through the outcome of the community art project. 

Those interested can register or find more information on the festival programmes through its website.