The annual Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA 2025) will return and present a record 15 commissioned local works, making this year its largest showcase of homegrown talent.
From May 16 to Jun 1, with the theme More Than Ever, this year’s lineup honours the festival’s 48-year journey. Explaining the theme, festival director Natalie Hennedige said: “In a world afflicted with the rhetoric of divide, More Than Ever, we need to resist limiting binaries and relate to each other in nuance."
Against the backdrop of Singapore’s 60th anniversary, SIFA 2025 celebrates the nation’s evolving cultural identity by positioning Singapore artistic expression at the fore, while expanding global perspectives with the invitation of distinct international artists, according to a press release by SIFA.
The festival will feature the SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square, which will host local works including SIFA’s opening performance, The Sea and the Neighbourhood, a coral-inspired installation inspired by Bedok’s coastal heritage, neighbourhood charm and modernity.
SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square. (Photo: Arts House Limited)
Created by visual artist Wang Ruobing, composer Philip Tan, choreographer Christina Chan with Singapore Ballet and video artist Brian Gothong Tan, and curated by SIFA, this large-scale work captures the ebb and flow of Singapore’s collective past, present and future.
Additionally, visitors can experience local adaptations of international classics, including local theatre company The Finger Player’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as well as Glasgow-based Singaporean Ramesh Meyyappan’s re-imagination of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
The Finger Player’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as well as Glasgow-based Singaporean Ramesh Meyyappan’s re-imagination of Shakespeare’s King Lear. (Photo: Arts House Limited, Niall Walker and Singapore International Festival of Arts 2025)
Relive Singapore’s history through Umbilical by artists Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem, a multi-sensorial performance depicting the stories of the people who lived through the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965.
Or experience a haunting reimagining of Syonan-to – a Japanese-occupied Singapore, in A Thousand Stitches told through a blend of performance, painting and live cinema by artist-curator Alan Oei, performer-director Kaylene Tan and actresses Xuan Ong and Mihaya Shirata.
Umbilical by artists Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod, and thesupersystem (left) as well as A Thousand Stitches by artist-curator Alan Oei, performer-director Kaylene Tan and actresses Xuan Ong and Mihaya Shirata (right). (Photos: Arts House Limited)
Other highlights include local comedian Hossan Leong’s Hossan-AH! In The High Arts which is inspired by Leong’s personal journey – which mirrors Singapore’s own cultural awakening – from church pianist to becoming one of the nation’s most versatile entertainers, as well as Waiting For Audience directed by Nelson Chia and Mia Chee, founders of Nine Years Theatre, a Mandarin play which explores the enduring vitality of theatre as an ancient art form.
Hossan Leong’s Hossan-AH! In The High Arts and Waiting For Audience directed by Nelson Chia and Mia Chee, founders of Nine Years Theatre. (Photos: Arts House Limited)
Additionally, enjoy four international acts including HOME by actor-creator Geoff Sobelle which presents a non-verbal performance that explores the everyday drama of what makes a house a home, as well as Vampyr, a mockumentary about stubborn shapeshifting creatures and the third part of Chilean playwright and theatre director Manuela Infante’s exploration of the non-human.
HOME by actor-creator Geoff Sobelle. (Photo: Hillarie Jason)
Vampyr by Chilean playwright and theatre director Manuela Infante. (Photo: Franco Barrios)
The festival also features PRISM 48, a conversation series curated by writer, editor and producer Hong Xinyi that explores our understanding of ourselves and our region, as well as the nation’s place within global artistic circuits.
Early bird tickets for SIFA 2025, which offer audiences savings of 20 per cent, go on sale from Mar 11 to Apr 14.
For more information, visit https://sifa.sg/.
Continue reading...
From May 16 to Jun 1, with the theme More Than Ever, this year’s lineup honours the festival’s 48-year journey. Explaining the theme, festival director Natalie Hennedige said: “In a world afflicted with the rhetoric of divide, More Than Ever, we need to resist limiting binaries and relate to each other in nuance."
Against the backdrop of Singapore’s 60th anniversary, SIFA 2025 celebrates the nation’s evolving cultural identity by positioning Singapore artistic expression at the fore, while expanding global perspectives with the invitation of distinct international artists, according to a press release by SIFA.
The festival will feature the SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square, which will host local works including SIFA’s opening performance, The Sea and the Neighbourhood, a coral-inspired installation inspired by Bedok’s coastal heritage, neighbourhood charm and modernity.
SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square. (Photo: Arts House Limited)
Created by visual artist Wang Ruobing, composer Philip Tan, choreographer Christina Chan with Singapore Ballet and video artist Brian Gothong Tan, and curated by SIFA, this large-scale work captures the ebb and flow of Singapore’s collective past, present and future.
Additionally, visitors can experience local adaptations of international classics, including local theatre company The Finger Player’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as well as Glasgow-based Singaporean Ramesh Meyyappan’s re-imagination of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
The Finger Player’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as well as Glasgow-based Singaporean Ramesh Meyyappan’s re-imagination of Shakespeare’s King Lear. (Photo: Arts House Limited, Niall Walker and Singapore International Festival of Arts 2025)
Relive Singapore’s history through Umbilical by artists Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem, a multi-sensorial performance depicting the stories of the people who lived through the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965.
Or experience a haunting reimagining of Syonan-to – a Japanese-occupied Singapore, in A Thousand Stitches told through a blend of performance, painting and live cinema by artist-curator Alan Oei, performer-director Kaylene Tan and actresses Xuan Ong and Mihaya Shirata.
Umbilical by artists Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod, and thesupersystem (left) as well as A Thousand Stitches by artist-curator Alan Oei, performer-director Kaylene Tan and actresses Xuan Ong and Mihaya Shirata (right). (Photos: Arts House Limited)
Other highlights include local comedian Hossan Leong’s Hossan-AH! In The High Arts which is inspired by Leong’s personal journey – which mirrors Singapore’s own cultural awakening – from church pianist to becoming one of the nation’s most versatile entertainers, as well as Waiting For Audience directed by Nelson Chia and Mia Chee, founders of Nine Years Theatre, a Mandarin play which explores the enduring vitality of theatre as an ancient art form.
Hossan Leong’s Hossan-AH! In The High Arts and Waiting For Audience directed by Nelson Chia and Mia Chee, founders of Nine Years Theatre. (Photos: Arts House Limited)
Additionally, enjoy four international acts including HOME by actor-creator Geoff Sobelle which presents a non-verbal performance that explores the everyday drama of what makes a house a home, as well as Vampyr, a mockumentary about stubborn shapeshifting creatures and the third part of Chilean playwright and theatre director Manuela Infante’s exploration of the non-human.
HOME by actor-creator Geoff Sobelle. (Photo: Hillarie Jason)
Vampyr by Chilean playwright and theatre director Manuela Infante. (Photo: Franco Barrios)
The festival also features PRISM 48, a conversation series curated by writer, editor and producer Hong Xinyi that explores our understanding of ourselves and our region, as well as the nation’s place within global artistic circuits.
Early bird tickets for SIFA 2025, which offer audiences savings of 20 per cent, go on sale from Mar 11 to Apr 14.
For more information, visit https://sifa.sg/.
Continue reading...