Singapore will be the place for arts enthusiasts to be when Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) returns next month.
Set to be held from 17 May to 2 June, the next edition of the annual event will be a showcase of works, including theatrical productions and music performances, from Singapore-based and international artists.
Themed "They Declare", SIFA 2024 will celebrate a "multiplicity of voices" by encouraging festival-goers to embrace different perspectives of life and ruminate on their relationship with nature.
This year's festival will be a continuation of SIFA's efforts to explore new possibilities in the performing arts realm, tell compelling stories, and tackle complex issues.
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One highlight to look forward to at SIFA 2024 is SUARA / ORO RUA, a festival commission from Singaporean music producer and sound designer Safuan Johari and Māori Choreographer Eddie Elliott. Bringing together Singaporean vocalists and musicians, dancers from Aotearoa, and original music compositions, the performance will present a vision of a post-Anthropocene world.
SUARA / ORO RUA will feature vocals from Aisyah Aziz, Rosemainy Buang, Felicia Teo Kaixin, and weish.
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REFUGE, another festival commission, will see Singaporean experimental rock band The Observatory take the audience on a journey through the world of caves in an immersive interdiciplinary performance that blends sound, live music, moving images, and light.
As suggested by its title, the subterranean expedition will be a hopeful one where guests can learn more about themselves.
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Those who wish to relive the tale of Moby Dick can check out French-Norwegian theatre company Plexus Polaire's adaptation of Herman Melville's classic, which centres around a captain's quest for vengeance against a white whale. Helmed by Yngvild Aspeli, the production will be brought to life by seven actors, 50 puppets, live music, and video projections.
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SIFA 2024 will also host the Southeast Asian premiere of Sun & Sea, an "ecological opera" from Lithuania's Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, Lina Lapelytė. Set on an indoor man-made beach, it will feature swimwear-clad beach-goers with stories that will provoke thoughts on climate change and humanity's failure to deal with threats to its planet with urgency.
SIFA's Festival Director, Natalie Hennedige, said of this year's event: "The intent to illuminate how performance can be approached as a dynamic arena not only for artistic innovation and expression, but also to gather and be moved by shifting perspectives has been the driving force behind each edition of the Festival. With clear Singapore identity and international presence, we continue to build a Festival that responds to the now, encouraging all present to embrace difference, and different ways of being in these testing times."
For the full programme lineup, performance times, and ticketing information, visit SIFA 2024's official website.
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