Whether you are a art fanatic or simply commonfolk just like the rest of us, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival will have something for you. Organized and curated by The Necessary Stage, this year’s festival will be showcasing some of the most controversial and interesting works from both Singapore and overseas. From dance and theatre to visual arts, this festival features artists from genres that will guarantee to please even the most finicky of art-lovers.
Revolving around the theme of‘ ‘Art and Faith‘, this year’s M1 Fringe Festival attempts to rekindle questions and critiques, faith relies on a confidence and belief in the tenets of the present day.T hrough the works presented, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2012 invites all to examine how art and faith can come together despite their seeming irreconcilability.
The calendar of events may be daunting but we break the festival down to highlight some of the productions that you should definitely catch and in return, you might just come out inspired or maybe even more confused than before you stepped in. But then again, that is art and the questioning that haunts your mind is precisely what makes art ever so charming.
Here are some of our picks for this week at the M1 Fringe Singapore Fringe Festival:
Tongues - Gallery Theatre, National Museum of Singapore
Tongues is the virgin collaboration between Sean Tobin and Jason Wee. It is a confessional and lyrical contemporary performance that explores the contrast, conflict and affinity between faith and sexuality. 4 bodies await identification in the morgue and as a result of a spoilt air conditioner, they wake up in anticipation of the afterlife. In and out of awareness, the audience amble and hasten with them through their dreams, memories, fears and revelations. This interdisciplinary interactive piece is a la petite mort of real-life confessions, reflections and imaginations gathered from people holding differing histories, beliefs and gender identities, from ancient to present.
Kim Jong Phil - ION Art Gallery, Free Admission (10am-10pm)
England’s Phillip Toledano explores the psychological similarities between artists and dictators. By taking dictatorial paintings and propaganda art and having them copied in China with his image infiltrating the scenarios, Toledano satirises dictatorial propaganda and undermines their perceived power while drawing humorous and at times uncomfortable parallels between the mind-set of a dictator and an artist seeking success.
Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa (Offerings for the Victims of Amnesia) - The Substation Theatre
Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa is a trilogy of plays inspired by the three main events leading to the establishment of Islam. Paired with the severely poetic nature of the Malay language, Hantaran offers a dimension that faith excludes and questions. The first 2 plays – Genap 40 and W.C. – were previously staged to small audiences, and this presentation marks the completion of the trilogy with the premiere of 94:05 alongside the other 2.
Goddess of Mercy - at the Substation Gallery, Free Admission (11am-7pm)
Local visual artist Alecia Neo and sound artist Clarence Chung collaborate to bring forth an art installation about love and faith, how each would not survive without the other. Photography and soundscape installations make up a narration about two mothers, Dr Nalla Tan and Mdm Tay Siew Hwa and their emotions as they try to reach out to their sons as they face Alzheimer’s and Cancer rrespectively.
The sons partake in different methods of beliefs as they experience first hand as their mothers suffer from the onslaught of disease. Working towards the study of life after death, the children face the elephant in the room that they need to consider as their mothers weaken. Guests to the installation are invited to participate and witness first hand the rituals of healing that though different, look towards the same finishing line, of healing.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2012 will be held from 15 February to 26 February 2012. The dynamic performance spaces include Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, National Museum of Singapore, The Substation and ION Orchard. Ticket sales start from $19 and are available now through SISTIC’s hotline at 6348 5555, via the SISTIC website at www.sistic.com, at all SISTIC authorised agents islandwide & iNETS Mobile. For further details on discounts or the entire lineup for festival, please log on to www.singaporefringe.com
