'The Open' opens up

Last year, the Singapore Arts Festival (Saf) became the Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa), under festival director Ong Keng Sen. Prior to that, the festival organised “Open”, short for Open, Participate, Enrich, Negotiate, to prepare the audience and it was so successful that it’s doing the same this year.

“Last year, 90 per cent of the 1,000 available tickets were sold,” says the pre-festival’s director Noorlinah Mohamed.

“The ‘Open’ pass generated multiple attendance and we saw an average of five visits per pass holder. This pass offers access to more than 30 events at the pre-festival. ‘Open’ has five platforms: concert, exhibition, salon (talks and forums), film and performance. The pass gives access to four of the platforms, with the exception of performances, which last year were ticketed separately. We saw many pass holders taking advantage of this by attending at least five events.

“We also saw new crowds, who are seldom seen at a performing arts event. Because of the multiple platforms, we managed to attract those interested in the different aspects of the ‘Open’ and because of the ‘Open’ pass, they were also more willing to attend genres that they might not have chosen earlier. As such, the pass allowed them be more adventurous with their choices.

“At the end of the pre-festival, we counted more than 8,000 attendances and more than 30 per cent of these attended Sifa as well. While cross-over was apparent, we’re also happy that the ‘Open” could stand on its own and we look forward to their return this year.”

Festival director Ong Keng Sen’s vision for this pre-festival was to enable audiences to understand the mission of Sifa, Mohamed adds.

“It is a new approach to festival programming. Unlike past festivals, Sifa is a curated arts festival. This means that Ong Keng Sen selects the programmes based on very specific ideas in mind, related to a specific theme. In that respect, every decision, shape and form of the festival is a response to the theme. 

“This approach means there is a strong sense of his voice, resulting in a stronger focus and vision. 

“For its part, ‘The Open’, as a pre-festival of ideas, becomes like a popular academy – a one-stop ‘school’ of life through the arts to understand the themes, issues and ideas that affect the curation process and thus help the public to better engage with the festival’s programming.

“Last year ‘The Open’ was designed in such a way that audiences would congregate in one venue, 72–13. This year, we wanted to ‘decentralise’ it in line with the notion of [SIFA’s theme] ‘Post-Empires’ and to break away from a specific centre. So this year, we have six different venues, tailored to the specific platforms. Attending an ‘Open’ event enables you to engage not only with the content, but also with the site that houses the content. So there is a strong conversation between space and ideas. You know, for most Singaporeans, venturing into these spaces would be just as much a discovery as it would be for a tourist. It’ll be like getting to know Singapore, through the arts, which is apt for an SG 50 year.”

In short, the programming of “The Open” is “more open, more expansive.

“This pre-festival is shaped to converse with the ideas of ‘Post-Empires’ more specifically, meaning the sub-themes, such as the notion of archives, what remains after a fall of an ideology, or a change in regimes or empires, be it a political or commercial empire.” 

Mohamed cites a specific example with Teatro La Re-sentida’s “The Imagination of the Future”. “The production centres on Chilean politics and at first glance, it might not have any relation to Singapore. But upon closer examination, it is deeply resonant with the changing political tide in Singapore. It offers an imagined scenario of a regime under Salvador Allende and in doing so, raises questions on the role and place of political mythic figures. In a way, it provokes us to consider our own hopes and dreams for our countries. For Singapore, with the death of Lee Kuan Yew, this is all the more pertinent. Where do we go from here? What do we want for ourselves, and not necessarily what would he want for us to want for ourselves? I’m looking forward to having engaging conversations after this performance.”

And for Thai audiences, she says, “I’d like my Thai friends and visitors to visit Singapore and enjoy it by getting to know the artists, and see Singapore through their lens. It would be great to connect the two countries together through conversations on what it means to perceive the world through the arts.” 

 

The writer wishes to thank Eileen Chua for all assistance.

 

“Open” tomorrow

Singapore International Festival of Arts’ “The Open” runs from tomorrow to July 4. 

An Open pass costs SGD 45 (for all concerts, films, salons and exhibitions). A performance ticket is SGD 35. 

For more details, visit SIFA.sg/TheOpen.