Joyce Ho is participating in the group exhibition "2023 Singapore International Festival Of Arts" at The Arts House.: Artist News

SIFA 2022-2024 will be unified by the guiding title of The Anatomy of Performance - this will be the recurring theme of the three-year arc to bring focus on what ‘performance’ in an international performing arts festival can encompass, through both physical and virtual spaces.

The Anatomy of Performance will be accompanied by a subtitle that changes each year to guide and focus each edition’s curatorial stance - further unpacking ‘performance’, encouraging audiences to see the relevance of performance articulation in the midst of contemporary complexities when created by artists and artist collectives, with strong and unique perspectives in the poly-dynamic and universal language of art. SIFA 2023 is titled The Anatomy of Performance – Some People, capturing how our experience of the world differs based on varying circumstances.

This year's title engages with the idea that the human experience exists on a spectrum. We are the sum of all the narratives that chapter and alter our lives; each trial and transformation, what our ancestors and communities have had to struggle through, our experiences as children and adults, things inherited and circumstances imposed on our lives shape how we move through life and experience the world.

When we encounter performance, we witness perspectives we can relate to, or that differ from our own, maybe even challenge our held beliefs, yet when we agree to remain in the performance space together, our personal worldview expands as we take in another’s.

Each SIFA edition features three tracks of curated offerings: CREATION, Life Profusion and SIFA X.

CREATION

CREATION is a platform for SIFA’s prime offerings encompassing new commissions, fresh iterations of works and the presentation of outstanding works from around the world to capture the imagination and inspire.

This year, CREATION brings together diverse works from international artists, while celebrating the unique artistry of Singaporean creative talents. A range of insightful Festival Commissions and exciting Invitations are set to dazzle, move, and provoke audiences at various venues in the city. As the world opens back up, SIFA 2023 presents works that compel you to rediscover what it means to be people today, embrace the joys and sorrows of being human, and contemplate questions of identity, belonging, and connection, as you soak in the exciting line-up of programmes at SIFA 2023.

LIFE PROFUSION

Life Profusion is SIFA’s virtual platform, a portal for creation and discovery. This year, Life Profusion presents PRIVACY curated by Mojoko, a series of digital works from local and international artists exploring notions of surveillance and the treatment of personal data; and prompt: Play curated by Hong Xinyi, which gathers creative responses from diverse contributors in response to SIFA 2023’s live and digital performance offerings.

SIFA X

SIFA X marks the spot for alternative and experimental expression. LOVE DIVINE at iconic night spot CÉ LA VI encompasses the bold artistic practices of SUKKI (formerly Sukki Singapora) and Daniel Kok & Luke George with burlesque, vaudeville and performance installation. Centre 42 presents THERE IS NO FUTURE IN NOSTALGIA, a suite of new performances galvanising playwrights and new writing in Singapore, and a co-production between (BIPAM) Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting,  Georgetown Festival and SIFA brings forth INTERMISSION by Thai artists Champa Saenprom and Vidura Amranand blending traditional Thai music with contemporary dance vocabulary to examine the tensions in-between.