MOV:MENT at *Scape

As part of comma – a festival that celebrates the creative enclave of youth groups and subcultures in the Somerset area – six dance films are on show at *Scape.

A highlight is a film directed by Liz Sergeant Tan and Jeremy Ho, titled I Summon You. Tan is the daughter of the late Christina Sergeant, an American theatre director who was the artistic director at the Singapore Theatre Repertory Showcase.

Tan, 30, the film’s choreographer and performer, says of making it: “It felt a lot like moving through glue sometimes. There were many painful memories I had to work through to find workable images. There were also many beautiful memories I rediscovered.”

Other films on loop include one on the post-war Japanese avant-garde dance form known as butoh, a film which explores the human body and its sculptural forms; and a piece on embodying intergenerational trauma through movement.

The festival runs at *Scape till Jan 28 and includes live performances, a community art project and street dance masterclasses. A festival village at *Scape Playspace features crafting, thrifting, zine-making and other hands-on activities.

Where: *Scape, 03-07 to 03-09, 2 Orchard Link
MRT: Somerset
When: Till Jan 28, 1 to 8pm, Thursdays to Sundays only
Admission: Free
Info: www.scape.sg/venue/movment-lab

Likeables: Exhibition by Studio Juju

Home-grown design firm Studio Juju is hosting its first solo exhibition at the Peranakan Museum, and one of the highlights is a modern-day reinterpretation of a classic piece of Peranakan furniture.

Today Bench, made of solid oak, reimagines the blackwood bench inlaid with mother-of-pearl – often acquired in pairs by Straits Chinese households – found in the Peranakan Museum’s collection.

Like the other pieces on show, Today Bench was created out of a residency programme at the National Design Centre from 2022 to 2023. This particular piece was also inspired by a gallery which features the interiors of Peranakan homes in the museum, which reopened in February 2023 after four years of renovation.

Presented by Priscilla Lui and Timo Wong, who co-founded Studio Juju in 2010, the exhibition displays a series of work that aims to be both likeable and meaningful.

Where: Special Exhibition Gallery, Level 2 Peranakan Museum, 39 Armenian Street
MRT: City Hall/Bras Basah/Bencoolen
When: Jan 19 to Feb 22, 10am to 7pm daily; till 9pm on Fridays
Admission: Free
Info: designsingapore.org/events/likeables

Textures 2024

If you missed the chance to get tickets to the sold-out multisensory staging of five Singapore horror stories in Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined, there are still other worthy treats at Textures, the annual festival celebrating Singapore literature.

Written and directed by Young Artist Award recipient Marc Nair, Thank You For Holding is a multidisciplinary piece centred on the experience of connecting to a phone operator at a call centre. It brings together poetry, movement and live music.

There is a neon-themed bookstore by Chio Books, which will pop up at The Arts House, where the festival is held.

A digital storytelling experience will also be made available on Arts House Limited’s YouTube channel from Jan 19. Story Walk, conceptualised by Kamini Ramachandran and featuring stories by Verena Tay, is told by storytellers Wesley Leon Aroozoo, Laura Kee and Hafiz Rashid.

Where: The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane
MRT: City Hall
When: Jan 19 to 28, various timings
Admission: Free and ticketed
Info: artshouselimited.sg/tah-textures-2024