Singapore International Festival of Arts Goes Virtual with SIFA v2.020

Image Courtesy of Arts House Limited

Following the announcement that the National Arts Council (NAC) and Arts House Ltd (AHL) have invited Gaurav Kripalani to stay on for one more year as Festival Director of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2021, Kripalani and the SIFA team are ready to unveil SIFA v2.020. Accessible through the new SIFA All-Access online platform, SIFA v2.020 features a series of curated virtual events including talks, workshops, performances and more from 25 May 2020 till the end of the year. 

Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani shares, “This is probably the most challenging time the arts have ever faced. When this pandemic is over and it is finally safe to go out, I believe audiences will crave the cathartic and communal bond of sharing in a live performance together. The world will be a different place, as will the way we engage with art. SIFA v2.020 aims to bridge that interval whilst asking how we do that in the new normal”. 

The programming for SIFA v2.020 was designed with three aims: 

• Creating a space for artists to share their views: Audiences can look forward to live-streamed “In Conversation” sessions and panel discussions where artists from Singapore and abroad share their views on creating art and how it might change going forward in the new normal. 
    
• Professional development: Arts practitioners seeking mentoring, guidance, or inspiration to empower themselves creatively in this surreal new environment can also look forward to SIFA artists sharing their insights through talks and workshops.

• A platform to showcase online work: SIFA v2.020 will showcase work by artists created for the digital sphere to engage audiences from here and abroad. 

Four arts groups who were commissioned to premiere new work at SIFA 2020 will work with the SIFA team to create online content from late May to December this year. Audiences can anticipate online talks, workshops and vodcasts centred around their productions: OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya by The Finger Players, Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre, A Dream Under The Southern Bough: Existence by Toy Factory and The Year of No Return by The Necessary Stage. Their engagement with SIFA will culminate in the world premieres of their works which will be presented in SIFA 2021. 

Beginning with three programmes on 25 May, SIFA v2.020 will kick off with a panel session between Gaurav Kripalani, and directors and producers for SIFA 2020 local commissions, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the arts, and will focus on the exciting and innovative ways they will create and conceptualise art in the new normal. 

Over the course of the next few weeks, Kripalani and the SIFA team will continue to reach out to artists in Singapore as well as internationally to explore ways in which they can be part of SIFA v2.020. Audiences are encouraged to subscribe to the SIFA e-newsletter or to follow SIFA’s various social media channels to receive updates on the artists who will be joining the line-up throughout the year. 

AHL CEO Sarah Martin adds, “Art has the ability to inspire and uplift spirits; through good or bad times. In the last few months, I’ve witnessed an even stronger belief in creativity and coming together to collaborate. SIFA v2.020 embodies the fruit of collaboration between AHL, Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani and our panel of local performing artists and groups. This innovative platform will allow everyone in Singapore the chance to continue celebrating artistic excellence digitally. We will deliver the SIFA experience to everyone’s doorstep and keep audiences inspired to join us for SIFA 2021.” 

Low Eng Teong, Deputy Chief Executive (Sector Development), National Arts Council, says, “Though SIFA cannot be presented as planned, it is important for SIFA to re-imagine innovative modes of presentation and connect festival lovers digitally through the power of the performing arts. The creative possibilities offered by SIFA v2.020 will allow our arts groups and practitioners to strengthen their digital capabilities and engage new and existing audiences, both at home and abroad. We hope that SIFA v2.020 will have Singaporeans and the world enjoy and experience our nation’s distinctive performing arts, anytime and anywhere.”  

SIFA v2.020 is presented by Arts House Limited as part of the #SGCultureAnywhere campaign.

Subscribe to the SIFA newsletter and visit sifa.sg for weekly news and updates on SIFA v2.020