From cancelled plans to suspended activities, the year provided time for self-reflection. NUS Art Festival 2021 offers an entertaining event line up, ranging from installations to films despite the pandemic.
NUS Arts Festival 2021: A Question of Time. (n.d.). Arts Republic | Arts Events Singapore.
Looking for art events to immerse in? Launching its 16th edition, NUS Art Festival, themed ‘A Question of Time’, connects visitors with the ability of arts to bring them through time and space based on their imagination. With almost everything placed on hold and some even suspended, this year’s theme questions include ‘how do we measure and mark time in our life?’
Previous Editions
This annual event has incorporated art in several different ways. With different themes every year, NUS Art Festival has collaborated with several artists and collaborators from within the campus and around the world.
2019 – A Game of Numbers
Singapore | A Game of Numbers – NUS Arts and Mathematics Festival. (n.d.). ASEF Culture360.
Themed ‘A Game of Numbers’, the 14th edition of this festival dives into the different thoughts and processes of the diverse disciplines of art and mathematics. It aims to prove that arts and mathematics operates similarly, expressing answers to society’s deepest questions.
2020 – Ways of Seeing
S. (2020a, January 13). The NUS Arts Festival to Return for Its 15th Edition. Sinema.SG.
Last year’s theme, ‘Ways of Seeing’ allows visitors to consider how they ‘see’ the world around them and why they ‘see’ the way they do. This is being perceived through different ways such as: physical, psychological, and cultural. Sadly, the event had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
16th Edition – Event Line-Up
Fortunately, the festival is back this year. In collaboration with students and staff from the Department of Communication and New Media, this year’s edition involves over 300 students from the 21 CFA Arts Excellence Groups and guest artists participating in more than 30 events from dance, theatre, films, talks, theatre, and visual representation.
Art Installation
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021b, February 27). Sound Garden.
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021a, February 22). A Mo(ve)ment in Time.
Sound Garden
A collaboration between Neo Kim Seng and Space Objekt, this installation gets visitors to sit down and listen to a mixtape connected with the mixtape used to create the bench.
Furthermore, it gets visitors wondering about the next form of music storage. The use of cassette tapes suggests the preferred medium for music storage between the 70s and the late 90s.
Sound Garden: UTown Plaza
Date: March 1st – 27th, 2021
Admission: Free
A Mo(ve)ment in Time
Due to the pandemic, many restrictions have been implemented on the practice and performance of performing arts in Singapore. Fortunate, with the power of Augmented Reality (AR), ‘A Mo(ve)ment in Time’, is set to bring back the excitement of performance back to life.
This exhibition will be powered via a simple app device that offers visitors an opportunity to discover the artistic talents on campus via short clips.
A Mo(ve)ment in Time: Stephen Raidy Centre
Date: Now till April 16th, 2021
Admission: Free
Interdisciplinary
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021d, March 3). In Search of Lost Time.
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021f, March 15). Shuttle in Time.
In Search of Lost Time
Inspired by Marcel Proust’s novel, this showcase features the lightest of sensory experiences, with its ability to evoke powerful feelings.
Visitors get to enjoy 22 performances, featuring David Brugola from Italy, NUS Chinese Dance and NUS Electronic Music Lab and many more.
In Search of Lost Time: University Culture Centre
Date: March 22nd – 27th, 2021
Admission: Free by registration
Shuttle in Time
Set in an old trolley bus, used as a metaphor of life, this showcase brings visitors into two escape journeys.
Featuring NUS Chinese Dance and NUS Chinese Drama, these two tales reflects how decisions are made and how the society is shuttling back and forth between themselves and the expectation of others.
Shuttle in Time: Online
Date: March 29th – April 11th, 2021
Admission: Free
Film
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021e, March 8). Hikikomori, a Deafening Silence.
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021c, February 24). The Florida Project.
Hikikomori, A Deafening Silence
Diving into the journey 600,000 to one million youths in Japan who lives in isolation, this film features these youths in a rehabilitation centre to help them get back into society and a deeper look at their reasons for this behaviour.
Hikikomori, A Deafening Silence: Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
Date: March 25th, 2021
Admission: Free
The Florida Project
Look into the life of Moonee and her group of friends as they go on a summer adventure. This film touches on childhood naivete and youths’ joyous rapturous ignorance as opposed to a mother’s struggle and sacrifice.
The Florida Project: Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
Date: March 26th, 2021
Admission: Free
Exhibition
Another Diorama
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021a, February 22). another diorama.
Discover dioramas and artefacts, mirroring the material cultures of the past as part of artist, Hu Yun’s, continuation of his Singapore Biennale work that portrays dioramas of Singapore from the 1980s.
Another Diorama: Archaeology Library, NUS Museum
Date: Now till April 30th, 2021
Admission: Free
Dance
Kaala Chakra (Wheel of Time)
NUS Arts Festival 2021. (2021, March 15). Kaala Chakra (Wheel of Time).
This dance production revolves around the concept of time and cycles, thus allowing visitors to explore energies from within the human body. It features a collaboration with visual artist, Joshua Yang and music by Mario Vanegas.
Kaala Chakra (Wheel of Time): University Cultural Centre Theatre and online
Date: March 27th, 2021
Admission: Free with registration
With this exciting line-up, head down to these locations to experience NUS Art Festival with friends and family.
