The Arts House Turns 10 and ‘Disappears’

PUBLISHED February 12th, 2014 09:59 pm | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am

The Arts House marks its 10-year milestone by ‘disappearing’ from the arts scene! Tongue-in-cheek yet contemplative, the 10-day celebrations from 26 March till 6 April will create an alternate universe in which The Arts House is replaced by a dance club, a posh five-star boutique hotel, and even a mega bookstore!

Conceptualised by Artistic Director Chong Tze Chien of The Finger Players, the anchor show The Next Page takes over the entire former Parliament House, and re-imagines the spaces through an immersive visual and performance installation show. The show invites the audience to consider The Arts House’s contributions via its ‘absence’ and muse on the question of what-ifs: What if The Arts House no longer exists? What if in its place are a bookstore, a heritage gallery, a club and even a hotel?

Audiences will be immersed in a House of re-imagined histories through site-specific performances written and performed by some of Singapore’s brightest and emerging talents, including playwrights Lucas Ho and Joel Tan. As part of the show, audiences can also look forward to an outdoor projection show on the building’s façade every night by multimedia artist Brian Gothong Tan.

In addition to the anchor show, many free literary-inspired events and activities will also spread over the two weeks from 26 March to 6 April. Visitors can take a lyrical tour through Singapore via the visual-audio installation exhibition Going Places, which features almost 30 recordings of poems about places in Singapore by 25 poets themselves. They include Prof Edwin Thumboo’sBras Basah, Eileen Chong’s Victoria Street, Damon Chua’s Katong, Lee Tzu Pheng’s Amoy Street, Arthur Yap’s Old House at Ann Siang Hill, as well as a specially commissioned piece of The Arts House by Pooja Nansi. The exhibition will run from 26 March to 18 May.

In a literary ‘face off’ that is one of its kind, Singapore writers will be paired in the programme Writer x Writer, where local English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil writers, poets or playwrights will discuss each other’s works or riff off on some themes. Some of the pairings include Cyril Wong versus Verena Tay, Isa Kamari versus Mohd Latiff Mohd and Rafaat Hamzah versus Noor Hasnah Adam. And on 29 March, two teams of writers will engage in a passionate debate in the Chamber on the motion, ‘Singapore can be a City of Literature’.

Over the weekend of 28 and 29 March, audiences can get under the stars, relax on the lawn and enjoy a line-up of Timbre bands and Singapore Original Series artists, including [.gif], Gareth Fernandez, Nick Chim and Natalie Hiong at Concert On The Lawn. Families and arts enthusiasts can also check out the pop-up flea market Art Mart.

The old walls of the Old Parliament House will come alive with tales from 2 to 4 April, when master storyteller Kamini Ramachandran will take audiences through the secret crevices of the building that were previously not open to the public during Night Walk With The Storyteller. It will be an unforgettable nocturnal experience of spooky and captivating tales, heightened by food, scent and sound.

For a grand finale to the 10th anniversary celebrations, The Arts House will be opening its spaces for a fun-filled Open House weekend from 5 to 6 April. Audiences can enjoy a variety of free books-related arts activities and performances put up by the community themselves, who had responded to our call to organise activities for the public in the spirit of an arts commons.

The public are also invited to share photos of their most cherished moments at The Arts House on Instagram. The five most popular entries will stand to win a pair of tickets to The Next Pageas well as an exclusive copy of The Arts House’s 10th anniversary commemorative book.

The Official Projector Sponsor for The Arts House 10th anniversary programmes is Epson and the Official Printing Sponsor is NPE Print Communications. The Programme Partners are Timbre Music, BooksActually and the National Institute of Education. One of the Supporters is the Singapore Memory Project, National Library Board.

The Arts House’s 10th anniversary programmes run from 26 March to 6 April. The two ticketed shows, The Next Page and Night Walk With The Storyteller, can be purchased at $10 from [www.bytes.sg](http://www.bytes.sg). All other events, including Going Places, Writer x Writer, Art Mart, Concert On The Lawn and Open House events are free.

For full information about the programme, see [here](http://www.theartshouse.com.sg).