Singapore Arts Festival 2000 moves into the next millennium with New Inspiration. For three weeks in June, we bring a festival we believe will inspire, challenge, surprise and entertain everyone.
Great works and great artists from overseas will perform alongside Singapore's best. There will be world and Asian premieres. Look out for special Festival commissioned works. Making a world debut is Hot Water, created by Robert Wilson, a towering figure in the world of experimental theatre and performed by Tzimon Barto. At the Festival gala opening, Desdemona, directed by Ong Keng Sen, unfolds a unique spectacle of cultural styles and traditions.
There will also be productions from unfamiliar places, like Reunion Island, and performances at new venues. While not forgetting tradition, the Festival gives emphasis to contemporary development in the arts, including multi-media works.
Not all the fun happens in the core festival. Look out for traditional performances at the Festival Village in the rustic setting of Fort Canning Park. Watch out for cutting-edge performances by Singapore’s young rising stars in the Late Night Series and for Kidsfest organised specially for children.
To enhance the mood of festivity around the island and to give the Festival greater visibility is Arts On the Move. Happening throughout the Festival, Arts On the Move will bring free events outdoors to the parks, town centres and shopping districts. There will be exciting and large-scale events on weekends, climaxing in the Closing Celebrations.
In all, the Festival will present over 300 performances by more than 80 Singapore and foreign groups. It aspires to be an international festival with a distinct Asian identity. Indeed, more than half of the performances in the core festival come from Asia.
On behalf of the National Arts Council, a big thank you goes to our partners who have made the Festival possible with their generous contributions.
I hope you, your families and friends will spend time together enjoying the multi-cultural programmes of the Singapore Arts Festival.
– Liu Thai Ker (National Arts Council Chairman)
(Source: National Arts Council Programme)