Saturday, August 24, 2013

Singapore Night Festival 2013, the weekend of 23 and 24 Aug 2013

The Magic Melody. By Tigrelab. Singapore Art Museum facade.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

Do you love night projections, art performances, late night admission into the museum galleries and so forth? This weekend of 23 and 24 Aug 2013, invite your families and friends to join you to attend the Singapore Night Festival. This year, the festival grounds have expanded and now extend from Plaza Singapura to Raffles City.

A sneak preview of some of the highlights of this year's Singapore Night Festival can be found here: http://oceanskies79places.blogspot.sg/2013/08/a-sneak-preview-of-singapore-night.html.

In addition, here are more snapshots taken at this weekend's Singapore Night Festival to entice you to make a visit.

1. The green sitting area opposite Singapore Art Museum (SAM Façade).

The Magic Melody
by Tigrelab
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013, 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Fir 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013, 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Sun 25 - Thu 29 Aug 2013, 7.00 p.m. - 11.00 p.m.
SAM Façade

If you love to watch night projections while remaining seated, one recommended place to enjoy Tigrelab's audiovisual and interactive video mapping project, The Magic Melody, will be the park spaces directly opposite the Singapore Art Museum's façade. The grounds may be slightly wet after a rain, so it may help to bring along a mat if the weather is wet.

Please set aside at least 10 minutes to enjoy this light projection.

Green spaces opposite the Singapore Art Museum which provide good views of The Magic Melody.

2. The children love the circus!

Circus Swingapore
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013
7.30 and 9.00 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore, Glass Atrium


Circus Swingapore at the Singapore Night Festival 2013.

Watch the performers from Circus Swingapore dance away and fly above the heads of the audience with their stunning acts. The children were observed to love this series of performances very much. At the end of each set of performances, members of the audience are welcomed to get a trial session of getting themselves up in the air, supervised by one of the performers from Circus Swingapore.

3. A touch of romance along the Armenian Street.

Onmoonbeings
by Singapierrot
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
7.30 p.m., 8.45 p.m. and 10.00 p.m.


Onmoonbeings by Singapierrot.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

My personal favourite is Singapierrot's performance of Onmoonbeings. Set in a fairly intimate outdoor space at a corner of Armenian Street, the two soulful Singaporean jesters invite the modern audience to explore the wistful and dark corners of our souls. I particularly like the fact that Onmoonbeings is performed with the support of live accompaniment by gypsy-swing jazz duo So Ma Fan.

Adjectives to describe this performance would be primitive, whimsical and playful. The organisers will be providing some ground mat for the audience to sit on. If you prefer to use your own ground mat, please bring one along.

4. Look up! The aerial dance performance.

Pyramid of Void
by Compagnie Retouramont
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
8.30 p.m., 9.45 p.m. and 11 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore façade.


Pyramid of Void. By Compagnie Retouramont.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

After watching Vertical Extraction by the same group, Compagnie Retouramont, please make sure you stay behind to appreciate the aerial dance performance, Pyramid of Void. The dancers are agile and strong, and they seem to form a dialogue with the pyramid structure that is outlined by ropes suspended in mid-air. While watching the performance by Compagnie Retouramont, I wondered how long it would take for Singapore to groom its own locally-born aerial dancers of international standing?

5. Playing with fire can be fun!

Starlight Alchemy: Redux
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
8.45 p.m. and 10 p.m. National Museum of Singapore


Starlight Alchemy.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

If you are watching the first two sets of Pyramid of Void (i.e. at 8.30 p.m. and/or 9.45 p.m.), please stay behind on the grounds outside the National Museum of Singapore to watch the performance by Starlight Alchemy. Be thrilled by the amazing feats that can be achieved with fire and LED tools.

6. Enjoy late night free admission to three NHB museums

Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
Fri 30 and 31 Aug 2013
7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
National Museum of Singapore
Peranakan Museum
Singapore Art Museum

Too busy to visit the museums during your working hours and during the usual weekdays? Perhaps the late night free admission to three NHB museums will provide you with the needed opportunity to finally set foot into one of the museums.

I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in Baroque art and portrait painting must visit the exhibition, Princely Treasures: From the House of Liechtenstein, which is now held at the National Museum of Singapore, Basement. Usually, admission to this exhibition will be S$10 per adult. During the Singapore Night Festival (i.e. 23, 24, 30, 31 Aug 2013), admission to this exhibition will be free from 7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m. Be prepared to queue to visit this exhibition. Even though I have visited this exhibition more than five times, this is still one exhibition that I will keep going back for!

A snapshot taken at Princely Treasures, the exhibition.

7. The Quest for Knut Eckstein's works

Knut Eckstein's The Algebra of Need
Fri 23 Aug - Mon 23 Sep 2013
From 7.30 p.m. onwards
Various locations within the festival grounds

"With simple materials - bamboo and rope lights, Berlin artist Knut Eckstein, at the invitation of Goethe-Institut Singapore and National Heritage Board, creates installations to transform public spaces and poses his questions on the notion of identities in the city."

What is city life about? What does it mean to live in a city? I wonder too. In the meantime, I shall set myself on a quest to search for Knut Eckstein's works within the festival grounds. If you know where they are, send me a comment please.

The Algebra of Need, by Knut Eckstein. CHIJMES.
I wonder if we are too concerned with brands?


This looks like a work by Knut Eckstein.

8. Satisfy the taste-buds

So Sedap!
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug, 7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013,  p.m. - 11.30 p.m.
SMRT Walkway




Along the SMRT Walkway, food stalls spruced up to celebrate the Singapore Night Festival. Mouth-watering treats are probably waiting for us to grab a bite when we are feeling hungry. I have yet to check the food out here, so let me know what are your recommendations please?

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There are many more activities to enjoy this Singapore Night Festival, where will you be heading?


SINGAPORE NIGHT FESTIVALFri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013,
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013.
7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Free Admission
www.brasbasahbugis.sg/nightfestival
Download Official Map (pdf)
Download Official Guide (pdf)


Acknowledgements: Special thanks to the National Heritage Board for the invitation to the Media Preview of this weekend's Singapore Night Festival. Special thanks to Belinda Tan and Jinha Kim Photography for the permission to use some of their photographs, so beautifully taken. Note: Jinha Kim is the exclusive official photographer of the Singapore Night Festival 2013.

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