SIFA 2022 announces line-up: Holly Herndon, Deførmed, Tiramisu and more to perform

The Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) has announced its first wave of programming for its upcoming 2022 festival.

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SIFA’s first wave announcement includes several live performances, including international acts. American avant-garde electronic musician Holly Herndon and Thai experimental duo Stylish Nonsense will perform, as will Singaporean acts Tiramisu, Deførmed, SAtheCollective and more.

SIFA will mark Herndon’s first ever concerts in Asia, as she will be playing two shows during the festival at the Victoria Theatre on May 20 and 21. She is set to perform tracks from her 2019 album ‘PROTO’, working onstage with an electronic pop choir comprising human and A.I. voices, as well as her A.I. “baby” called Spawn. Tickets start at S$38, with entry only permitted to patrons who are fully vaccinated from COVID-19, recovered or medically ineligible.

Tiramisu, SAtheCollective and Stylish Nonsense will perform at the Goodman Arts Centre on May 21, while Deførmed, Randolf Arriola and Mohamed Noor and NADA will perform on May 28.

Both shows will include performances from roving artists Bright Ong, Under The Bridge and P7:1SMA. These performances will take place under SIFA X’s Oneirism Ceremony banner.

While these performances are free, patrons will have to put down a S$10 refundable deposit to secure their bookings. Get your tickets here.

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Andy Chia, Andy Yang and Ezzam Rahman will perform under SIFA X’s Oneirism Rituals programme at the Aliwal Arts Centre on May 27 and June 4. These performances will be free and open to the public.

The SIFA X performances will only be open to individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, recovered, or medically ineligible individuals and children aged 12 and below.

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Set to take place from May 20 til June 5, this year’s edition of SIFA will kick off the first of three arcs revolving around a recurring theme, ‘The Anatomy Of Performance’. This year’s edition will focus on the subtitle, ‘Ritual’.

This year’s festival will consist of three main pillars: Creation, Life Profusion and SIFA X. Creation will spotlight local and international works that pay tribute to Singapore, while Life Profusion is a new virtual space aimed at reaching a wider audience across various disciplines of digital art.

Life Profusion will include a +EAT exhibit – curated by local electronic label Syndicate – that features Yeule, Weish and Phua Juan Yong, Shelhiel, Kiat and Strangeloop, Cyber Cesspool, Deførmed and Claude Glass and more. +EAT is made up of three multi-disciplinary capsules: Music, Movement and Digital Beings.

Music will include a hybrid digital art exhibit, an EP launch and performance by Singaporean musician and artist Anise, as well as a musical performance from Claude Glass, Cyber Cesspool and Deførmed in a virtual world with digital artefacts and more. The Music capsule can be accessed now here.

March will see the launch of the Movement capsule. Singapore’s Kiat and America’s Strangeloop will collaborate to issue a video non-fungible token and solo dance choreography backed by a futuristic soundtrack. Meanwhile, Singaporean photographer and director Lenne Chai will release a fashion film featuring a poem about anxiety.

Finally, the Digital Beings capsule will launch in May, with OnlyJuan (Phua Juan Yong) and Weish creating virtual poets through digital sculpting, while Yeule puts on a series of performative pieces.

Other programmes announced for SIFA 2022 so far include Mepaan – an audio-visual collaboration between with Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Borneo cultural agency The Tuyang Initiative – a reimagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the traditional art form of Bangsawan and more.

Singaporean filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua (A Land Imagined) will also screen his new film, The Once and Future, backed by live music from the Berliner Philharmoniker ensemble.

The plot of Yeo’s new film centres on humanity having to combine their intelligence and experiences into a single being in order to escape extinction. Tickets can be purchased here.

Check out SIFA’s first wave of programming here.

The live performances at SIFA 2022 are: 

PROTO @ Victoria Theatre – May 20, 21:
Holly Herndon 

Oneirism Ceremony @ Goodman Arts Centre – May 21:
Tiramisu
SAtheCollective
Stylish Nonsense
Bright Ong
Under The Bridge
P7:1SMA

Oneirism Ceremony @ Goodman Arts Centre – May 28:
Deførmed
Randolf Arriola and Mohamed Noor
NADA
Bright Ong
Under The Bridge
P7:1SMA

Oneirism Rituals @ Aliwal Arts Centre – May 27 and June 4:
Andy Chia
Andy Yang
Ezzam Rahman

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