Festival, Open Call

Open Call for M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018

Organised by: The Necessary Stage
  • Date:
    3 Mar 2017
  • Venue:
    Various venues
    Various venuesVarious venues
  • Admission:
    NA

Synopsis:

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018 are looking for progressive works that voice the concerns of today. Whether you are exploring themes of gender, beauty, inequality, injustice, economics, or all of the above, and more. And in whatever form or discipline you practice.
When: 17 – 28 January 2018

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M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018 will be curated around the theme LET'S WALK, from the title of a series of striking street performances by eminent Singaporean contemporary artist, Amanda Heng.

Let's Walk is one of a series of walking performances that she has created over the years. The walks are designed and carried out with spectacular simplicity and intimacy, managing to carry both the potent provocation of a protest, and the peaceful contemplation of a walking meditation. From the title itself, Amanda clearly signals her invitation to engage, connect, collaborate and move forward.

Let's Walk invited us all to think about the beauty business, and the lack of progress for women in society. In her performance, she invited members of the public to join her in walking backwards along the streets with high-heeled shoes in their mouths, while trying to guide themselves with handheld mirrors.

Amanda created the work in response to a range of worrying trends she was concerned about in the late 1990s, and are still concerns to this day. In 1997, Asia had been hit hard with a financial crisis. Many people lost their jobs and businesses, but women seemed to be the first to get retrenched.

Curiously and disturbingly, the beauty business did especially well at this time, as women were pressured to look better than their natural best. In Amanda's own words, "A lot of Singaporean women were 'upgrading' themselves, going to beauty salons, having plastic surgery and so on to keep their jobs. A woman's looks are still worth more than her abilities."

So in tribute to Amanda's work, to this work in particular, and to the many important ideas and questions it evokes, we invite you to propose your own works, to build on the provocations in Let's Walk.

We are looking for progressive works that voice the concerns of today. Whether you are exploring themes of gender, beauty, inequality, injustice, economics, or all of the above, and more. And in whatever form or discipline you practice.

Please download the application form here.
The deadline for applications is Friday 3 March 2017.


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