When we were in Singapore they were running the annual 10-day ‘Indian Festival of the Arts’ at the Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay. This coincided with the Indian holiday of Deepavali in November, but there are many other festivals held during the year that celebrate Singapore’s rich multicultural heritage.
Some of the free events for November 2014 included shadow puppets, fusion beats, Bollywood dancing, musical performances, film, fashion, story-telling and food. (http://www.kalaautsavam.com/2014/free-programmes-2/)
Here is a small sampling of the artworks and performances from our trip in 2011.
Outside the building were artworks of sand, holi powder and designs.
The interior spaces were full of translucent coloured paper decorated with patterns similar to the henna designs drawn on the hands and feet of Indian women, positioned overhead to take advantage of the natural light streaming in.
The concourse had sculptures formed with arrays of coloured string. I notice that 2014’s show also featured stringed sculptures. From their website: “Coloured Strings : Revision of the Optics employs colour and the vibration of bells to reference an ancient spiritual practice associated to healing and wellbeing.”
In a free performance on a warm Singapore evening, we watched as Vishnu danced while his extremely well-dressed ‘gopis’ (milkmaids) fluttered around him.
An index of performances and events at the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, is available at : http://www.esplanade.com/index.jsp
From my Albatz Travel Blog, a look at the interesting architecture of the exterior of the building: http://elizabatz.com/2014/11/21/weekly-photo-challenge-angular-durian/
