The act of seal carving is interpreted through Chinese contemporary dance in an unconventional pairing staged at the Victoria Theatre.
For two performances on Sept 27, Dance Ensemble Singapore, its professional Chinese contemporary dance division DES Arts and Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal Carving Society are collaborating to explore how movements of the two art forms might intersect with each other.
Dancers’ bodies become the blade and the stage, the stone. Choreographers Cai Shiji and Goh Yandan slow down seal carving into its distinct stages – from the stillness and concentration before the blade is brought down to the falling away of dust that reveals the incised script.
There will also be an additional act expressing the interplay between nature and urban life, titled Architect Of Green, by Hong Kong-based guest choreographer Nguyen Anh.
The 70-minute show is under the direction of artistic director Cai, who also localises the dance by drawing on patterns such as those on the traditional kebaya and Gardens by the Bay’s Supertree Grove.
The programme is eligible for SG Culture Pass credits.
Dancers become the blade and the stage becomes the stone in Imprint.
PHOTO: DANCE ENSEMBLE SINGAPORE
Where: Victoria Theatre, 9 Empress Place
MRT: Raffles Place
When: Sept 27, 3 and 7.30pm
Admission: $40 and $50 (SG Culture Pass eligible)
Info:
sistic.com.sg/events/imprint0925
Shen Jiaqi’s Being Seen Doing Something Is Better Than Being Seen Doing Nothing.
PHOTO: CUTURI GALLERY
This show, curated by Indonesian journalist-academic Carla Bianpoen and arts adviser Henry Scott, wants to show how women artists have tapped traditionally male spheres of science and technology in their practice.
Titled Illuminations Of Women’s Prowess In Art, Science, Technology And Cultural Infusions, the small-scale exhibition at Cuturi Gallery presents four women artists from Singapore, Indonesia and Japan.
Each is a different example of how science and technology can be integrated into artists’ personal concerns – for instance, Singapore artist Shen Jiaqi’s discontent with corporate surveillance and mantras of faux efficiency.
Her laser-engraved work station, suspended in a glass cube, is pointedly titled Being Seen Doing Something Is Better Than Being Seen Doing Nothing.
Or Indonesian artist Irene Agrivina’s cross-species art installation Symbiora, which uses microorganisms to transform rice-washing wastewater into microbial cellulose sheets and liquid fertiliser in real time.
The altar to non-human labour is arranged in a structure inspired by the Pasren, a sacred space in Javanese houses dedicated to the goddess of ecological balance Dewi Sri.
The other two artists are Indonesian artist Indah Arsyad – whose 15-minute holographic video blends digital drawings and analogue recordings of sea and wind chimes to deliver a narrative of Indonesia’s connection to the Spice Route – and Australia-based Japanese artist Hiromi Tango with her experiments with kimono silk and acrylic coloured mirrors.
Chancellor of Bath Spa University Sharanjit Leyl writes in the catalogue: “(The exhibition) reminds us that innovation can be intimate, that science and culture can intersect, and that women are leading this conversation.”
Irene Agrivina’s Symbiora.
PHOTO: CUTURI GALLERY
Where: Cuturi Gallery, 61 Aliwal Street
MRT: Bugis/Lavender
When: Sept 27 to Nov 1, Tuesdays to Saturdays, noon to 7pm
Admission: Free
Info:
cuturigallery.com
Elizabeth Marlow in her newly opened By Fable Gallery.
PHOTO: BY FABLE
If you find yourself in Sentosa this weekend, check out By Fable Gallery in Resorts World Sentosa, a permanent gallery exhibiting the works of Singapore-born British artist Elizabeth Marlow.
The artist, who specialises in gestural and tactile ink works, has drawn from Chinese calligraphy to create abstract canvases meant to simultaneously capture energetic movement and evoke calm.
Her latest series, The Groundfire Collection (2025), combines ink and coffee for a more earthy palette. There are also Singapore-inspired art prints spanning the subjects of local landmarks, botanics, sports and cocktails.
All are on sale, ranging from $98 for prints to more than $5,000 for larger-scale paintings.
Marlow is an alumna of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and the founder of art brand By Fable. The newly opened gallery marks a new chapter in her creative practice, and she will be holding a series of monthly workshops too, starting at $180 for a 2½-hour session.
Where: By Fable Gallery, 01-210 Weave at Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa Gateway
MRT: HarbourFront
When: 10am to 8pm daily
Admission: Free
Info:
byfable.com