A Journey Well-spent in the Spaces Between

In the blink of an eye, the annual NUS Arts Festival 2023: Spaces Between has come and gone. An enthusiastic crowd of 7,600 audience members turned up to support more than 20 live performances, films, public art installations and dialogue sessions across three weekends in March. Close to 800 National University of Singapore (NUS) students, alumni, faculty, staff and collaborators took part — nearly twice that of 2022’s figures — making NUS Arts Festival the largest performing arts event on campus. The lifting of pandemic restrictions resulted in greater room for creativity and experimentation, as more performers could be fielded, and different venues could be explored to offer a variety of viewing experiences. 

A handful of performances took place in intimate liminal spaces, an ode to the theme, Spaces Between. MOONRISE, an immersive multisensorial musical experience, took place in the UCC Atrium. Led by NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music alumna Ms Churen Li (Music ’15), who goes by the stage name CHUREN, it featured a first-time collaboration with soundscape artist/music producer evanturetime and digital effects artist Prako. The visually stunning show featured CHUREN’s modern interpretations of classics such as Clair de Lune and Moonlight Sonata amid found sounds and subtle beat-driven soundscapes, complete with digital visual design. “We explored the liminal space between three different artistic praxes: classical piano, music production and video art,” CHUREN said. “We wanted to transcend the boundaries of our individual disciplines and build synergy between the realms of sound and vision. The ideal space for this project was not in a conventional arts space, but rather in the UCC atrium, to create the unexpectedness of walking into an artistic world that the audience member does not expect.”

Also taking place in a liminal space was the one-woman play, The Future Show, headlined by Ms Jo Tan (Law ’04). It is the first Singaporean version of the internationally performed concept by Canadian playwright Deborah Pearson. Marketed as a performance to be staged in a secret location, The Future Show took place within the frills-free CFA Studios. It welcomed only a maximum of 40 audience members per show, making it the festival’s most intimate production. 

CFA Studios was chosen in part due to Ms Tan’s personal affinity to the space as a former student artist and resident of the neighbouring Raffles Hall. The venue was effective as a companion to Ms Tan’s intense and visceral performance of her imagined life in the near and distant future, one of hope, insecurities and mortality. It has also inspired her to visit other spaces within the NUS campus to write material for the show.

“The play has allowed me to reconnect quite personally with my alma mater, NUS, as I found myself revisiting different areas of the campus so as to best predict the different possible thoughts and happenings that would arise after someone leaves our performance space and passes through the university grounds,” said Ms Tan.

Also taking place in an unconventional space was OmnIVerse: The Fourth Dimension, an electronic music showcase by the NUS Electronic Music Lab, which featured 15 original music tracks in chillwave, synthwave and darksynth. It was staged at the lesser-known UCC Dance Studios, located along an alleyway on level 2. Finding the space required the help of festival volunteers, and an intentionally designed blue-lighted path. 

Mr Ho Jia Wei, President of NUS Electronic Music Lab and second-year Computing student, supported the choice of the space. “This year’s performance was unique as it was not a regular sit-down show where the audience would be stationary,” he said. “Instead, they were able to move around during the performance and experience how space and music can interact with each other to create a sense of liminality.” 

The pushing of these creative boundaries resulted in interesting collaborations and refreshing discoveries. End of the Line — a jukebox musical on the struggles of youth exacerbated by cyberbullying and peer pressure — stretched the abilities of the NUS Stage actors. It also brought to light the songwriting abilities of some of its talented cast, which included NUS Stage Vice-President, Ms Lim Jia Ying, a second-year Science student. “The other NUS Stage performances I’ve been involved in were very naturalistic and focused on acting,” said Ms Lim. “End of the Line, however, is a collaboratively devised piece, which weaves our personal life stories and experiences into a story that highlights what is important to our generation. It also incorporates live singing, lip-syncing, dancing and acting. This also marks my first foray into lyric writing and composition.”

Beyond the artistry, NUS Arts Festival also provided the opportunity to imbue character-building, learning moments that endure long after curtain call. Ms Abirami Senthil Kumar, a second-year Environmental Engineering student and President of NUS Indian Dance, who performed in kSAnti - Patiently Waiting, had this to share. “kSAnti - Patiently Waiting has helped me reflect on all the areas in life that we knowingly or unknowingly wait and be patient for. It has been such a special experience to see all the dancers apply their reflections and gain more insights as they went deeper into the topic of spaces between.”