2018 marks the 25th anniversary of NUS Centre For the Arts (CFA) and in NUS Arts Festival 2018, we celebrate the spirit, energy and achievements of those past and present who have made CFA a vibrant space for the arts on campus.

The formation of the University’s first arts group, the University Military Band, coincides with the publication of Singapore’s first English language novel, If We Dream Too Long by Goh Poh Seng in 1968. Both cultural milestones set in the years following the newly independent Singapore mirror the desire to define our unique identity and find our own forms of expression. Amidst the uncertainties and challenges of the time then, there existed infinite possibilities - it is the power of the dream, the strength of imagination driven to persist despite challenges and uncertainties that is the beating heart of our Festival.

If We Dream brings together student artists, faculty members and industry professionals in an eclectic mix of compelling performances, immersive experiences and profound conversations that once again envision the potency… and sometimes the perils… of dreaming. Dynamic choreography from Singapore’s leading dance doyens in contemporary, Malay and Indian dance, theatre that moves hearts and stimulates questions about who we are, visual arts that provoke and a slew of award-winning international films climax in a heady weekend of music.

This September, re-awaken your senses and dare to dream.