Silver Arts festival returns with more senior talents this year
SINGAPORE — This year’s Silver Arts festival will feature 38 programmes, involving more than 80 artists and art groups.
Some of the highlights include a Hokkien music concert, monologues performed in Cantonese and Teochew, a theatre production about the redevelopment of a kampung against the backdrop of interracial love and short films about inter-generational bonding and long-lost friendships.
In its sixth edition, the festival — organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) to target seniors through arts — will take place from Sept 1 to 24 across 20 venues this year. These include the Plaza at the National Library Building, Our Tampines Hub, Victoria Theatre, the School of the Arts (SOTA), the Tampines Regional Library and the Toa Payoh Public Library.
“We’re delighted that Silver Arts continues to bring together both veteran and younger artists, as well as art groups and volunteers. The programming this year reminds us that the arts inspire us, speak to our cultural heritage and can build ties across different communities,” said Chua Ai Liang, NAC’s senior director of engagement and participation.
This year’s offerings feature nearly 70 veteran artists and senior talents, 28 per cent more than last year.
Among them is Oon Ah Chiam, 74, the renowned Hokkien street opera artist who first served as inspiration for play Titoudao, written and directed by her son, Toy Factory’s chief artistic director Goh Boon Teck. In Silver Arts 2017, Oon will take the stage, together with actress Judee Tan and musical actor Sugie Phua, to perform 15 Hokkien songs “full of colours, history and characters” for concert Songs of Guidance directed by Goh.
“(My mother) has inspired me throughout my entire life — in my creation, my theatre making and how I behave as a person,” said Goh, 45.
Describing the opportunity in Mandarin as a “gift from the heavens”, Oon expressed her gratitude to be able to perform in her first-ever concert in a 60-year career.
The grandmother of 11 said: “The most important message in my songs is to be a good person. For example, gambling is bad; filial piety is good. All these are expressed in my singing.”
Another highlight is theatre production Syair Biola (Songs From The Violin), a collaboration between producer Saiful Amri, 39, and playwright and director Nadiputra, 70, whose “unique friendship” has led the duo to work together “three to four times” before but in different capacities.
Its diverse cast boasts nine performers, with ages ranging from 10 to 70.
Nadiputra, a Cultural Medallion recipient, stars in the production as a village chief of a kampung that sits on land that its Chinese landowner, played by Laurence Pang who stars in Channel 5 series Tanglin, is looking to sell off to the authorities for re-development purposes.
Six of the 38 programmes in the festival are ticketed. Prices range from S$3 for films shown at selected Golden Village cinemas, to S$12 for concerts and theatre productions.
Last year’s edition saw a total of 41,250 attendees.
Refer to http://silverarts.nac.gov.sg for more details.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this report, we misspelled Laurence Pang’s name. We are sorry for the error.
