The newly named head honcho for the Singapore International Festival of Arts has some thrilling plans for next year’s event — and incarnations of the festival for years to come. Gaurav Kripalani looks to start elevating the event into something with international pull, much like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That way, the same kind of people who visit Scotland specifically to attend that art and cultural event would want to travel to Singapore for Sifa.
Kripalani, who is also the director for a Singapore theater, knows that this kind of change won’t happen overnight for Sifa — or perhaps even during his tenure as the leader of the festival. He hopes to lay the groundwork for the festival’s expansion and attraction over the next few months while he polls fellow Singaporeans for ideas on what they’d like to see at Sifa.
Kripalani says the key to giving the festival a renewed boost and attracting more people to it is to offer an unparalleled art experience that couldn’t happen anywhere else. He cited an occasion last year where an American choreographer worked with Singaporean university students to create a combination dance and art technology experience. The renowned choreographer impacted the lives of those students, and they in turn had experiences and memories that wouldn’t have been replicated anywhere else in the world at that moment of learning and performance. The interaction between international artists and Singaporean artists and performers is key, here, Kripalani added. Art should work to elevate everyone, and the purpose of events like Sifa is to bring and exchange new creative ideas. International collaborations on art projects benefits everyone involved while giving a cultural boost to Singapore itself. The entire nation would benefit from a Sifa event that drew lots of participants and visitors in — from the broader economy to the people who got to experience the art created at the festival.
An earlier incarnation of the art festival experienced some criticism for not being as interesting to participants, and the number of those who attended fell. Kripalani rides in on the wave of a previous director of Sifa who renewed the interest in the event. It’s likely, though, that Kripalani’s leadership will take Sifa to new heights, as he has prolifically organized plays for the theater group he directs.
Festivals are a wonderful way to experience the art world, but when there aren’t any scheduled, taking an art class can help fill that gap in creativity. Visit SGArtClass.com to get your art fix. SGArtClass.com is a website that hosts everything from articles about art genres to offers for discounted art supplies. It also connects art teachers with potential students of art. Whether you already have a background in art or are looking to start a new hobby, you can take classes in everything from oil painting to comic drawing and many more.
To read more about Gaurav Kripalani’s plans for next year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/putting-singapore-on-the-cultural-map.