Look forward to an array of multidisciplinary SingLit-related programmes and showcases that respond to the theme ‘Reimagine’.
Venue: The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore 179429
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Time: 10am to 11pm (closing hours differ on selected days)
Fee: Free & Ticketed
Textures 2024
Organised by Arts House Limited, Textures, the annual literary festival that celebrates Singapore literature (SingLit), returns once again from 19 to 28 January 2024 at The Arts House, in conjunction with the Light to Night Festival and Singapore Art Week. Featuring an array of multidisciplinary SingLit-related programmes and showcases that respond to the theme ‘Reimagine,’ Textures transports all visitors to a world where words come alive against the backdrop of other artistic practices and disciplines, casting a spotlight on the literary works that are closest to home.
From captivating interdisciplinary performances presented by notable local artists to enchanting art installations by homegrown visual artists, fresh perspectives and exciting encounters with SingLit texts are a promise at the festival.
You can also look forward to a diverse genre of books by both local and international writers, a multisensorial theatrical experience of iconic Singapore horror stories, as well as a range of family-friendly literary fun! Here's taking a closer look at what awaits you at Textures 2024:
Ticketed Programmes
Thank You For Holding
Venue: Play Den, The Arts House
Date & Time:
- 19 Jan 2024: 8pm to 9.10pm
- 20 Jan 2024: 3pm to 4.10pm & 8pm to 9.10pm
Fee: $25 per ticket
We’ve all been there. We know the helpline is never straightforward.
An automated operator leads us into a maze of menus with bewildering choices. All we want is to speak to somebody, but these machines dominate the narrative of our needs and leave us on hold for an eternity.
Thank You For Holding is a multidisciplinary performance written and directed by Marc Nair in collaboration with Sudhee Liao (choreography), Mantravine (music) and Audrey Ng and Low Zi Hao (art direction). Featuring Arunditha, Chan Hsin Yee and Jack Ng. The performance contains elements of audience interaction, as well as movement, poetry and live music.
Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined
Venue: Play Den, The Arts House
Date & Time:
- 26 Jan 2024: 8pm to 9pm
- 27 Jan 2024: 12pm to 1pm, 3pm to 4pm & 8pm to 9pm
- 28 Jan 2024: 12pm to 1pm, 3pm to 4pm & 8pm to 9pm
Fee: $25 per ticket
They say that the third time’s the charm. Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined is back for the third edition with another spine-chilling instalment, this time with a brand-new theme: “Horror Reimagined”. Continuing as a multisensory theatrical experience, Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined also promises a literary twist with specially crafted texts by Hafidz Rahman for each opening scene.
Five terrifying tales. Fivefold the horror. Are you brave enough to join us?
Arts House Limited collaborates with Hafidz Rahman once again to present Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined - a multisensory storytelling session unlike no other, with smells and sounds, re-enactments. Hafidz has been collecting stories from the community for the past few years and in Cherita Hantu: Horror Reimagined, he will present the five spine-tingling local stories entwined into one creepy showcase.
This programme is performed in Malay with English subtitles.
Free Programmes
Pop-up Bookstore by Chio Books
Venue: Level 1 Foyer, The Arts House
Date: 19 to 21 Jan 2024 & 26 to 28 Jan 2024
Time: Friday: 5pm to 10.30pm (Fri) | 1pm to 10.30pm (Sat) | 1pm to 8pm (Sun)
Fee: Free
Chio Books, a lifestyle brand by Booktique Where Writers Shop, aspires to make reading fashionable and cool. Come check out their neon-themed bookstore at Textures 2024, where over 100 book titles await you to discover!
Read At Home
Venue: Level 1 Corridor, The Arts House
Date: 19 Jan to 8 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
Read At Home is a library of e-books specially selected for Textures 2024, in collaboration with the National Library Board. Read At Home welcomes readers of all ages to sample the richness of Singapore writing and publishing, and to take a little time to explore the different perspectives and stories of Singapore on their daily commute or in their quieter moments.
The corridor at Level 1 of The Arts House will be transformed into an e-book borrowing display wall of about 30 SingLit titles related to the theme of Reimagine, that the public can borrow from by scanning the QR codes.
8-Bit Word Cloud
Venue: Front Lawn, The Arts House
Date: 19 Jan to 8 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
An outdoor art installation by visual artist Justin Loke that reimagines the literary arts and technology through an 8-Bit word cloud-like art installation. This family-friendly installation aims to spark curiosity about the constancy of literature's richness and diversity in relation to the ever-changing technology, be it a typewriter or AI.
The installation also features a poem within its pixelated blocks, with missing letters scattered throughout the Civic District at six art benches. Visitors can go on a scavenger hunt to locate these missing letters and reconstruct the poem.
This is a commission by National Gallery Singapore as part of Light to Night.
Winter Sonata, Summer Mookata
Photo Credits: Arts House Limited
Venue: Front Lawn, The Arts House (Façade Projection)
Date: 19 Jan to 8 Feb 2024
Time: 7.30pm to 12midnight
Fee: Free
Winter Sonata, Summer Mookata takes you on a surreal and mind-bending journey that explores the intricacies of human existence and spiritual consciousness with trippy visual imagery. Drawing inspiration from pop culture, comics, films, anime, science fiction and philosophy, and using a combination of digital and analogue animation techniques, the artists invite viewers into a strange and captivating world that shifts between the tactile and the intangible.
Established in 2013, Knuckles & Notch, founded by Goh Yun Jin (Marl) and Djohan Hanapi, crafts uniquely colourful and bizarre art with analogue charm. Their works often blend traditional with contemporary references and techniques.
This is presented by National Gallery Singapore as part of Light to Night.
Tell Bowie He's Only A Rock Star. I, However, Am A Poet.
Venue: Level 1 Foyer, The Arts House
Date: now to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
A poet, dramatist, novelist and a visionary ahead of his time, the late Goh Poh Seng is credited as being the first writer to introduce Singlish to the stage with his play, When the Smiles are Done. He also won the inaugural National Book Development Council of Singapore Award for Fiction (known as the Singapore Literature Prize today) with his novel If We Dream Too Long, considered by many to be the first English-language Singaporean novel.
Beyond literature, Goh organized David Bowie’s first Singapore concert. When he invited Bowie and his musicians to their home for a performance by classical Chinese musicians, Bowie's band arrived without Bowie, who said that he did not “fraternise with concert promoters.” Goh Poh Seng’s blithe rejoinder “Tell Bowie He’s Only A Rock Star. I However, Am A Poet” compelled Bowie to turn up eventually.
This exhibition hopes to capture and highlight key moments which demonstrated his dedication and rebel spirit that should continue to inspire us all.
This is part of the Singapore Writers Festival 2023.
The Cultural Medallion Literary Pursuit
Venue: Level 1 Cultural Medallion Showcase, The Arts House
Time: 10.30am to 6.30pm (Tue to Sun)
Fee: Free
The Cultural Medallion Award is the highest award for artistic excellence in Singapore. Among the 130 recipients are writers and poets whose works bring new and interesting ways of looking at the world.
Join us in our pursuit of all things literary to do with our Cultural Medallion recipients! To play, scan the QR code at Our Cultural Medallion Story showcase and hunt for answers within the gallery.
A special edition of the activity for children aged 9 and below is also available too! Simply ask our friendly gallery sitters for the children’s edition QR code.
For more information on Textures 2024, please visit this link or follow The Arts House on Facebook and Instagram.
