Story Threads: The Singapore Showcase invites audiences to get caught in a web of captivating tales woven by Singapore-based storytellers at the top of their game.

29 July 2022 – Presented by The Storytelling Centre Limited and Arts House Limited (AHL) StoryFest is bringing six storytellers from varied backgrounds together for Story Threads: The Singapore Showcase, to finally reacquaint audiences with the much-missed oral tradition where teller, listener and story all live and breathe within the same space. From 19 to 21 August 2022 at The Arts House, The Singapore Showcase alumni Verena Tay, Stephanie Dogfoot, Hafiz Rashid, and Melizarani T. Selva will be joined by newcomers Daryl Qilin Yam and Wesley Leon Aroozoo, and each will be working their magic to enthral audiences with tales of love, loss, legend, and lore. At this much awaited in-person storytelling session, audiences can get to:

• Revisit the urban legend of kepala anjing (dog head) and unearth bone-chilling superstitions
• Rediscover the Chinese creation myth of Nu Wa as a tale of selflessness, patience and nurturing
• Unravel the heartbreaking Javanese legend of the truntum motif through a revelatory interpretation of batik
• Listen in as the goddess of shadows, Chaya Devi, talks to her infant about his destiny as Shani Deva, god of karma
• Trace the symbolism of the visiting butterfly through personal memory and ancient lore
• Join a canine family’s journey through the rabies outbreak of the late 1800s

Extending the experience from the physical sessions, excerpts of the six stories will be available digitally on the StoryFest YouTube channel from 22 August 2022 till March 2023.

StoryFest 2022: Story Threads

Story Threads: The Singapore Showcase is part of the 2022 edition of StoryFest, the annual international storytelling festival that celebrates and showcases a variety of styles, repertoire, and cultural arts presentations of storytelling from Singapore and around the world. Along the theme of Story Threads, StoryFest invites audiences to experience the in-person and invisible connections that bind us through the power of telling and listening to stories. 

Sim Wan Hui, Director of Venue Programming at AHL, said, “As a co-presenter of StoryFest, AHL is pleased to support the art of storytelling and the efforts of our storytellers. After two challenging years of living digitally, we are glad that the Festival is returning to the intimate space of the Play Den at The Arts House, Singapore’s home to the literary arts. We look forward to experiencing the magic of storytelling in the company of other rapt listeners.”

Storytelling as a tradition relies on a three-way connection: much of storytelling relies on the nonverbal signals exchanged between the story, the teller, and the listener. Over the last two years, StoryFest has had to reimagine storytelling, and how to digitally present a tradition that has historically been live, without compromising its core values. After two successful online festivals, StoryFest aims to continue fostering connections through Story Threads. StoryFest 2022 welcomes audiences in Singapore and from around the world to participate in listening to stories told across many months, spanning time zones, and presented through different mediums. This year, the Festival pays attention to the durational process of nurturing storytellers and creating stories, across time and space.

StoryFest’s Creative Producer, Kamini Ramachandran shared, “Story Threads takes a closer look at what it means to connect, in a period when our assumptions about contact have been tested time and again. Discover the ties that bind: across the globe, across generations and across mediums, with us. Despite not having had a tangible presence over the last two years, we hope that the stories we have told, and are yet to tell, will pull you in once again.”

Please refer to the annexes for more information:

• Annex A: StoryFest 2022 programmes
• Annex B: The Singapore Showcase – Artists’ Profiles

You may find StoryFest 2022 images, in the digital media kit here.

For tickets and more information, visit https://storyfestsg.com/2022.

Follow #storyfestsg at:

Website: https://storyfestsg.com/2022
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyfestsg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyfestsg/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/StoryFestSingapore

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About The Arts House

Occupying the almost 200-year-old building that was home to Singapore’s first parliament, The Arts House continues in the distinguished tradition of this gazetted national monument and now plays a key role in the country’s arts and creative scene. The Arts House at the Old Parliament, as it is affectionately referred to, promotes and presents multidisciplinary programmes and festivals within its elegant spaces. It focuses in particular on the literary arts, celebrating the works of written and spoken word artists from Singapore and beyond.

The Arts House is run and managed by Arts House Limited (AHL). AHL also presents the Singapore International Festival of Arts, and manages Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, Drama Centre, Goodman Arts Centre, Aliwal Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre.

About Arts House Limited

Arts House Limited (AHL) is a not-for-profit organisation committed to enriching lives through the arts. AHL is the cultural place manager of Singapore’s Civic District. It manages two key national monuments - The Arts House, a multidisciplinary arts centre with a focus on literary programming, and the Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, a heritage building that is home to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It also runs performing arts space Drama Centre as well as three creative enclaves for artists, arts groups and creative businesses - the Goodman Arts Centre, Aliwal Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre.

AHL organises the Singapore International Festival of Arts – an annual pinnacle performing arts festival; as well as the Singapore Writers Festival – a multi-lingual festival presenting the world’s leading literary talents. In addition, AHL manages Our Cultural Medallion Story – the showcase on Singapore’s Cultural Medallion recipients at The Arts House.

AHL was set up in 11 December 2002 as a public company limited by guarantee under the National Arts Council and was officially renamed Arts House Limited on 19 March 2014. For more information, visit artshouselimited.sg 

About The Storytelling Centre Limited

The Storytelling Centre Limited is a non-profit organisation based in Singapore. Our core mission is to foster and advance the art of storytelling through performances, collaborations, artistic exchanges, mentorships, training and community outreach.

The Storytelling Centre Limited firmly believes that stories are storehouses of Singapore’s unique multidimensional legacy. The oral traditions of folktales, mythology, legends and fables are avenues for preserving, showcasing and developing Singapore’s rich and diverse heritage. Our focus is on ensuring the sustainability of the art form by nurturing emerging Young Storytellers.