National University of Singapore

ExxonMobil Campus Concerts

Geoffrey Saba plays Rachmaninoff & Scriabin
By Geoffrey Saba
Wed 3 Oct, 8pm
UCC Theatre

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

International pianist Geoffrey Saba returns to Singapore for a heady evening of passionate romantic music by two of the 20th century's greatest writers for the piano, the Russian composers Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.

The programme includes Scriabin's exploratory last works, Rachmaninoff’s famous C-sharp Minor Prelude and magnificent, tempestuous First Sonata which was based on the German legend of Faust, a scholar who sold his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.

Besides playing in North America, Europe, the Middle East, India, Japan, South East Asia and his native Australia, Saba has also performed at Festivals in Great Britain, Australia and South East Asia. A dedicated educator, Saba seeks to nurture and inspire young musicians.

Unplugged Sessions
By David J. Lee
Fri 5 Oct, 7pm
Starbucks @ Yusof Ishak House (YIH), NUS

Free Admission.
Limited Seating

Inspired by artists from the west to the east, from Jason Mraz to Wang Leehom, David J. uses music to express his message, views and feelings through his original compositions. David J. started off in a church band as a backup vocalist and guitarist. Soon he took his talent to national singing competitions and has been performing in various events. He has several achievements but nothing satisfies him more than being able to entertain his friends and family. Relax with a cuppa and listen to David J. Lee this October!

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

Tri-Angel is a contemporary re-telling of the love tragedy of three composers, starting from the courtship and marriage of Robert and Clara Schumann, to Robert Schumann’s eventual admission into the asylum and Clara Schumann’s embroiled relationship with the much younger Johannes Brahms.

An all-German concert exploring the love “tri-angel” between the three composers, catch the NUS Piano Ensemble as they perform their works and put a modern twist on the love story.

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

Join three young and phenomenally gifted pianists as they pay tribute to some of the most celebrated composers of all time – from Schubert to Stravinsky and Bach to Bartók.

Catch Ilya Rashkovskiy (Russia), Colleen Lee (Hong Kong) and Giuseppe Andaloro (Italy), work their magic on the piano and demonstrate how they impressed audiences and judges alike, at the triennial Hong Kong International Piano Competition. Revel in the Joy Of Piano with these 3 top talents over 3 unforgettable evenings.

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

Join three young and phenomenally gifted pianists as they pay tribute to some of the most celebrated composers of all time – from Schubert to Stravinsky and Bach to Bartók.

Catch Ilya Rashkovskiy (Russia), Colleen Lee (Hong Kong) and Giuseppe Andaloro (Italy), work their magic on the piano and demonstrate how they impressed audiences and judges alike, at the triennial Hong Kong International Piano Competition. Revel in the Joy Of Piano with these 3 top talents over 3 unforgettable evenings.

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

Join three young and phenomenally gifted pianists as they pay tribute to some of the most celebrated composers of all time – from Schubert to Stravinsky and Bach to Bartók.

Catch Ilya Rashkovskiy (Russia), Colleen Lee (Hong Kong) and Giuseppe Andaloro (Italy), work their magic on the piano and demonstrate how they impressed audiences and judges alike, at the triennial Hong Kong International Piano Competition. Revel in the Joy Of Piano with these 3 top talents over 3 unforgettable evenings.

Free Admission.
Limited Seating.

Impressions 2012 is a platform for the young members of the NUS Harmonica Orchestra to reach out to the community and touch lives with music - from classical to popular tunes and folk songs. Always striving for perfection, the Orchestra takes this opportunity to groom young talents, and showcase their talent and enthusiasm towards the harmonica. The wonderful fusion of music within the culturally rich setting of the Esplanade Library will surely bring the audience a stimulating evening of music and art.

Free Admission.
Tickets available at the door (on a first-come-first-served basis) 1 hour before showtime. Limited to two tickets per patron. The audience capacity for UCC Theatre is 400.

Chasing Yesterday is a fast-paced, humorous piece with an emotional reality that resonates with the everyman. Watch three siblings navigate through the various relationships and their individual pursuits, remaining interconnected and inexpressively concerned about one another. Written by NUS second-year literature major, Gwendolyn Lee, the play explores the different stages of relationships – the new, the stale, and the fixed.

CFA Groups Performances

Vriksha
By NUS Indian Dance
Sat, 6 Oct, 8pm
UCC Theatre

$10
For tickets, please email hr@nusindiandance.org.

Vriksha is a dance retelling of The Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree in the language of Bharatanatyam. Through the gestures, movement, and expressions of this classical Indian dance form, Kuo Pao Kun's iconic play on relentless modernization versus tradition is brought to life, transcending linguistic and cultural differences to create a brand of Indian Dance that is truly Singaporean in spirit.

Da Capo 2012
By NUS Wind Symphony
Wed 17 Oct, 7.30pm
Singapore Conference Hall

$15
For tickets, please email nus.wind.symphony@gmail.com.

An evening spiced with jazz and Latin flavor.

Prepare for a musical treat at Da Capo! Take a step into the colorful city of Manhattan as the Symphony paints a musical sketch with New York by Nigel Hess. Travel on a Tijuana Taxi and experience the excitement of a Mexican bullfight with Sounds of Tijuana Brass by William Russell. Get ready for a wild time with Girl Crazy by George Gershwin.

Da Capo 2012 promises to be yet another unforgettable evening of fun and music with the NUS Wind Symphony. Are you ready for the ride?

Estaciones de las Guitarras - A Tale of Four Seasons
By NUS Guitar Ensemble
Sun 21 Oct, 7.30pm
UCC Theatre

$14
For tickets, please email nusguitarensemble@gmail.com .

Revel in the magic of guitar music presenting an excerpt from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to depict Spring and a lively rendition of Earl Klugh’s Kiko to set the mood of Summer. The ensemble will also jazz it up with composer Axel Jungbluth’s Strollin’ and showcase their versatility with the irregular tempo of Tatakau Monotachi from popular video game Final Fantasy VII.

CFA Production Workshop

Production Management Workshop 2012
Sat & Sun 27 - 28 Oct, 9.30am - 5pm
UCC Theatre

$12 per participant (NUS Staff & Students)
$25 per participant (Non-NUS Staff & Students)
To register, download the registration form and email it to Mr Chok Kho Kheng at cfackk@nus.edu.sg.

Important: Registration and payment closes on
Monday, 8 October 2012.

Have you wondered how a professional theatre company puts up a theatrical production? Have you ever pulled your hair out trying to balance the production budget? Trying to figure out what a leg, smoother or border is? Or what microphone or lighting instrument to use? Then this workshop is designed for you. This October, get behind the scenes knowledge on:

• Production planning – pulling together different elements of a production

• Stage management – the ‘how-tos’ in the successful execution of a production

• Technical production – identifying and utilising different technical equipment effectively for production

• Production budgeting – factoring the cost of a production and managing available funds

• Productions in UCC – specific aspects of doing a production in UCC

Each of the areas will be taught by current theatre practitioners who have years of experience in the theatre and production field.

Programme

Exhibitions at NUS Museum

Sculpting Life:
The Ng Eng Teng Collection

Begins 30 August 2012
NUS Museum
Free Admission

Presented as an open storage and second in a series of permanent exhibitions on artist Ng Eng Teng, “Sculpting Life" brings together a range of works that facilitate a mapping of the artist’s history and explorations. Gathered are early pieces completed during his formative years in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), Stoke-on-Trent College of Art (UK), and as a ceramic designer in Ireland from the late 1950s and 1960s; early explorations in ceramics and ciment fondue that foreground the mature phases of his practice; and seminal sculptural pieces that marked his importance amongst a generation of Singapore artists emerging from the period of the 1960s. Documentations, drawings, and maquettes accompany the selection, providing an expansive view of his practice. The exhibition is also devised to prompt a mapping of themes and conceptual concerns of the artist. Significant among these are explorations into the human condition, seen through an evolving articulation of the human form and its emotive potential, and in doing so, Eng Teng invests into them oblique and direct references to questions of self and identity.

[Image: Ng Eng Teng, Madonna and Child II, 1990, Bronze. Photo by NUS Museum]

Familiar Spaces Untold Stories:
Encounters with Ipoh

22 July 2012 to 26 August 2012
NUS Museum
Free Admission

This exhibition arises from a two week long trip to the West Malaysian town of Ipoh by twenty students from the University of Malaya (UM) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). They conducted studies of the city’s heritage, assessed its current state of development, and carried out detailed investigations on four shophouses – a trade house, a Sinhalese bar, a charcoal vendor’s shop and a seamstress’ modern shophouse. The cultural and social fabric of this former ‘Tin Capital of the World’ and its architectural heritage are exhibited in the form of sketches, drawings, photographs and models.

This is a project from the UM-NUS Joint Studio Programme started in 2005 in conjunction with the centenary celebrations of the two Universities. The first exhibition entitled ‘Re:Claiming Heritage’ was presented at NUS Museum in 2009. This was followed by ‘Tracing Taiping’ (2010) and ‘Narrating Muar’(2011).

Since its inception, the programme has been funded by the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation.

Semblance / Presence:
Renato Habulan and Alfredo Esquillo Jr.

29 June 2012 to 13 January 2013
NX Gallery, NUS Museum
Free Admission

Combining Jose Rizal's "Quiapo Fair" (first published 1891) and artworks produced by artists Renato Habulan and Alfredo Esquillo Jr., the exhibition traces the life-worlds of Plaza Miranda, which fronts the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church), one of the main churches of the City of Manila. Considering how Plaza Miranda acts as a site for numerous interests, ranging from political and cultural discourse to established traditions of fortune telling, the exhibition connects both artists and their materials to not just as something being observed, but also to the conditions of their observations, where the very act of observation becomes an end that at once implicates but also detaches. By some oblique process, presence also becomes semblance, leading to question, if any act of observation can ever remain unmediated.

[Image: Renato Habulan and Alfredo Esquillo Jr., Mga Hinirang (Chosen People), film still, 2012.]

Rupal Shah | Tautology of Memory

23 April 2012 to 6 January 2013
NUS Museum
Free Admission

Tautology of Memory is a single channel video shot by artist Rupal Shah at the archaeological site of Ajanta in Western India.* The display is mediated through the multiplicity of voices that define an archaeological site, including the echoes of the tour-guide focusing on the murals and frescoes, constantly alluding to and reifying popular perceptions; the artist partializes this reification by employing her child’s exploration of the caves.

Simultaneously, curatorial interventions first engage with colonial India’s foremost architectural historian, James Fergusson’s publication Rock-Cut Temples of India, a detailed and systematic documentation of Ajanta containing the photographs by another nineteenth century military-surveyor Robert Gill; and second with a 1927 newspaper report which applauds a decade-long documentation project undertaken by an art school student, Syed Ahmad at Ajanta.

Evoking ironies, paradoxes and humour which descend on history and its sites, acutely choreographed between text, fragment and aesthetic, juxtapositions made playful with comments on colonial and postcolonial mappings of archaeological heritage, one is compelled to ask, does Ajanta lend itself for official surveys, archaeological scholarship, artistic projects or the heritage-making industry? What remains asserted, what has been reclaimed?

[Image: Gallery impression, Rupal Shah | Tautology of Memory, NUS Museum, 2012]

Capturing the Straits
Painting and Postcard Views from the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

9 February 2012 to 31 October 2012
NUS Baba House

This exhibition brings together paintings of the Straits Settlements by Charles Dyce who was a resident of Singapore in the 1840s, and postcard views of Malacca dating to the early half of the 20th century. As visual sources, they collectively provide a window into the production and reception of landscapes in colonial Malaya, underpinned by new encounters, negotiations with pictorial conventions, and evolving regard of Malaya as a transformative space.

Presented at the NUS Baba House, a residential unit built and actively inhabited in the colonial period, the exhibition also provides glimpses into the nature of urban transformations in the Straits Settlements.

[Image: Charles Dyce, The River from Monkey Bridge, 1842- 1843. Watercolour & Ink on paper]

Camping and Tramping Through the Colonial Archive:
The Museum in Malaya

Till 2 June 2013
NUS Museum
Free Admission

The term Camping and Tramping is inspired by a lesser known 19th century document compiled by a British officer describing the field work and travails of his time with the colonial office in Malaya. Documents such as these, along with colonial institutions, sought to fill a void in terms of Orientalist knowledge available for a colonist or itinerant audience interested in the region. Aggregating such texts which make up the colonial archive, this exhibition traces the rise of the Museum in British Malaya not just as an indicator of power over what was gazed upon as the exotic but by acknowledging that the very advent of the Museum resulted in a staging ground for a project of accumulation and the ordering of knowledge.

Mobilizing artefacts from the Raffles Museum and Library (established 1874) and the University Art Museum, Malaya (established 1955), the exhibition offers the question of the Museum in Malaya as evolving propositions expressed through shifting concepts of colonial knowledge, its responses to emerging contingencies of colonial politics and eventual decolonisation, and changing regard for its publics and their aspirations. Collecting, documenting, ordering, preserving and displaying - functions declared and sustained - are tasks made complex by such contexts. Birth, transformation and end of institutions render collections and documents as dynamic sets of archives that are mobile and regenerative, opened to newer meanings and claims.

The exhibition is divided into the following sections:

• The Museum as Idea
• Shifts - Other and Self
• Accumulations - Object, Order, Wonder

As reminders of how individuals in the region have laid claim to the colonial archive, the gallery also sites the practices of two post-colonial figures, Mohammad Din Mohammad and Dr. Ivan Polunin. Mohammad Din was a Singapore artist, traditional healer and collector who held that his works contained talismanic potentials. Arriving in Malaya from England in 1948, Dr. Polunin taught Social Medicine at the then University of Malaya. In an adventurous career that began with the filmic documentation of tropical diseases, Dr. Polunin’s ethnographies grew to encompass hundreds of hours of film footage on Malaya’s eclectic sociocultural practices and its rich biodiversity.

Writings and artefacts have been mobilized from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (NUS), NUS Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, National Museum of Singapore, National Library Board Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore National Archives, and the Ivan Polunin and Mohammad Din Mohammad collections.

[Image credit: Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research Collection. Photo by Nurul Huda]

The Sufi and the Bearded Man:
Re-membering a Keramat in Contemporary Singapore

Till December 2012
NUS Museum
Free Admission

This exhibition re-members the keramat of a 19th century Sufi traveler from the Middle East who lives on in contemporary Singapore through her miracles and her shrine which was recently removed. Re-membering the keramat has involved a two-year long project of collaborating with Ali, an intermediary of the Sufi and custodian of the masoleum referred to by fellow devotees as "the bearded man". These conversations culminated in the keramat and its life-worlds entering a museum, a transition animated by the display of photographic evidence, material remains or artifacts, anecdotal histories and related documents. Considering alternative ways to recount and understand heritage, The Sufi and the Bearded Man, calls attention to devotional culture, lesser-heard narratives and esotericism in Singapore.

[Image credit: Nurul Huda, Singapore 2010]

Ways of Seeing Chinese Art

Ongoing
NUS Museum
Free Admission

Ways of Seeing Chinese Art features over 200 objects including ceramics, jades and bronzes from the Lee Kong Chian Collection. The exhibition presents a comprehensive history of Chinese ceramic art with more than 100 ceramic pieces dating from prehistory to the early 20th century, representing wares produced by major kilns in China.

[Image: Polychrome Jar with Floral Motif, Late Ming (17th C), Jingdezhen Ware, Jiangxi]

Click here for the exhibition brochure in PDF format.

NUS Baba House

Ongoing
157 Neil Road, Singapore 088883

Visits are by appointment only.
Visitors are required to sign up in advance for heritage tours which fall on Mondays 2pm - 3pm,
Tuesdays 6.30pm - 7.30pm, Thursdays 10am - 11am & Saturdays 11am - 12pm.

For enquiries, please visit
http://www.nus.edu.sg/museum/baba,
call [65] 6227 5731

Baba House is a heritage house which facilitates research and learning about the Peranakan community and its evolution. It exhibits the community’s material culture in a domestic context, providing the unique experience of visiting a Straits Chinese family home dating back to the early 20th century. The Baba House aims to promote a wider appreciation of the Peranakan identity, history and culture, as well as architectural traditions and conservation efforts in Singapore. The Gallery on the third floor hosts temporary exhibitions featuring various Peranakan themes.