More Than Ever the arts are center stage at SIFA 2025

This week, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) begins, running from 16 May to 1 June. Organised by Arts House Limited and commissioned by the National Arts Council, this year’s edition is notable for coinciding with Singapore’s 60th year of independence. Fittingly, the 2025 festival features the largest showcase of local work in its history and introduces a new community-oriented space, the SIFA Pavilion.

More than ever

The 2025 theme, More Than Ever, sets the tone for a festival that seeks to highlight the relevance and urgency of the arts in contemporary society. Six curatorial strands guide this year’s programming — New Urban Realities; Classics Reinvented; History Reimagined; We, International; State of the Arts; and PRISM 48 — each framing the performing arts as a lens through which to understand the world.

“In a world afflicted with the rhetoric of divide, More Than Ever, we need to resist limiting binaries and relate to each other in nuance,” said Natalie Hennedige, the Festival Director for SIFA (2022–2025). 

“In doing so, we uphold the station of the Arts as a vital space in society that explores differences in opinions, accepts otherness and maintains the past, present, and future as entities that perpetually influence and shape each other, engendering new narratives on a supple timeline that moves forwards, cyclically or in any imaginable configuration.”

Spotlight on local voices

This year, 15 local works have been commissioned, the highest number in the festival’s history. Of these, two works build upon work-in-progress projects staged at last year’s festival. These include Waiting for Audience, by Nine Years Theatre, a ticketed show mediating on the relationship between actor and audience; and Hello, is this Working, by Drama Box, a SIFA Pavilion free show that questions the future of labour.

Alongside the local works, SIFA 2025 has also invited a number of international productions. American artist Geoff Sobelle’s HOME uses choreography and evolving set pieces to reflect on what makes a house a home; Told By My Mother, by Lebanese choreographer Ali Chahrour’s draws on personal and political histories to explore maternal love; while Vampyr, by Chilean playwright Manuela Infante, is a mockumentary that critiques environmental exploitation and human intersection with animals through the mythical figure of a vampire and dark humour.

Art and everyday spaces

A significant addition to the festival is the debut of the SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square, a public space where arts installation and performances are made accessible and available to the neighbourhood. 

At its centre is Beneath Tide Running Water, a coral-inspired installation by visual artist Wang Ruobing. This sculpture also serves as the backdrop for the pavilion’s performances, including its opening show of The Sea and the Neighbourhood, a collaborative piece involving Singapore Ballet, composer Philip Tan, and choreographer Christina Chan.

“We continue to make the arts more accessible by enlivening everyday community spaces with artistic encounters, and championing homegrown talent and showcasing Singapore’s creative spirit in fresh and impactful ways,” said Sharon Tan, Executive Director of Arts house limited. “This is made possible by collaborations with artists, stakeholders, and communities such that the arts can form meaningful and lasting experiences for all.”

Engaging with the future and the present

The festival also sees the return of Little SIFA at Empress Lawn, a family-focused programme offering arts experiences tailored for children. These include works such as The House Between the Winds by Yang Jie, a music performance by the Purple Symphony, and an outdoor adaptation of Animal Farm by The Finger Players — designed to introduce young audiences to the arts in an engaging format.

SIFA 2025 also launches PRISM 48, a new series of talks curated by writer and editor Hong Xinyi, that brings together cultural commentators and practitioners to examine the role of the arts in shaping Singapore’s identity and place in the region.

“Locally, we aim for the arts to be infused everywhere and for the public to be more engaged with the arts,” explained Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer of National Arts Council. “Internationally, as Singapore continues to build our position as one of the key arts hubs in Asia, the Festival also underscores our capacity to facilitate critical discourse and meaningful connections through the transformative power of the arts.”