The Future of Our Pasts Festival: Reimagining Singapore’s History through 11 Multidisciplinary Art Projects and Fringe Programmes

The Future of Our Pasts Festival (TFOOPFest) kicks off today with a line-up of 11 multidisciplinary projects, created by a pool of young local artists and cultural advocates.

Taking place from 16 February to 17 March, TFOOPFest aims to inspire audiences to explore lesser-known narratives of Singapore’s communities and history. The festival is organised by Yale-NUS College in support of the Singapore Bicentennial. Most programmes under TFOOPFest are free and open to the public, with online registration.

Over the month-long festival, audiences can choose to explore different narratives as the programme showcases a range of art forms that reimagine Singapore’s history, including installations, interactive musical and theatrical performances, the launch of a zine and graphic novel, film screenings, walking tours and more.

Projects at The Future of Our Pasts Festival

1. ORchard: A Stroll Between Valleys

By: Wu Yu-Chen, Lin Derong, Poh Wei Bing, Yeo Zheng Hang
Dates:
Exhibition (19 February – 14 March)
Walking Tours (23 February & 9 March)

Location: Outside Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Road, Singapore 238872
Admission: Free admission to the exhibition. $10 per pax for the walking tours with registration via this link. Meeting point and tour route will be sent upon confirmation.

2. Remembering Sungei

By: Chong Jing Yee, Nicole Lin, Yeo Zhi Hui, Brennan Connor See
Dates:
Exhibition (20 February – 3 March
Opening (20 February, 7 PM)

Location: DECK, 120A Prinsep Street, Singapore 187937
Admission: Free

3. Intimacies

By: Yuen Ai Zhen Carol, Wong Kwang Lin, Leong Yee Ting, Wee Jing Long, Edgar Yeo Quan Yi, Calvin Teo, Oh Kai Lin
Dates:
Exhibition (21 February – 2 March)
Opening (21 February, 7 PM – 9 PM)

Location: The Substation, 45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936
Admission: Free

4. Sarong Party

By: Mark Nicodemus Tan, Daren Poh, Lau Yu Ching, Xie Zhi Zhong, Yeo Poh Hwee, Jamie Lee
Dates/Times:
22 February (7:30 PM – 9:30 PM)
23 February (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM & 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM)

Location: LASALLE College of the Arts, Flexible Performance Space, Block F Level 1, #F102
Admission: Free with registration via this link.

5. Factory (Super)Women

By: Pang Wei Han, Lee Xin Run, Alistair Ryan, Lesha Mansukhani, Monica Kim, Shelby Ellis Goh
Dates/Times:
Film Screening & Panel Discussion (23 February, 11 AM – 12:30 PM)
Exhibition Guided Tours (23 – 24 February, multiple tours in the day)
(Super) Sewing Session (24 February, 10:30 AM – 12 PM & 1 PM – 2:30 PM)
(Super) Women Assemble (Details to be confirmed)

Location: Jurong Town Hall, 9 Jurong Town Hall Rd, Singapore 609431
Admission: The (Super) Sewing Session is priced at $5 per pax. All other activities are free with registration via this link.

6. First Storeys

By: Sean Cham

Dates/Times:
Preview (1 March, 7:30 PM)
Gala (2 March, 7:30 PM)
Shows (3, 6 – 9 & 10 March, multiple timings available)
Singapore Housing History Forum (March, 3 PM)
Challenging the Nuclear Family Forum (9 March, 3 PM)
First Steps Workshop (2 & 10 March, 10 PM)

Location: 300 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, Singapore 169566
Admission: Shows are priced at $15 per pax. All other activities are free with registration via this link.

7. Boka di Stori

By: Andre D’Rozario, Gerald Choa, Shane Caroll, Sung Chang Da

Dates/Times:
Graphic Novel Launch & Eurasian Writers’ Panel (1 March, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM)
Exhibition: Ngua Korpu, Ngua Kaza “One Body, One Home” (2 – 5 March, 12:30 – 8:30 PM)
Beginner’s Kristang Class (2 March, 1 PM – 3 PM)
Cherki Class (2 March, 4 PM – 6 PM)
Trivia Night (2 March, 7 PM – 9 PM)
Talk: A New History of Kristang in Singapore (3 March, 2 PM – 4 PM)
Board Game Night: Ila-Ila di Sul “The Southern Islands” (3 March, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM)

Location: Centre 42, 42 Waterloo St, Singapore 187951
Admission: Free with registration this link. Limited capacities for some activities, online registration closes on 1 March, 4 PM.

8. Project IDIOM

By: Bertram Wee, Lynette Yeo, Zephany Hoe, Wilford Goh
Dates/Times: 9 March (1:30 PM – 3:30 PM & 7 PM – 9 PM)
Location: The Substation, 45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity. Online registration closes 4 PM on 8 March.

9. MEANTIME

By: Kaiyan Chong, Pang Xue Qiang
Dates/Times: 10 March (1 PM – 3 PM)
Location: SPRMRKT, 41 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238236
Admission: Free with registration via this link.

10. Rojak Romance

By: Tinesh Indrarajah, Jane Christine Zhang
Dates/Times:
10 March (2 PM – 3:30 PM)
16 March (6 PM – 7:30 PM)

Location:
10 March – The Projector, Blue Room, Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589
16 March – Indian Heritage Centre, 5 Campbell Ln, Singapore 209924

Admission: Free with registration via here for March 10 & here for March 16.

11. Merged

By: Ng Kai Yuan, Carine Tan Yang Yi, Matthew Chew Chee Han, Cheah Wenqi
Dates/Times:
15 March (6 PM – 10 PM)
16 March (12 PM – 8 PM)

Location: FOUND @ Prinsep, 128 Prinsep Street, #01-01, Singapore 188655
Admission: Free with registration via this link.

Fringe Programmes at The Future of Our Pasts Festival

Reimagining Histories, films curated by Ben Slater, presents feature-length ‘documentaries’ that interrogate specific national histories from Ireland, USA, Cambodia and the Philippines. Each of these films explores how histories (and films) are lost and recovered and how personal stories intermingle with national events and how fictions often reveal greater truths than any official set of facts.

1. Golden Slumbers (Cambodia)

Directed by: Davy Chou
Starring: Yvon Hem, Dy Saveth, Liv Sreng, Ly Bun Yim
Dates: 14 March, 7 PM
Location: The Projector, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity.

2. People Power Bombshell – The Diary of Vietnam Rose (Philippines)

Directed by: John Torres
Starring: Liz Alindogan, Celso Ad. Castillo, Richard Boyle
Dates: 28 February, 7 PM
Location: The Projector, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity.

3. Erase and Forget (USA)

Directed by: Andrea Luka Zimmerman
Starring: James ‘Bo’ Gritz, Ted Kotcheff, Tudor Gates
Dates: 7 March, 7 PM
Location: The Projector, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity.

4. Further Beyond (Ireland)

Directed by: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Starring: Denise Gough, Alan Howley, Jose Miguel Jimenez
Dates: 19 February, 7 PM
Location: The Projector, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity.

5. There Was a Road Here

Walking tour led by: Vikas Kailankaje
Dates:
23 February (9 PM  – 12 PM)
2 March (9 AM – 12 PM)

Location: Meeting point and tour route will be provided upon confirmation.
Admission: $15 per pax; registration via this link. Online registration closes at 4pm the day before. Places are limited to 15 pax per tour and is recommended for participants aged 16 and over. Payment is required to secure registration.

6. Alternate Pasts: Politics of Commemoration of 1915

Talk by: Dr. Nurfadzilah Yahaya
Dates: 27 February 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: The Arts House, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Limited capacity.

7. The Art of Interpreting History

Moderated by: Dr Nurfadzilah Yahaya
Panelists: Alfian Sa’at and Kate Pocklington
Dates: 13 March (7 PM – 8:30 PM)
Location: The Arts House, Blue Room
Admission: Free with registration via this link. Online registration closes at 4pm the day before.

The Future of Our Pasts Festival is a festival that explores lesser-known stories of communities and places of Singapore’s past, reimagined through artistic mediums. Make sure to mark your calendars and don’t miss this momentous month-long event.