A farm boy once told me that if you light a bonfire, livestock will come from every corner of the field and stand around the flames mesmerised and, like these beasties, if you’ve ever stared into an open fire, you’ll understand the extraordinary pull of fire alchemy.
Friday May 14, the Empress Place Precinct was literally burning up as, under the auspices of Acting Minister Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Singapore celebrated the opening night of the Singapore Arts Festival 2010 with Invitation to Dream, a fire garden installation by the world-famous French artists Compagnie Carabosse.
Minister Lui Tuck Yew lighting up at the opening act
Let’s set the scene. Imagine this familiar stretch of park covered in hundreds of pots of gently flickering naked flames suspended from trees, slender metal ‘trunks’ red hot and bearing messages to All The People, the soothing sounds of strings and wafts of vanilla and something else…no wonder Liz thought she could speak French (see clip below) and the piece de resistance (see we can’t help ourselves!) a series of enormous balls of fire.
With the aid of our talented tween-reporter Sarah, Liz and Liesel wandered around the precinct, camera in hand and got to grips with what the public made of this astonishing installation. You can see the full story below, but “dreamy, peaceful, beautiful and amazing” were the words of the night at this all age event.
Between You and Me, if the opening celebrations are anything to go by, this year’s Singapore Arts Festival is going to be red hot.
Singapore Arts Festival 2010 Opening Ceremony - What you missed
* Next week, things get spooky at the Victoria Theatre – Liesel and Liz have a close encounter of the supernatural kind at the world premiere of NIJINSKY SIAM.
Singapore Kopitiam Team | 02 June 2010
