2024 Singapore Literature Festival: LIVING ADAPTATIONS
Co-presented by the Korean Cultural Center New York and the Singapore Unbound
KEYNOTE: TRADITION AND THE CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL MOMENT
Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 3:00pm (Doors Open at 2:30pm)NEW YORK PREMIERE OF SINGAPOREAN-SOUTH KOREAN FILM <AJOOMMA> AND TALKBACK
Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 7:00pm (Doors Open at 6:30pm)
Korean Cultural Center New York
(122 E 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016)
Admission: FREE (RSVP required)
* RSVP & seating are on a first-come, first-served basis
KEYNOTE: TRADITION AND THE CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL MOMENT
ONG Keng Sen has been Artistic Director of Singapore’s T:>Works (formerly TheatreWorks) since 1988. He was the founding Festival Director of Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and initiated the Young Curators Academy in Berlin.
His production of Euripides’ Trojan Women, a collaboration with the National Theater of Korea, played at BAM Next Wave Festival in New York (2022) and Edinburgh International Festival (2023) to rave reviews.
In his keynote address for the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival, he will expound on the challenges of adapting the ancient Greek play into a changgeuk (traditional Korean opera), while transmitting the essence of this powerful story about women who struggle to transform themselves in war from victims to survivors. In his exposition, he will draw out vital insights for theater today.
Conversation after the talk is moderated by Judy Kim, Executive Director of the Asian Cultural Council.
NY PREMIERE OF SINGAPOREAN-SOUTH KOREAN FILM <AJOOMMA> AND TALKBACK
A Singaporean widow obsessed with Korean soap operas travels abroad for the first time in her life and finds more than she bargained for in Seoul. Starring HONG Huifang, YEO Jin-goo, KANG Hyoung-suk, and JUNG Dong-hwan. Written and directed by HE Shuming. Mandarin; Korean; English; with English subtitles.
This screening of <Ajoomma> is the New York premiere of the film, and will be followed by a talkback with director HE Shuming, and Grace Jung (K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television).
About Speakers
ONG Keng Sen has been Artistic Director of Singapore’s T:>Works (formerly TheatreWorks) since 1988. He was the founding Festival Director of Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and initiated the Young Curators Academy in Berlin. His production of Trojan Women played at BAM Next Wave Festival in New York (2022) and Edinburgh International Festival (2023) to rave reviews. During the pandemic he was Artistic Director of Amsterdam-based Prince Claus Funds’ digital 25-hour festival (2021) to commemorate 25 years of cultural innovation in the Global South. He holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Tisch School of Arts, New York University.
Judy Kim joined the Asian Cultural Council as Executive Director in July 2021. She is a strategic and tactical senior executive in the cultural sector who envisions, builds, and optimizes infrastructures and processes necessary to plan for the future. Judy has led major initiatives focused on growth and engagement, and managed programming and operations activities in the U.S. and globally in arts institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, American Federation of Arts, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Judy’s 30-year long career is based on a curatorial foundation that expanded into leading and transforming cross-institutional operations and program planning, content development, and implementation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art history with honors from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her master’s degree in curatorial studies in contemporary art and culture from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, where she was a CCS fellow.
He Shuming (何書銘) is a screenwriter and director from Singapore.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in Film from The Puttnam School of Film, LASALLE College of The Arts. Shuming moved to Los Angeles in 2012, where he received his MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory.
He was conferred the Young Artist Award in 2019 by the National Arts Council, Singapore’s highest artistic accolade.
His debut feature film, Ajoomma, premiered at the 27th Busan International Film Festival in its prestigious New Currents section and garnered 4 nominations at the 59th Golden Horse Awards, including Best New Director. The film is also Singapore’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Grace Jung is an internationally-touring stand-up comedian, filmmaker, translator and author of her latest book K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television. Her academic articles on TV, film, gender and sexuality are published in multiple journals. She is a former Fulbright scholar and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Korean studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her work are featured in Time, Literary Hub and NPR.
About Singapore Unbound
Singapore beyond Singapore. Beyond territorial sovereignty and legal fictions. Beyond political controls and cultural straitjackets. Singapore Unbound is an invitation to dream new possibilities for the idea of Singapore.
Founded in New York City by Singaporean poet Jee Leong Koh, Singapore Unbound builds people-to-people understanding by facilitating cultural exchange, publishing literary works of merit, and presenting insightful events. Even though Singaporeans and Americans have been living in each other’s country for a long time, the history of this two-way expatriation is yet to be written. With the growth in arts education, creative industries, and academic ties between both countries, more writers and artists than ever are making their homes abroad. Singapore Unbound is born of this movement of people and ideas.
Since 2014, our flagship activity, the biennial Singapore Literature Festival held in New York City, has brought together Singaporean and American authors and audiences for in-depth conversations about literature and society. Between festivals, we extend the dialogue by running the Second Saturdays Reading Series, a regular platform for the reading of Singaporean and American literatures in various intimate venues around New York City. The exchanges led to the birth of our independent press Gaudy Boy, which is focused on bringing powerful works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction by authors of Asian heritage to an American and Singaporean audience. To further this goal, we have also created SUSPECT, a journal of Asian writing and art, publishing original writings, book reviews, and artist interviews.
For more info: https://singaporeunbound.org/