Singapore, 28 August 2024 — TRCL presents The Idea of North 2024, a four-day festival from 18 to 21 September 2024 at 10 Square, Orchard Central with satellite events at The Projector. Produced by Global Cultural Alliance (GCA) in collaboration with business accelerator Millet Holdings, the festival celebrates four decades of Brunei Darussalam-Singapore diplomatic relations; featuring a selection of curated programmes which aims to enhance people-to-people connections through the arts. This includes a visual art exhibition, live music performance, experimental music workshop, engaging panel discussions, and a rare film screening of Brunei Darussalam’s first feature film.
The Idea of North aims to catalyse future collaborations and business partnerships; while creating a platform that sparks cultural curiosity and foster artistic exchanges between both nations. To that end, the festival serves as a meeting point for emerging and established creatives from both nations, and welcomes culturally-curious individuals, students and educators, and art-lovers of all ages to experience the vibrancy of the celebration.
The festival launches on 18 September 2024 with the opening of visual art exhibition TENUNAN: A View on Tapestry of Historical Processes, curated by Bruneian veteran artist Osman Muhammad. Featuring works by Bruneian artists Yasmin Jaidin, Faizal Hamdan, and Armacester Arsad, TENUNAN explores Kain Tenunan or Songket as mirrors of the complexity of weaving historical narratives. The exhibition runs till 16 October 2024, with a curator’s tour on 21 September 2024.
Nicholas Tee, GCA’s Head of Artistic Development, expressed the festival’s underlying sentiment; “The Idea of North is a forward-looking festival that not only celebrates the 40th anniversary of bilateral relations between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore but also invites us to imagine what the next 40 years might hold. We have gathered a diverse line-up of artists, academics, and creatives to explore how history and tradition intertwine with the contemporary, hoping to shape a vision for our shared future. Over four days, we aim to ignite cultural curiosity through art and culture, establish a platform for knowledge exchange, and lay the foundations for long-term collaboration. The festival also prompts us to think about how to build new networks of solidarity and collectivity within the Southeast Asian region, fostering connections that will endure and evolve over time.”
The Idea of North comprises three programming pillars; arts and culture; people and places; business and economics.
Arts and Culture
The festival features Bruneian artists and art forms for various disciplines. Catch The Elisha Tiga Eksperiment (ETX) Live In Singapore and be amazed at the innovative approach to traditional instruments and sounds. Their performance draws from the roaring 20s, 70s fusion, and modern experimental jazz, while reimagining traditional Bruneian music with contemporary harmonies and rhythms. Experiment your own tunes with ETX at the Bridging Traditional Music And Jazz: A Music Workshop.
The festival will also feature a one-day-only screening of Brunei Darussalam’s first feature film, Gema Dari Menara (Echoes of the Minaret), with support from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Negara Brunei Darussalam and National Gallery Singapore. The film is a compelling drama that serves as a cautionary tale against growing secularisation of Bruneian society; while offering a rare glimpse into the more liberal culture of pre-independence Brunei. A post-screening Q&A with Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud and Suraya Suhairi sheds light on Brunei’s cinematic and cultural history.
People and Places
The People and Places track platforms practitioners and academics from Brunei Darussalam and Singapore to promote knowledge exchange and insights to the creative industry. Festival Friends is a panel discussion that takes the significance of friendships as a starting point for investigating modes of collaboration, capacity building and festival making within the Southeast Asian region. Featuring prolific practitioners Syazni Bakar and Amali Hj Roslin from National Theatre Festival Brunei, Sahirrah Safit and Masturah Oli of Asian Youth Theatre Festival (SG), and Shaifulbahri Mohammad from Producers SG.
RENTAK/S: Explorations of Traditional Soundscapes explores the dynamic approaches to traditional sounds (rentak) across different genres, disciplines and geographical borders (rentas). Join our esteemed panel of multi-instrumentalists Megat Firdaus, Safuan Johari and Elisha Tiga and Yazid Damit of ETX, as they share best practices and innovative approaches in integrating traditional sounds with other genres.
Explore the evolving landscape of arts education and leadership within Southeast Asia at FUTURE PROOF: Cultural Leaders in the Creative Industries. With Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud, Ms Audrey Wong and Dr Rimi Parvin Khan, gain insights into how arts institutions are shaping the next generation of cultural leaders and strategies for a vibrant and sustainable arts ecosystem.
Business and Economics
A series of networking lunches and roundtable discussions about the past, present and future of Brunei Darussalam’s economic landscape. Of which, Currents of Change: Navigating Brunei’s Contemporary Landscape delves into the issues affecting Brunei Darussalam’s contemporary landscape, ranging from the urban city centres to the natural wonders of the country. It focuses on progress while preserving the cultural roots of Brunei Darussalam, as well as the trends and developments that surround the country as it progresses through the future.
For the extended festival calendar of programmes and ticketing information, please visit ideaofnorth2024.com. Please refer to Annex A and Annex B for speakers profile and programmes calendar.
Major General (R) Dato Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Dato Haji Abidin, who is leading the Bruneian delegation, weighed in on the festival’s significance. “The Idea of the North goes beyond a simple festival and is very timely. It is a pivotal platform as an extension of initiatives between two special friends, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore in our continuous efforts to build stronger bonds between our people especially the youth from both countries. In our historical connections, we see the importance of culture and tradition that must be shared and promoted. This will be the catalyst for us to further understand each other towards achieving our mutual objective.
“It is our sincere hope that The Idea of the North will ignite more collaborative efforts on the business front, by platforming young entrepreneurs to connect and network together. I remain optimistic that The Idea of the North will develop, progress and sustain as a platform of growth for our entrepreneurs.” Dato says.
The festival seeks to accelerate artistic and business collaborations beyond the four-day event, while exposing Singaporeans to the art and creative expressions within the region. The Idea of North is a brand of TRCL and is a biannual festival curated by GCA as part of its Bridging Borders pillar. TRCL is an arts and culture non-profit organisation that manages the Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which funds the arts training for underserved children and youth and champions the transformative power of the arts in character development. GCA aims to foster shared experiences through arts and culture programmes while positioning Singapore as a creative centre.
