Requiem
1 to 22 February 2025

REQUIEM © Requiem

About

REQUIEM is a new evolving interdisciplinary-performance practice research by Effendy examining the trauma responses within the minority male body through live conversations between the performance and the audiences’ gazes. Over the course of this four-week project, REQUIEM will witness collaborations with four Singapore-based contemporary composers and experimental music artists - Wu Jun Han, Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin, N5FR2 (Az Kadir), and Rosemainy Buang - to excavate inherent and latent memories of suffering and trauma within the performer’s body through the abuse of the aural sense in the hope of understanding and empathizing with remorse and grief.

This project is a collaborative body-based performance examining trauma in and through empathy on the concepts of loss, despair, and rage as the body (and mind) negotiates issues of faith and doubt, and the constantly shifting identities in a society that increasingly appears to seek the neutering of otherness. This is a response to the deterioration of mental health in trying to make sense of and holding on to rational thinking as well as hope in the roles of outsider, observer, and witness to the varied violence and atrocities oppressing peoples across the world today.

Public Events

1 – 22 FEBRUARY 

Open Studio
Every Saturday

*1 February, Saturday, 4pm (duration 33 min) + Wu Jun Han
8 February, Saturday, 4pm (duration 45 min) + Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin
15 February, Saturday, 4pm (duration 45 min) + Rosemainy Buang
22 February, Saturday, 4pm (duration 45 min) + N5FR2

Free admission with limited audience capacity

Admission by registration here

*For the first session on 1 February, audiences are advised to bring their personal mobile devices and head/earphones to engage in the full experience of the presentation.

Note: The rest of the sessions on 8, 15 and 22 February does not require head/earphones, they are performed live.


Artist: Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Composers: N5FR2, Rosemainy, Syafiqah ‘Adha Binte Mohamed Sallehin, Wu Jun Han
Lighting Designer: Emanorwatty Saleh
Headgear Artist: Dwayne Ng
Marketing & FOH: Saiful Amri
Publicity Design: Chrry

The Artists

NOOR EFFENDY IBRAHIM aka VERY SHY GURL by fendy
Effendy is a Singapore-based interdisciplinary arts practitioner with over 30 years of art practice. Effendy was Artistic Director of Teater Ekamatra (2001-2006) and The Substation (2010-2015) and is currently a senior lecturer at the School of Fine Art, Faculty of Art & Design, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts-University of the Arts Singapore. Effendy’s collaborative art practice currently exists as Very Shy Gurl by fendy.

WU JUN HAN
Wu Jun Han listens, plays & thinks with sound. He sometimes teaches at NAFA & does odd jobs.

SYAFIQAH ‘ADHA SALLEHIN
Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin (b. 1990) is a music composer, performer and educator. She graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in music (with Honours) and a Master of Music in Music Composition in 2016. Her creative aesthetic is a unique voice that stems from her footing as a classical-trained musician and a traditional Malay music practitioner. She enjoys composing intercultural works which involve the syncretisation of ethnic elements and instruments. She is also interested in collaborating with other creatives in creating multi/interdisciplinary works. Syafiqah believes in the power of music in healing and bringing people together.

ROSEMAINY
Rosemainy Buang is a gamelan musician, educator, composer, and sound artist from Singapore. With a decade of training in gamelan, she is dedicated to expanding her creative horizons through collaborative projects with other artists from diverse disciplines. Approaching artmaking with a multidisciplinary and experimental attitude, she attempts to question, build upon and expand the limits of traditional soundscapes, philosophies and aesthetics.

N5FR2
N5FR2 is a live electronics mutant industrial techno project utilizing sampling, sequencing and synths by Singaporean producer Az. Az's musical odyssey, which spans over two decades, traverses a diverse range of genres, from post-punk to shoegaze with bands like Athena Flight and Stellarium, crushing doom metal with Beelzebud, and ambient collaborations with Translucent Pulse under his Disco Ditto alias, amongst others. With N5FR2, he continues to push the boundaries of sound design, blending personal influences and exploring new territories, challenging traditional genre conventions and norms.

DWAYNE NG
Dwayne Ng has been a theatre-maker for the past decade, contributing as a writer, actor, director, and drama educator. Since 2021, he has delved into mask-making, collaborating with organizations such as Toy Factory Productions and NAFA School of Theatre to create pieces that enhance storytelling and deepen character portrayals. Inspired by the metaphorical masks people wear in daily life, Dwayne’s creations bring both visual and emotional depth to the stage. He believes theatre is not merely entertainment but a powerful tool for sharing unheard stories and transforming lives. In addition to his theatre work, Dwayne performs as a DJ under the name NEWDAY.

EMANORWATTY SALEH
Ema began her love for theatre in 1992. Her first major work as a lighting designer was for a daunting play Indra Bangsawan by Teater Kami, in 1997 at the Victoria Theatre. Bagged with years of experience since then, she attained a BA in Technical Theatre Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2007. Almost instantly after, she became a mother. Now since her return to the craft, she embarked on what she called street style where her approach is less formal and conventional, allowing more room for exploration and experimentation, and best of all, leading to unpredictability. Her recent credits in 2022-2023 include Anak by Very Shy Gurl, Kepaten Obor by Suhaili Safari (both Esplanade Theatre Studio), Indigo Jackal by Grace Kalaiselvi (Esplanade Recital Studio), Both Sides, Now by Dramabox (Heartbeat@Bedok Atrium), Tri-Vima by Samyoga (Esplanade Theatre Studio) and ‘Come Back Home’ An Esplanade Commission and Polyglot Theatre Australia (The Singtel Waterfront Theatre). Ema enjoys the adrenaline that comes with the job, and currently she is confronting the challenges that exist within the digital realm.

The Space

136 GOETHE LAB is a new project space at the Goethe-Institut Singapore. Housed in the former library and reading room, the space is intended as a response to the need for physical spaces for the arts, and an ongoing conversation with the public and arts community in Singapore.

REQUIEM is supported as part of the open call for 136 GOETHE LAB, which invited applicants to activate the space with a group proposal.