This week, don’t miss out on a rare cinematic treat in the form of iconic ’70s Singapore spy thriller film They Call Her… Cleopatra Wong, now newly restored and showing exclusively at Oldham Theater. Over at Objectifs, visit the second Migrant Worker Photography Festival, where participants have submitted heartfelt images responding to the theme of movement. Lastly, visit Singapore-based British artist Chloe Manasseh’s immersive exhibition over at Bugis+, which creates an otherworldly, multi-sensorial landscape.
What do you think of when encountering the word “moving”?
“Moving describes movement, flows, transitions, and action, but also affect and emotion”, and this apt sentiment underpins the new exhibition Moving by the Migrant Workers Photography Festival. The organisers hope to highlight the creative talents of migrant workers in Singapore through photography and to amplify their perspectives, especially poignant during this period where their freedom has been so heavily controlled.
This sophomore edition received 131 submissions across two categories, with images addressing the themes in various ways. Through the exhibition and its associate programmes – workshops, photo walks and a community diary, the organisers hope that the festival will help bridge the widening social chasm between the migrant and local communities.
More details here.
On now till September 19 at Objectifs, 155 Middle Road
If you’re into vintage films, here’s a gem: ’70s spy thriller They Call Her… Cleopatra Wong will start screening this weekend, as part of the Asian Film Archive’s Restored series, where classic works across Asia are meticulously restored.
For the uninitiated, this fun, campy number focuses on the story of “Singapore’s top Interpol agent”, who teams up with her Filipino counterpart to bust a counterfeit currency operation that threatens several Asian countries with bankruptcy.
A joint Singapore-Philippines production, it stars local actress Doris Young as the titular character. Word has it that Quentin Tarantino liked it so much, he reportedly listed the film as a key source of inspiration… perhaps for a certain yellow-clad assassin in Kill Bill? We’ll never know but you can now catch the fully restored They Call Her… Cleopatra Wong exclusively at Oldham Theatre.
Get your tickets here.
Opens September 11 at Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise
Singapore-based British artist Chloe Manasseh is the latest artist holding court for the fifth and latest edition of Art Encounters.
The latter is an initiative designed to capture and make public the creative process of artists (something the public doesn’t usually get to see), who present their works within repurposed shipping containers that are moved to new locations every few months.
Manasseh’s site-specific commission, titled Petals Fall, Now and Then, comprises large-format botanical paintings in one container, and a multi-sensorial installation in a second container that explores the power of the imagination, the relationship between the individual and collective memory, and identity anchored within spaces we hold dear.
The installation is meant to invoke landscapes both real and unreal, and it feels particularly apt in a time of closed borders – adding a further dimension to things is a custom scent created by homegrown fragrance label Six. Step through to be temporarily transported.
On now till October 3 at the outdoor plaza of Bugis+