Events
Motherland
Very Shy Gurl by fendy (Singapore)
Asian Premiere Book Now“What Noor Effendy manages to do with expert skill is keep the edge of his knife right in that sweet spot between pleasure and pain. It is that slash between human/beast and child/adult. And, implicating the audience, the one between witness/accomplice. That slash that simultaneously means ‘and’ and ‘or’.”
—Nabilah Said, Arts Equator on Cerita Cinta (2018)
Two unknown soldiers are in love. Their countries are at war. They hug tightly near the border. They love each other but are not sure what to do when they are supposed to fight each other.
This work was shown as a work-in-progress at Headlines Act / SIFA-X 2023 Edition. This event was by Centre 42 and Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA).
Motherland looks at love in a world with many violent conflicts. How do you choose between loyalty to your country and the one you love? Who do you choose to betray?
There is a post-show talk on 19 January 2024. Speech to text interpretation can be done if needed. If you need this service, email us at info@singaporefringe.com before 15 December 2023.
Artist Statement
Motherland is about the sexual tension between two men of different races. They share a tough history. We can’t tell just yet, but issues may come up as we go along.
Effendy studies the bodies of people who are from smaller groups in society. They are called minority groups. They are likely shut out or looked down on by others. This makes it easy for others to hurt them sexually or in religion. It is easy for those in power to control them.
Effendy wants people to think harder and talk honestly about their bodies. How do we interact with the performers, who are from the minority? He also designs the space to help us think about this.
“What Noor Effendy manages to do with expert skill is keep the edge of his knife right in that sweet spot between pleasure and pain. It is that slash between human/beast and child/adult. And, implicating the audience, the one between witness/accomplice. That slash that simultaneously means ‘and’ and ‘or’.”
—Nabilah Said, Arts Equator on Cerita Cinta (2018)
In a tight embrace above the line that divides the land, two unknown soldiers—deeply in love and with different loyalties—contemplate the inevitable as the night sky above Motherland starts to burn red. When Motherland eventually bleeds and pleads for vengeance, how should the soldier love?
First presented as a work-in-progress at Headlines Act / SIFA-X 2023 Edition by Centre 42 and Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), Motherland examines notions of love as framed between the extremes of loyalty and betrayal. It is a poignant yet searing response to the remembered, forgotten, neglected, and celebrated violent conflicts around the world that continue to develop, evolve, and erupt to this day.
Please note that some audience members will be seated on mats on the
floor for the duration of the performance. We advise that you dress comfortably
for the show. There are a limited number of chairs for those who require them.
Please let us know at Front of House if you require seating on a chair.
Post-show dialogue on 19 January 2024, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com before 15 December 2023.
Artist Statement
Motherland aims to pursue the examination of the erotic tension felt within tender interracial conversations between two different male bodies connected by inherent and latent, yet tumultuous, shared political memory. This work adds to Effendy’s evolving research examining the sexual, religious, and political vulnerability of the minority body in the contemporary site for performance. The examination aims to contribute to more critical and sincere creation and rehearsal processes to achieve a hyper-realistic conversation between the performance of the minority body and the gaze (of the audience/spectator) in the performance site, contextualized by the architectural and spatial design of the performance space.
Download artist biographies