Media Partnership | Interview with Drama Box for ICAF Hub Singapore
As part of culture360's Media Partnership with Drama Box for the International Community Arts Festival (ICAF) Hub Singapore, we speak to Koh Hui Ling, co-artistic director of Drama Box, on hosting the first on-site ICAF Hub in Singapore and how community arts foster meaningful dialogues and initiatives for social change.
1. Drama Box has established itself as a socially engaged theatre company in Singapore since 1990. Could you tell us more about how and why Drama Box was established? How does the work of Drama Box fit in the local arts scene?
Koh Hui Ling: Drama Box was founded in 1990 by a group of Chinese drama society members from the National University of Singapore (NUS) who were passionate about creating original works with a Singaporean flavour. By the late 90s, the company was actively creating works that spoke about social injustice and marginalised spaces and issues. Today, Drama Box is known for its artistic interventions in social justice spaces, as well as site-specific theatre. It is also the only full-time theatre company in Singapore that does long-term arts-based community engagement projects under the Major Company scheme of the National Arts Council.
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1. A typical evening at a Drama Box community performance. © Matthew Wong
2. This year's International Community Arts Festival (ICAF) Hub will take place in Singapore from 12-15 June 2025. Having been held in the Netherlands previously, what adaptations and new directions has Drama Box taken to bring ICAF to Singapore, considering its unique cultural and societal context?
Hui Ling: ICAF Hub Singapore, being a sister festival of ICAF Rotterdam, is run and managed by a separate entity (Drama Box). ICAF Rotterdam are acutely aware that there are greater networks held by other organisations in the other side of the world and hence reached out to see if Drama Box wanted to kickstart and build this space for community arts practitioners from the Asia-Pacific region to gather. Having done 2 online iterations of ICAF Hub SG in 2021 and 2023 (online due to Covid), we continue to feature and build these networks spotlight more Asia-Pacific based practitioners and yet bridging the networks to a broader western practice.
2. In 2017, Drama Box brought its inflatable popup theatre GoLi and staged participatory performance 'The Lesson' at the International Community Arts Festival. © Franz Kloet
3. This will be the first large-scale community arts festival held in Singapore. In your opinion, how has the community arts sector evolved in Singapore and in Asia over the last decade? How do you envision this festival contributing to the development and growth of community arts in Singapore?
Hui Ling: There have always been a lot of great projects in Asia, putting our beautiful diverse cultures on display. The purpose of ICAF Hub Singapore is thus to be a rallying force to showcase, network and document these practices. It would be a great network to allow for exchanges across cities and cultures, where younger practitioners have a greater network and opportunities to work on projects across the regions. This is also a chance to document the practices and projects out there to let us better understand the impact of the arts.
4. Why was ‘The Gathering’ chosen as the overarching theme for the festival? How do you envision this theme translating into the festival programmes and experiences, particularly in terms of initiating meaningful conversations around social issues?
Hui Ling: Community-based work has always been about people coming together, creating change and holding space for magic to happen – even more important now in a world that is becoming increasingly socially isolated. After two online iterations, I thought it was important to mark the physical gathering where we can have exchanges, learning and synergising collectively.
Community and social change cannot work in silo; therefore, it has always been important to reach beyond our immediate communities or practice and forge networks with a larger regional and international practice to optimise resources and knowledge.
In Singapore specifically, this sector of work has grown over the past 10 years, yet there is still a lot of awareness that is lacking to what the arts can do. We hope ICAF Hub Singapore gives local practitioners and stakeholders an opportunity to be exposed to diverse practices and methodologies and builds our local capacity in the process. It will be a coming together of people who want to see change and be part of that change.
3. Drama Box’s Project 12 is situated in Pulau Ubin, an offshore island accessible by a 10-min bumboat ride. © Joseph Nair
5. What experiences can audiences expect at ICAF Hub Singapore, and what do you hope for audiences to take away from the festival?
Koh Hui Ling: As it is a Festival, and community arts is all about "taking action", there's a lot more hands-on practical experiences such as visits to spaces activated by local artists, masterclass and workshops where we get to hear and from community artists across diverse practices. As much as the work is process-driven, there are also theatrical performances and play reads focused on showcasing the end of such processes.
Specially for this ICAF Hub Singapore, we've also introduced the concept of Special Interest Circle (SIC) where practitioners who share an interest in specific issues can come together akin a forum with specifically curated topics to allow the time to reflect and make plans for the next steps. Not all is action and no reflection though, as we also have a more cerebral session called Morning Huddle to kickstart every day, to help us reflect on our own practices.
About the Interviewee
Koh Hui Ling is a theatre practitioner who finds meaning in the process of community engagement and the participation of non-artists in the artmaking. She is currently the co-artistic director of socially engaged theatre company Drama Box, where laid the foundation for Drama Box’s work in youth engagement, and had developed a set of Drama-in-Education and Theatre-in-Education programmes for youths, teachers and adult-learners. Her desire to create alternative avenues for public dialogue led to the development of GoLi – The Moving Theatre, Singapore's first inflatable theatre that transforms spaces into vibrant places for arts and culture. Hui Ling completed her Masters of Arts in Applied Drama (Distinction) from the University of Exeter (UK), with her research on sustainability of community-based theatre companies.
Since 2012, culture360.ASEF.org has supported the outreach and visibility of over 65 arts events in Asia and Europe. We strive to continue supporting on-site and virtual arts events across the 2 regions through a variety of communication activities. To know more, take a look at our Media Partnerships page and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.