She is here. She will be seen, heard, and remembered.

This digital museum, created by Vithya Subramaniam from Brown Voices, makes plainly visible the Singaporean Tamil women in the everyday objects of life in Singapore. Where her person has been overlooked and her representation tokenised, this museum’s collection lays out the varied, nuanced, real ways of being a Singaporean Tamil woman.

Yet, both the museum and the identity at its centre will remain perpetually ‘under construction’. The initial collection on display was gathered through workshops with Singaporean Tamil women.

Visitors are invited to engage, add to, and challenge the collection, and the ‘construction’ of a thamizhachi, a Singaporean Tamil woman.

Project Support by Sai Lalitha Aiyer

Brown Voices is a collective of Indian theatre practitioners, initiated by Grace Kalaiselvi. The collective's purpose and vision is to generate and encourage narratives expressing the perspectives, concerns, and aspirations of Singaporean Indians. For N.O.W. 2021, Brown Voices presents two interconnected projects - Thamizhachi: The Digital Museum of Tamil Women Under Construction and Rasanai: An Invitation to Appreciate. The latter is a livestreamed digital performance happening on 24 July.

nudes.jpg is a third iteration from the red thread series by ila and Sonia Kwek. We are inviting you to get intimate with yourself: undress, photograph yourself and share a story associated with your body. Be part of a virtual exhibition showcasing a growing archive of bodies and their personal and collective narratives.

The act of documenting your own body for yourself is a reclamation of your traumas and triumphs, marked by your moles, scars and other parts that are distinctively yours. While taking nudes is highly sexualised and sending them through the digital sphere has become normalised, this work is about slowing down, spending time with yourself and creating shared intimacies between bodies; towards opening up conversations about the body and nudity.

In-conversation: Join ila, Sonia and contributors to nudes.jpg in dialogue on 27 July, 7.30pm.
Register to attend.

A digital exhibition on mother-daughter relationships in Singapore

The mother-daughter bond is one that is enduring, complex, fraught, non-existent – depending on who you ask. In @unbecomingstories on Instagram, we share real-life mother-daughter stories from women across cultures and communities in Singapore today, received via a digital open call. Through these, we hope to form a rich and collective understanding of the lived experiences of mothers and daughters here, and reflect on the legacies of women through the generations.

@unbecomingstories is an extension of (un)becoming, a theatrical production about mother-daughter relationships in Singapore today, created by Sim Yan Ying “YY” and Nabilah Said, and devised in collaboration with the team. The play will be presented from 14-17 July as part of T:>Works' Festival Of Women: N.O.W. 2021.

More posts will be added bi-weekly. To submit your story, go to http://bit.ly/unbecomingstories. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please email us at [unbecomingopencall@gmail.com].

The @unbecomingstories team comprises Nabilah Said, Annie Low, Ella Wee, Teo Annjee and Sim Yan Ying “YY”.

The annual 24-Hour Playwriting Competition invites you to be part of its second digital edition. In a time where large gatherings are still limited, and the spirit to create is undaunted, we invite you to join us. STAY AWAKE and WRITE in the comfort of your personal space. Type up a storm and explore exciting ways to utilise your personal space as a site-specific stimulus for your wildest imaginings. This year we have an added treat to make virtual gatherings at communal meal times delightful!

During selected intervals throughout the 24-hour process, our judges - Jean Tay, Zizi Majid and Sim Yan Ying "YY" as well as N.O.W. Artistic Director Noorlinah Mohamed - will be on hand as artist-facilitators. Chat with them, brainstorm ideas or seek advice - they'll be there for you.

Youth Category (15 – 18 yrs)
Open Category (19 yrs and above)

Where:
Zoom & Telegram

Prizes (for both categories):
First Prize: S$350
Second Prize: S$250
Third Prize: S$150

Project Team: Gaiatri Sasitharan & Sai Lalitha Aiyer
Enquiries: [gaiatri.tworks@gmail.com] or [lalitha.tworks@gmail.com]

A millennial mother and her Gen Z daughter grapple with their disintegrating relationship. A doula finds herself trapped in a cycle she can’t seem to break. A little girl walks alone. In between, stories of women across time, space, and reality emerge from Kinder Eggs. What does it mean to mother? Or to be a daughter? And from what perspectives can we understand this bond between them?

(un)becoming explores the complex dynamics of mother-daughter relationships in Singapore today, through an online experience combining live performance, short films, and digital snooping. Created by Sim Yan Ying “YY” and Nabilah Said, and devised in collaboration with the (un)becoming team, this show attempts to uncover what women inherit from their mothers and what they pass down––for better or for worse.

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Co-created by Sim Yan Ying "YY" & Nabilah Said
Devised and Performed by Arielle Jasmine Van Zuijlen, Chanel Ariel Chan, Isabella Chiam, Suhaili Safari
Dramaturgs – A Yagnya & Cheng Nien Yuan
Scenic and Costume Design – Johanna Pan
Multimedia Design – Jevon Chandra
Sound Design – Tini Aliman
Stage Manager – Shivani Rajan
Assistant Stage Manager & Transcriber - Catherine Ho
Filming and Editing – Chimene Khoo
Publicity Design – See Yongxin

“We tend to think of the erotic as an easy, tantalizing sexual arousal. I speak of the erotic as the deepest life force, a force which moves us toward living in a fundamental way.”
- Audre Lorde

As ageing women invisibilised in today’s world, what does it mean to be in life, to feel closeness to life? A diverse group of older women aged 59 to 82 —including a hairdresser, ballet dancer, activist, natural healer, hiker— consider this question in a collaborative process advocating for the many dimensions of intimacy that are inextricably linked to health. Manifesting as video vignettes, interactive performance, and writing, they reflect on nature, relationships, childbirth, death, sex, and how these change with age. You are invited to witness and participate in this intimate virtual experience.

Accompanying Not Grey is issue 3 of The Grandma Reporter [www.thegrandmareporter.com], a collaborative publication project on senior women’s culture around the earth. Download Issue 3 at [bit.ly/tgr3intimacy].

In-conversation with the collaborators on 26 July, Monday, 7.30pm, livestreamed. Viewers are invited to be part of the conversation with the collaborators on what intimacy means at different stages of our lives.

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Conceptualised and Directed by Salty Xi Jie Ng
With Collaborators Anne Lee, Ajuntha Anwari, Choo Ai Keow, Dana Lam, Elsie Tan, Evelyn Fernandez, Faizah Jamal, Koh Lian Hiok, Li Li Chung, Patricia Lim, Pushpa Melvani, Saudah Marwan, Shirley Low, Yvonne Teo & Zubee Ali
Assistant Stage Manager - Gaiatri Sasitharan & Irish Alcantara
Filming & Editing - Chimene Khoo & Salty Xi Jie Ng
The Grandma Reporter Publication Design - Hee Su Hui
Publication Artwork - Dana Lam

A young woman faced with her grandmother’s declining health races to revisit their family's history. She struggles with remembering, knowing, and understanding her history. Remembering is not easy; but is forgetting an option?

Rasanai: An Invitation to Appreciate is a multi-sensorial livestreamed performance, revealing and reveling in the sounds and tastes, histories and practices of the often occluded hand of the Singaporean Tamil women. In her labour of life - caring, healing, building, feeding, gathering, and loving - how is her legacy remembered? How is she celebrated by those that come after?

T:>Care Fundraiser Dinner: If you are in the position to give, do consider donating $380 or more for a special home-delivered dinner to be enjoyed with the performance Rasanai, prepared by Masterchef Season 2 contestant Vasun, curated in collaboration with Brown Voices. Your contributions will be divided equally to the four urgencies - Krsna’s Free Meals, ReadAble, The T Project and N.O.W. For enquiries or to purchase a fundraising ticket for Rasanai, contact Jeffrey Kang at [donate.tcare@gmail.com].

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Directed by Grace Kalaiselvi
Written by Grace Kalaiselvi, Rajkumar Thiagaras & Vithya Subramaniam
Performed by Mumtaz Maricar, Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai & Vithya Subramaniam
Sound Design by Ramesh Krishnan
Filming & Editing by Danielle Koh & Toh Cheng Yee

We see your homonormative oppression and we raise you…JOY

In homage to the cabaret as a space of beauty, entertainment, collision and just a delicious lick of danger, Cabaret Joy is a series of nights peopled with stars of queer performance, videos and art. They’ve been performing in clubs, and galleries, at conferences, on Instagram and are presented at N.O.W. in an event that is all digital.

The meek might inherit the earth, but the fabulous will take over the internet.

Hosted by Deonn Yang (N.O.W. 2019 alumnae) and Becca D’Bus (is she a woman? does it matter anymore?), and featuring all the joyous things, from stand-up to drag and poetry to burlesque, and an extended serving of very specific filth.

Marie Kondo, eat your heart out. We be over here setting joy on fire!

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Co-created by Becca D’Bus & Deonn Yang
Featuring Deonn Yang, Stephanie Chan, Lychee Bye, Jean Seizure, ElNina, Dahlia Rose, Marylyn Tan & many more artists

The “F” in the title is all about the most dreaded word in our vocabulary – FEAR. It manifests in procrastination, losing self-esteem, feeling stuck, overwhelmed or out of control. But fear need not always be an enemy. The ‘F’ Word is a series of talks held over three different nights, with three different hosts and their special guests. With one central mission: to get fear out of our minds. To stare squarely in its face. If not to squash it, at least to embrace it. Each talk unpacks the different perspectives and dispels myths through science, psychology as well as personal experiences of how real, and, necessary fear is. Do we need to challenge or befriend it? Negotiate or overcome? Control or let it sit quietly by our sides?

13 July, hosted by Noorlinah Mohamed with Dr. Geraldine Tan - On Fear and Courage
21 July, hosted by Janice Lee with guests Dr. Jessherin Sidhu & Dr. Martha Tara Lee - On Intimacy and Relationships
28 July, hosted by Corinne Ng with guests Choo Oi Yee & Cheryl Wee - On Risk Taking & Entrepreneurship

Streamed on FB Live with QnA

This 2-hour workshop led by Crit Talk explores issues, facts and the oft-unspoken thoughts and questions on autonomy and consent in female and male circumcision (adult and infant). Led by Sya and Nabilah of Crit Talk, the workshop contextualises circumcision in the SG Muslim community. Welcoming all participants who are keen to learn and openly discuss matters relating to circumcision, this workshop is suitable for all genders and is held only on Zoom. Each participant is free to share as much or as little as they are comfortable with, and bring in as much or as little of Islam as is important to them. Limited space to ensure a safe and intimate environment for honest engagement with the topic.

About Crit Talk
Crit Talk is an open, critical and participative space for Muslims who are invested in the community, to talk about their unique experiences. Sya and Nabilah started Crit Talk in 2017 with five pilot workshops, each addressing a topic selected from a pool of suggested topics from participants of the sessions. Crit Talk is modelled after a Muslim discussion circle in Sri Lanka called the Colombo Circle. Building on that, they add gentle structure with the use of small group activities and moderation of discussion, which encourages critical thinking from participants.

Join Ajuntha Anwari, Medicine Woman of Asia, as she takes you on an experiential journey of knowing and preparing restorative tonics which are not only good for the body but also for the soul. Incorporating her knowledge of ‘Jamu’ as well as plant based proteins, Ajuntha’s workshop comes with a special cooking kit delivered directly to your home. This workshop is designed for online engagement. Participants will need to have good wifi access and mobile or laptop devices to participate in the cooking process in your home.