FOCAS 3

ORDER NOW! focas No 3 FORUM ON CONTEMPORARY ART & SOCIETY is out in
January 2003



Most of you will by now be familiar with the first edition of focas,
Forum on Contemporary Art and Society, the ground-breaking new
journal launched in January by The Necessary Stage.

For those of you who aren't: focas is a biannual publication that
engages issues of contemporary art, politics and social change -
primarily but not exclusively - in Singapore and South East Asia.
focas is dedicated to interdisciplinary, critical exchange among
scholars and practitioners. focas is the only regular publication
that addresses issues relating to arts and Singapore society. It is
published by the Necessary Stage.

Our third issue focas # 3 is out and includes sections on:

Section 1 Work/Play

Forum Transcript: Work/Play: Strategies for the Practice and
Management of Cultural Production in Singapore Inc. The Necessary
Stage, July 15, 2001
Panellists: Paul Rae, Mariam Mohammed Ali, Nirmala PuruShotam

Don't Pray Pray: The Serious Business of Fun in Singapore Inc.
Paul Rae

On play (playing off 9.11)
Marian Pastor Roces

Spectres of Play
Lucy Davis & Ray Langenbach

Section 2 Kitsch & The Singapore Modern

Forum Transcript.The Necessary Stage, October 21, 2001.
Panellists: Venka Purushothaman, Tay Kheng Soon, Peter Schoppert,
C.J. Wan-ling Wee, Lee Weng Choy

Kitsch and Singapore Public Art
Peter Schoppert

Bland Modernity, Kitsch and Reflections on Aesthetic Production in Singapore
C.J. Wan-Ling Wee

Section 3 Bodies & Text

Forum Transcript: Launch of Singapore-Germany Playwright's
Exchange-cum-Dialogue Session
Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes Singapore, July 5, 2001
Panellists: Nora Samosir, Charlene Rajendran, Henning Fangauf,
Russell Heng, Chong Tze Chien

Forum Transcript: The Death and Rebirth of the Playwright.
The Necessary Stage, July 6, 2001
Panellists: Haresh Sharma, Quah Sy Ren, Kok Heng Leun and Kristo _agor


I Went to the Playwright's Funeral, I Looked in the Coffin, and It
Was Me, So I Said "Whatever" and Went to a Bar where I Met this
Totally Hot Chick and Came Back to Life. Notes for a Manifesto on
Theatre and the Writer's Place In It
Huzir Sulaiman

Some Notes on Drag: a dialogue with Ivan Heng
Lee Weng Choy
&
M. Emily
Brandon Wee

The Maids in Manila: a thick description
Marian Pastor Roces

Section 4 Reviews/Commentary

In Venetian Waters: Singapore at the 49th Venice Biennale
Kevin Chua

The Personal and the Political? Representation and Relationships in
One Hundred Years in Waiting
Ng How Wee

Can the Co-opted Speak?: A Brief History of One Theatre Company's
Negotiation with the Singaporean State
Tan Chong Kee


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Price for one edition:
S$18 SGD (Students S$15)

Annual subscription

* Singapore:
Individual - $38
Institutions - $62
Students/Retiree - #32

* ASEAN:
Individual - US$36
Institutions - US$50
Students/Retiree - US$32

* Other Countries:
Individual - US$46
Institutions - US$60
Students/Retiree - US$42

For orders and subscriptions please feel free to email
focas@n... or give us a call at (65) 440-8115.

A LIMITED NUMBER OF BACK ISSUES OF FOCAS NO 1 & 2 ARE STILL AVAILABLE!]

focas No 2 Contains the following sections:

I. Precious Little Difference - Gender. Sexuality. Art
Input from Venka Purushotaman, Nirmala Purushotam, Lucy Davis & Susie Lingham

II. Protest, Provocation, Process - Cultural Activism in Southeast Asia
Input from Yap Ching Wi, Ray Langenbach, Yar Habnegnal, Kuo Pao Kun,
jay koh, Alvin Tan

III Colonialism or Collaboration? -- Intercultural Arts Practice and
International Arts Organisations
Input from T Sasitharan, Amanda Heng, Tan Shzr Ee, jay koh, Paul
Rae,Tan Shzr Ee & Rustom Bharucha


IV Commentary/Feedback

Susan Loh, Director (Corporate Communications and Marketing), NAC.

focas No. 1 contains the following sections:

I Who's Afraid of Representation? - Fear of Representation or the
Lack Thereof
[Input from Robin Loon and Lee Weng Choy]

II Imagined Boundaries -- Community Arts and Public Interactions
[Input from Adeline Kwok, Susie Lingham and Lucy Davis]

III Transmedia Cockroach - The Arts and The Singapore Press.
[With a collection of primary documents on the "Talaq" controversy,
input from KK Liew and Alfian Sa'at]