Latiff Mohidin: Lines To Form
At 85, Malaysian Modernist artist Latiff Mohidin is forging ahead into a new medium and unveiling his first cast-bronze sculpture.
Burung 1 (Bird 1) was first made in 1967 at a smaller scale in ciment fondu and has been reborn as a 1.8m-tall bronze sculpture.
The 2026 work, which bears the same name, is scaled from the original ciment fondu sculpture and therefore visibly bears the intimate fingerprints of the artist. Latiff’s abstraction of the bird here is almost childlike, resembling two cocked fingers and an open palm.
The bronze work belongs to Latiff’s iconic Pago Pago series, a term he coined in the 1950s that blends the words “pagoda” and “pagar pagar”, which refers to the distinctive architectural feature of Minangkabau houses.
It is realised in collaboration with Yogya Art Lab, Gajah Gallery’s foundry arm based in Yogyakarta, which has pushed artists like Suzann Victor, Jane Lee and Han Sai Por to work in new materials or at larger scale.
Curated by Syed Muhammad Hafiz of Kuala Lumpur-based LM Studio, which is devoted to promoting Latiff’s legacy, the bronze work is presented alongside paper works. There are wetlands, forests, peat swamps and mangroves. Seen together, they evoke the stunning breadth of tropical forms.
Where: Gajah Gallery Singapore, 03-04 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road
MRT: Cantonment
When: Till Sept 20; weekdays, 11am to 7pm; weekends and public holidays, noon to 6pm
Admission: Free
Info: str.sg/JP8Sj
The Rake’s Progress by New Opera Singapore
New Opera Singapore rehearsing for Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, which plays at the Victoria Theatre on Sept 5 and 6.
PHOTO: SOH WEI QI
During the Covid-19 pandemic, New Opera Singapore had no choice but to present Igor Stravinsky’s 1951 opera The Rake’s Progress as a puppet-based opera film.
Now, the company can finally bring the English-language opera to the stage at the Victoria Theatre.
Says New Opera Singapore artistic director Jeong Ae Ree, who is also directing the opera: “At its centre, the opera asks questions that remain remarkably contemporary: What happens when we pursue wealth, pleasure, status and instant gratification without purpose or responsibility? How easily can a person be seduced by the promise of an easier life? And ultimately, what can save us?”
Stravinsky’s only full-length opera has decidedly literary and ekphrastic origins.
It was inspired by the satirical engravings of 17th-century English artist William Hogarth that showed the decline of a wastrel heir of rich merchant Tom Rakewell.
By introduction of Stravinsky’s neighbour writer Aldous Huxley, poets and lovers W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman wrote the libretto.
Where: Victoria Theatre, 11 Empress Place
MRT: City Hall
When: Sept 5 and 6, 7.30pm
Admission: $25 to $80
Info: str.sg/95sy
A Magical Hour With Whee Jim by Community Foundation of Singapore
Former civil servant Yeo Whee Jim was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2023.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yeo Whee Jim, diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2023, launched his first collection of poems Itinerary in 2024 and a charitable fund in 2026. He now takes the stage for a one-night-only show that will feature poetry and performance.
Yeo spent most of his career in the civil service. He was the institute director of governance and policy at the Civil Service College before leaving to start his own training consultancy in 2021.
Although the fatal disease has cost him the ability to walk and feed himself, he told The Straits Times in an interview in January: “I’m already at the end of my life, and if I want to go, at least go with a big bang.”
Ticket proceeds for the show will go towards The Lok Yan and Whee Jim Fund, an endowment fund set up with Community Foundation of Singapore, which is organising this show. The fund supports disadvantaged children and families, including young caregivers balancing school and caregiving responsibilities.
Where: The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre @ Wild Rice, Funan, 107 North Bridge Road
MRT: City Hall
When: Sept 8, 7.30pm
Admission: $100
Info: str.sg/itwF