At the heart of NUS’ Kent Ridge campus, Yusof Ishak House (YIH) opens a new chapter of the NUS Arts Festival (NAF). For the second year running, NAF continues its exploration into the theme of Crossroads, delving deeper into encounters, intersections, and turning points that shape our existence. The vision comes to life over 71 days through 28 programmes led by 33 student groups, making it the University’s largest arts event.
For the first time, the reopened YIH will anchor six site-specific programmes. Each will take centre stage at YIH’s public spaces, bringing dynamic, participatory works to the natural crossroads where students across various disciplines meet and interact between classes.
Using unconventional performance spaces
This move towards unconventional performance spaces reflects a broader shift in how the arts are being practised and experienced on NUS campus. By situating programmes within high-traffic environments, NAF signals an intentional rethinking of where and how artistic encounters can take place. Gone are the days where the arts are experienced inside theatre halls and accessed only by ticket-holders.
Ebelle Chong who heads the Centre for the Arts (CFA) team within the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), is an advocate of using arts to build community and camaraderie. “Using YIH as an unconventional performance space is very much aligned with OSA's intention to bring the arts to the people, whereby creating works in non-theatre settings allows for greater opportunities for one to ‘accidentally walk in’ on a performance that might be a catalyst of change in growing an interest in the arts. The beautiful space allows for many possible interpretations or responses to the site in terms of heritage, social and architecture.”
Exploring returning concepts
The decision to retain the Crossroads theme allows programmes that first appeared last year to evolve, offering their creators a second iteration to explore their subject matter in greater depth.
One such programme is Crossings: A Dance Dialogue on Love and Loss. Performed by NUS Dance Synergy, the programme made its debut in UTown during NAF25. Like its predecessor, this year’s iteration invites audience members to move through the performance space alongside the dancers. By moving in tandem with the dancers, audience members will interact with the performance in a more intimate way, becoming part of the journey, rather than just observers.
This year, the performance will take place at the Level 2 Social Commons, a multi-purpose activity space characterised by six iconic arches, a heritage trademark of YIH, which was first built in 1977.
“The experience rehearsing at YIH so far has been really fulfilling. The architecture and colour scheme of the space create a sense of warmth and calm, with the arches and soft beige tones giving the environment a gentle, grounded quality. What stands out most is how many elements there are to work with — the stairs, pillars and seats are constantly present in our rehearsals and have become integral to the piece,” said Megan Neo (Y2, Law), President of NUS Dance Synergy.
Experimentation across different genres
Another returning programme is Four Blank Walls: Experiments in Sound (Edition 5), which made its debut in 2024 as part of the campus-wide arts initiative third space. A site-responsive, improvisation-led sound showcase guided by artist Syafiq Halid, each edition of Four Blank Walls brings artists who practise different genres artists together to co-create unique performances. The latest iteration takes place at the Level 3 Atrium steps of YIH, another iconic location which has stood the test of time.
“Instead of being presented as a ‘full’ show that arts audiences are used to, this edition of Four Blank Walls is broken up into three short pop-up performances of 20 to 40 minutes at YIH, and each day featuring a different experience with a different duo. The intention is to introduce site-specific sound and performance interventions that transform YIH into a small, temporary ‘lab’, where performers are tested to engage deeply with their set conditions, rather than escaping them,” explained River Chua, Programme Manager of Four Blank Walls.
Also happening on the Atrium is Upstairs, Downstairs, and In Between, a collaboration between NUS Angklung Ensemble and NUS Fingerstyle Guitar. Touted as an immersive auditory experience, the performance makes use of the acoustic properties of the high ceiling, stairway and open corners to create layered melodies.
Interacting with and involving the audience
NUS Angklung Ensemble President Devanrio Geofendra Chandra (Y2, CDE) is appreciative of the opportunity to be amongst one of the first groups performing at YIH.
“Performing in an open and accessible venue allows us to connect more naturally with passers-by and create a more inclusive musical experience. We’re excited to help shape YIH into a lively gathering point where students can experience diverse art forms, including a culturally rooted and heritage-rich art form like Angklung,” said Devanrio.
Upstairs, Downstairs, and In Between includes an interactive session with the audience, where they can learn basic playing techniques on the instruments and participate in a combined finale.
This is not the only pairing between the two student groups this NAF. They will come together again for Open Strings, Shared Paths which also takes place at YIH, this time at L2 Social Commons. Participants will join jamming circles led by NUS Fingerstyle Guitar players and learn to play simple tunes together.
“It is a refreshing change to the conventional spaces that we used to organise our shows at, moving out of the concert theatres into an outdoor location. We hope that this can kickstart more events at YIH and cement it as a vibrant hub for student life!” says NUS Fingerstyle Guitar President, Hong Zhi Qiang Paul (Y2, FASS).
Ebelle is optimistic on the possibilities of YIH as a creative arts space for future works. “Yusof Ishak House was under renovation for three years until 2025. NAF is a great opportunity to reintroduce the space to current undergrads and help them start forming core arts memories here. ”
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