Showcasing all cultural colours of multi-ethnic Singaporean society, folkloric troupe Sri Warisan from Singapore dazzled audiences at Katara Cultural Village during their recent two-day performance.
The performance, organised as part of the Cultural Diversity Festival 2016 by Unesco and Cultural Foundation Katara, witnessed Sri Warisan artistes staging a traditional Malay dance to welcome the guests on first day.
The first day included a traditional performance called ‘Unity in Diversity,’ which represents the harmony in the life of different ethnic groups living in Singapore such as Malaysians, Indians and Chinese. The second day focused more on the traditional performances depicting the lifestyle of the local Malay community.
“We had a multi-ethnic group from Singapore that comprised not just the Malay community — we have Chinese and Indian [artistes alongside] Malay. They performed on the first day of this cultural festival here,” Som Said, the Founder Director of Sri Warisan, tells Community.
“On the second day, we performed dances from the Malay community specifically from Singapore. The dances performed here tonight depicted the Malay lifestyle. Although Singapore does not have villages anymore, our lifestyle is still that of living together because we believe in respect, sharing and caring, and of course love,” she added.
“It is all about love,” Said says, referring to the wedding ceremony performance. It depicted a wedding ceremony and there were performances linked to the ceremony. Wedding is something that the Malay community looks forward to because it is a common scene that happens everywhere the same.
“It is an occasion, we believe, the happiest day for the family and every item in the ceremony related to it depicts harmonious living and prosperity.
“We are a 19-year-old company that provides art education and travels the world with a peace message. This peace message is about making friends and collaborations through performing arts. It is like you understand my culture as I bring it all the way to share it with you,” says Said. It was her first time to Doha and she says the audience was wonderful.
Sri Warisan, the traditional folkloric group, represents Singapore’s Malay culture and professionally blends rich traditional forms with contemporary techniques.
It was founded by Said in 1997 and is one of the pivotal forces in Singapore’s Malay dance scene. Blending rich traditional forms with contemporary techniques is Sri Warisan’s trademark. Its performers are trained to excel in multi-disciplinary art forms such as dance, music, theatre and multi-media.
Currently, Sri Warisan is led by Adel Ahmad, together with 30 performing artistes and more than 200 student members committed to developing professionalism in the performing arts.
Every year Sri Warisan performs at more than 200 local events and 10 overseas festivals. Their Instructors conduct more than 3,000 courses and workshops at schools.
Since 1997, Sri Warisan has participated in more than 40 international events and festivals in Belgium, Brunei, Canada, China, France, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, London, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States of America.
It has staged more than 30 local productions with the support of the National Arts Council (NAC) Singapore. This includes the mega-production “Lagenda Tun Fatimah”, to commemorate Som’s 40th year in the arts scene, and “Lagenda Raden Mas” in March 2008, musical “Towkay Wayang” in 2009, and “Anak Wayang Dance Theatre” in 2010.
Sri Warisan has participated in major local events such as WOMAD, Singapore Arts Festival, NAC-Shell Art Reach, IMF 2006, National Day Parade 2008, Apec 2009, Summit 2009, Chingay 2007, Heritage Festival 2010, and Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010.
The group has also been supporting community projects by organisations such as The Singapore Children Society, Metta Welfare Association, Hindu Endowments Board, Jamiyah Singapore Muslim Missionary Society and Peoples Association.
Sri Warisan has been providing arts education and enrichment to students at more than 300 schools through the NAC-Arts Education Programme.
They have collaborated with arts organisations such as Bhaskar Arts Academy, Chinese Opera Institute, Majlis Pusat, Perkumpulan Seni, Jigri Yaar Bhangra Academy, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, YF Performing Arts Troupe, Sriwana, Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore Dance Theatre and Singapore Chinese Orchestra among others.