NIE Visiting
Artist Programme:
Performance Art
with Amanda Heng

The NIE Visiting Artist Programme is one of NIE’s signature programmes that seeks to establish close ties with professionals from the arts industry, and provide students with opportunities to learn from and work closely with these distinguished practitioners.

For the January 2018 semester, NIE is proud to host renowned contemporary artist and Cultural Medallion 2010 recipient for Visual Arts, Amanda Heng.

Amanda is one of the nation’s pioneering performance artists whose works continue to explore real-world social issues in Singapore. Through a variety of artistic approaches, her works examine issues of gender identities, national identity, multiculturalism, and urban anxieties. In 1988, she founded the art collective known as The Artists Village and also played a significant role in establishing the first artist-run women collective in Singapore, Women in the Arts (WITA) in 1999. Some of her notable works include S/He (1994), Singirl (2000) and Let’s Walk (1999), a series of street performances that responds to the beauty business and a lack of progress for women in society. This striking performance will be seeing an updated reprisal at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018.

As an NIE Visiting Artist, Amanda will be teaching AAA08G Research and Practice in Performance Art. The course looks into the traditions of performance art practices and their relation to conventional art forms, and includes a practical exploration of using the body, space, time, and objects to create performance art. This is an unrestricted elective and open to all NIE and NTU students. Course registration is done via NIE or NTU course registration portals.

Amanda will also be creating a project that will culminate in a performance exhibition at the end of the semester. This project is an opportunity for staff and students to collaborate closely with Amanda, across the semester, in devising and creating a new art work. As places are limited, do register early. Participation in the semester-long project is free for all students, but there will be a nominal fee of $150 for all other participants. For registration details and other information, please visit the VPA website at www.nie.edu.sg/vpavisiting