Still Somehow, It’s Illusions We Recall

“Still Somehow, It’s Illusions We Recall” is a film programme presented by the Singapore Art Museum in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition, The Gift. Drawing on the exhibition’s theme of affinities and entanglements, the programme features responses to our current state of unprecedented disruption and isolation. The series of films conjure and reconfigure familiar aspects of life in ways that are intimate, yet alienating. The intertwining themes found in these filmic narratives present an avenue for collective introspection, and open up possibilities for the reanimating of a new and future self.

The film programme will run from 2 October to 4 November 2021, with on-site screenings in the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium and Level 5 Theatrette at National Gallery Singapore. It features the Singapore premieres of feature-length and short films, as well as pre-screening introductions hosted by film curator, Jeremy Chua.

The short film section consists of personal works made by multidisciplinary artists Elysa Wendi, Min-Wei Ting and Robert Zhao over the past two years. They explore sensations relating to the transience and fragility of living in the physical or natural world. Each of the films investigates a different aspect of the subconscious reality of life in Singapore, and reminds us of the invisible forces of change that threaten erasure both on and off screen.