Festival Director's Message

Welcome to the SMU Arts Fest 2025!

This year, we’ve curated a bold line-up of five original programmes to celebrate SMU25 and SG60.

As SMU marks its 25th anniversary, we shine a light on some of our lesser-known stories, facts and contributions.

One such fact: Over the years, SMU has amassed a rich and diverse collection of donated artworks, a reflection of the university’s commitment to fostering a culture of creativity and critical thought. From this growing collection, 25 significant pieces have been curated by SMU Libraries to form the SMU25 Audio Tour, launched in July. Then, these very works become the inspiration behind 25 x 25 - a vibrant exhibition of new visual, literary, and photographic responses created by SMU’s current students and alumni. Together, the audio tour and exhibition invite the public to see our campus, and our community, through new eyes.

Another noteworthy commitment to the arts is our dedication to nurturing local orchestral composition. At a time when few commissions are offered to Singaporean composers (Straits Times, June 2023), SMU Chinese Orchestra has, under the leadership of Mr Quek Ling Kiong, consistently bucked the trend by commissioning and premiering numerous original works over the past two decades. In our festival concert COMMISSIONS, we revisit some of these signature pieces, and proudly present the world premieres of three new works, including “And Beyond” - composed specially for SMU25. This piece incorporates instruments from Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, reflecting the reach of our Overseas Centres and SMU’s role as Asia’s gateway to the world.

Completing our spotlight on the lesser-known is a surprising nugget of history: the junction of Bras Basah and Bencoolen, where one of the SMU schools now stands, was the site of Singapore’s first mental asylum back in the 1840s. This has inspired MAD The Musical, SMU’s first original musical. At its heart is Isabel, a spirited student branded “crazy” for dreaming of changing the world. Her journey, shaped by friendship, family, and reflections on mental health, blurs the lines between history and imagination. MAD is a bold collaboration between SMU students, alumni, staff, and theatre professionals, and a fearless tribute to those who challenge the norm.

And to mark Singapore’s 60th birthday, our Festival Village on Campus Green returns in full force with all things local in Live, Laugh, Lor. Now in its third year, our dynamic partnership with Singapore Night Festival has made SMU Arts Fest the youth heart of the precinct. And for the very first time, we're bringing together students from all eight universities in Singapore — from NUS and NTU to SIM, UAS and more — for an unprecedented four-night celebration of youth expression, identity and creativity.

Finally, we proudly bring back RE:TURN, a high-energy dance production first staged to sold-out acclaim in 2022. Known for its electrifying fusion of traditional Malay, Indian, and Chinese dance forms with street style hip-hop, RE:TURN was praised for reimagining culture in new, contemporary ways. This year, Return of RE:TURN scales up, with new choreography, more performers, and a bigger venue, to celebrate Singapore’s multi-culturalism with even greater flair.

Thank you for joining us in this festival of celebration, creativity, and collaboration. Whether you’re here for the first time or returning with us on this journey, we hope you’ll enjoy these productions as much as we’ve loved creating them for you.

Here’s to 25, to 60, and to all that lies ahead.

Seah Wee Thye 
Festival Director