After colonial regimes, after dictatorship, after communism, we witness a globalisation of life. What comes after the Empires from which we have emerged?

How do we live with the global networks and monopolies of power which define the age we live in? We live in the Nation, we live with neoliberal capitalism that gives us the impression we are free. But what remains after…?

Symbolic of POST-Empires is the moment when characters decline their Destinies, as proposed by the Author. They reclaim their lives and, in so doing, refuse the power of the Author.

Can we rewrite the History that has been written for us?

The O.P.E.N. is a pre-festival of ideas from the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA). It is a public engagement initiative that connects the public to themes and issues of the main Festival. Held over 18 days, The O.P.E.N. offers film screenings, performances, concerts, exhibitions and talks.

This year, The O.P.E.N. digs deep into the heart of SIFA's theme: POST-Empires. It explores the POST-Empires vision through the lenses of the Young and the Restless: a generation of artists and thinkers who are working in new spaces, reflecting on the bending and blending of borders, and meditating on histories that are tied inextricably to the present. What are their hopes and aspirations? As empires across the world rise and fall, what changes and what stays the same? What defines the spirit and attitude of a POST-Empires movement? Intergenerational, interrogative, and international, The O.P.E.N. aims to stimulate thought and conversation in the run-up to SIFA 2015 (6 August – 20 September 2015).

Highlights of The O.P.E.N. include South American (Chile and Brazil) productions created by dynamic art-makers and an Augmented Reality Memory Tour of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.