State of the Arts: Nov 21 to 28

SINGAPORE — Without a doubt, it has been the busiest and liveliest week in the arts this year, with the official opening of the National Gallery Singapore — and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call to make it the country’s pride — as the main highlight.

The two-week celebrations continued, with a weekend carnival that began yesterday. But it is far from the only event taking place in a week chock-full of festivals: Kicking off were the SG Heart Map Festival, the Singapore International Film Festival, M1 Contact Dance Festival, and Singapore: Inside Out.

Continuing from last week were the Future Of Imagination performance art festival, and the Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam festival of Indian arts; while the inaugural music-meets-art Neon Lights festival kicks off today.

Meanwhile, there was also news on the book front: It was announced that the Sherlock Sam children’s book series by Epigram Books will be published in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing next year, and the Media Development Authority also removed 240 titles from its list of prohibited publications, which included The Long March, The World Of Sex, and, amusingly, the 18th century classic erotic novel, Fanny Hill. MAYO MARTIN