Home. Singapore. Departure. Arrival. London. Home.

bhumi takes a traditional dance form and works with contemporary dancers – what happens when a form that is strict and rigid collides with one that is abstract and fluid?

Defying traditional Malay dance performative norms, bhumi does not use typical exotic costumes or follow a cultural exhibition format.

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bhumi (Sanskrit for earth or soil) is a multi-disciplinary theatrical performance by a collective of Singaporean and British artists based in London at the crossroads of their artistic identity, wrangling with questions about traditions, race, culture and identity while living a contemporaneous lifestyle in a home away from home.

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bhumi seeks to address the question of “What does it mean to be Melayu (Malay)?” in this rapidly changing cosmopolitan age where race, culture, religion and nationality are becoming increasingly integrated and blurred at the same time.

 

Are age-old Malay adages still relevant to a young Malay individual living his/her youth in a place called home away from home? Is the spirit of gotong-royong alive in the boroughs of London? How does the Malay boy fit in a city abuzz with its diverse transnational citizenry? Amidst all these new memories to be made, is the shared collective memory of his people before him, merely a wave of Malay nostalgia?

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