SMU Arts Fest 2025: A six-week celebration of youth, heritage and imagination
From 22 August to 28 September 2025, SMU transformed its campus and the surrounding Bras Basah Arts Precinct into one huge stage for a celebration of student creativity and national heritage.
Under the banner “2560” – marking both SMU’s 25th anniversary and Singapore’s 60th – the six-week festival was its most ambitious yet, uniting students, alumni and collaborators in five flagship productions and a slate of campus-wide activities.
A canvas for youth and nation
While previous editions offered many platforms for student collaboration, this year’s festival stood as a statement of how SMU and its community engage with culture, identity and ambition. Across six weeks, more than 460 performers – students, alumni and peers from other institutions – came together to celebrate not just milestones, but the imagination of youth.
“SMU Arts Fest is our annual canvas for youth expression, but this year it reflected something larger: our journey as a young university in a young nation,” said Seah Wee Thye (Weetz), Festival Director and Head of Arts & Creative Experience at SMU’s Office of Student Life.
“From an original musical, to orchestral premieres, to an eight-university collaboration, we wanted to create space for students to tell Singapore stories in bold, surprising ways.”
25 × 25: Art in conversation
The festival opened on 22 August with “25 × 25”, a multidisciplinary exhibition at SMU’s de Suantio Gallery and Campus Green, in collaboration with SMU Libraries.
Twenty-five student and alumni artists were invited to respond to 25 works from the university’s collection. A traditional ink painting was reinterpreted through photography; calligraphy was reimagined as spoken word; a light installation transformed the green into an open-air gallery.
Visitors explore 25 x 25, an exhibition reinterpreting 25 works from the SMU Art Collection through photography, design, and literary arts at SMU de Suantio Gallery.
Students, staff, alumni and members of the public who visited the exhibition remarked on how it deepened their sense of SMU’s creative spirit. The works did more than display technique; they reflected how the next generation views heritage as a living dialogue between past and present.
Live, Laugh, Lor: A carnival of community
From 29 to 30 August and 5 to 6 September, SMU’s Campus Green came alive with “Live, Laugh, Lor”, a collaboration among all eight local universities.
The evenings brimmed with energy, with a five-university street-dance crew that coordinated rehearsals across WhatsApp threads and homes, joint a cappella groups harmonising local favourites, and cultural performances showcasing Singapore’s diversity.
Around the performances, a buzzing food village and Singlish-inspired games turned the space into a carnival of connection. Beyond the spectacle, the event captured something intangible: the warmth and humour that shape Singapore’s shared identity. For many, “Live, Laugh, Lor” embodied the spirit of SG60 – a celebration of unity, vibrancy and youth expression.
Orchestral premieres: Soundtracks of a nation
On 11 September, the spotlight turned to the School of The Arts (SOTA) Concert Hall, where the SMU Chinese Orchestra premiered three original works written specially for SMU25 and SG60.
Under the baton of Quek Ling Kiong and Heng Xiangle, the SMU Chinese Orchestra debuts three new Singaporean works for Commissions, a one-night-only concert celebrating SG60 through music.
The concert reaffirmed SMU’s commitment to commissioning local music – a rarity for a non-conservatory university. The world premieres included And Beyond by Cultural Medallion recipient Eric Watson, Continuum: 256∞ by rising composer Germaine Goh, and Moonbound by global composer Sulwyn Lok.
Collaborations with musicians from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, alongside members of The Purple Symphony, Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra, expanded the festival’s musical borders.
Conducted by Heng Xiangle, Wilson Neo and Quek Ling Kiong, the concert’s fusion of tradition and experimentation offered a resonant takeaway: that Singapore’s musical identity continues to evolve through openness and collaboration.
return of RE:TURN: Reimagining heritage through dance
On 20 September, SMU Eurhythmix (EMIX) – the university’s oldest and largest dance club, itself marking 25 years – staged a return of RE:TURN at the Drama Centre Theatre. The full-length production fused hip-hop with Malay, Indian and Chinese classical dance, blending mentorship from established choreographers with student-driven innovation.
SMU President Lily Kong observed: “Beyond philosophical and theoretical debates about what multi- or inter- or trans-cultural means, return of RE:TURN by SMU Eurhythmix nailed it for me. It created a new language and vocabulary of dance, not just for SMU, but for Singapore – a bold reimagining of Chinese, Malay, and Indian dance vocabularies through the contemporary energy of hip hop.
“Who would have thought it was possible, without descending into kitsch? I was immensely proud of our students, staff and partners, who dared to push creative boundaries with confidence and flair. If we can propagate and proselytise this new language, I believe it would be an iconoclastic and impactful contribution to Singapore art and culture.”
In movement and rhythm, the production expressed what words could not: that cultural inheritance need not be static – it can pulse with the energy of reinvention.
MAD The Musical: Remembering through imagination
The festival reached its crescendo with the premiere of MAD The Musical, staged from 26 to 28 September at the Drama Centre Theatre.
SMU’s first-ever original musical, it was conceived by Jo Tan, scored by Jimmy Ye, and directed and choreographed by George Chan and Andy Benjamin Cai.
Inspired by the forgotten histories of Bras Basah, which was once home to Singapore’s first mental hospital and prison, the musical followed a present-day student uncovering those hidden narratives. Its themes of madness, identity and reinvention spoke to a deeper truth: imagination is both a refuge and a force for understanding who we are.
A lasting legacy
With near-universal approval – 99 per cent campus vibrancy, 91.5 per cent satisfaction and nearly 20,000 attendees – Arts Fest 2025 became more than a university event; it was a cultural landmark for both SMU and Singapore at SG60.
As the curtain fell, what audiences brought away with them was not just applause but connection – between generations, disciplines and stories. With “2560” as its theme, the festival marked how far both SMU and Singapore have come, and hinted at what lies ahead: a future built on creativity, resilience and community.
As Jimmy Ye, Composer and Executive Producer of MAD The Musical so eloquently put it: “Art has always been about connection, between generations, between stories, between hearts. SMU Arts Fest isn’t just about performances, it’s ultimately about our indomitable spirit of imagination that constantly challenges how we see ourselves, and our stake in the SMU Story.”
See also: SMU Arts Fest 2025 | SMU Newsroom
