Imagine a people who live today as they lived before the dawn of history and coming face-to-face with the 21st century. Does a civilisation of shifting cultivators and headhunters for millennia embrace modernism and change, or stick to the old ways of the forefathers? These questions were posed in Mepaan, the recent grand opener of this year's Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa).
Mepaan comes from the indigenous Kayan language from the island of Kalimantan (Borneo), meaning "always". In this multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural show directed by Natalie Hennedige, the answers were neither simple nor direct. The collaboration between the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (conducted by Yeh Tsung) and Tuyang Initiative from Miri, Sarawak (representing the Kayan and Kenyah peoples, helmed by Juvita Tatan Wan), could have been heavily weighted in favour of the former. In reality, the three-person team of the latter more than held it own despite overwhelming odds.
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