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DHWANI DHOLAKIA THEFIFTHDOOR@GMAIL.COM GOWRI RAJARATNAM GOWRI_RAJARATNAM@HOTMAIL.COM PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAI JUN WEI HISTORIA SG 2012
PERSONAL VOICES WITHIN COLLECTIVE NARRATIVES “A THOUGHT-PROVOKING DISPLAY of history in a contemporary setting”, said Deva Tolath, one of many members of the public who were present at the Historia SG seminar. The Historia SG programme, in its second year of collaboration with the National Museum of Singapore, has put forth a number of events with the intention to engage both students and members of the public over the course of four months. Held on the 4th August, “Personal Voices within Collective Narratives” was the second seminar session of this programme. The seminar kicked off with a simple question: Who is more accurate in portraying history – a fact-oriented historian or a playwright? The answer seems obvious: the historian, of course. But Chong Tze Chien begs to differ. His lecture educated the audience on the fundamental purpose of his plays: displaying emotional truth. While he has license to exercise his creativity with the facts, the emotional truth or journey of the subject remains untainted in his creations. This is a theme that followed suit with the next speaker, Riri Riza. He uses a similar medium, film, to create historical dramas that are said to be more accurate at reflecting the social climate of the political periods of Indonesia than factual historical records of the nation. The seminar did well at reminding us that outside of the facts, personal voices also offer a creative and alternative glimpse into history.
Historia SG 2012 Part 1 – History & Theatre: Inspirational Sources and Personal Narratives in the Construction of a Play by Chong Tze Chien Part 2 – Using History to Create Film by Riri Riza Part 3 – Prize Presentation for ‘Hi-Story, My Story’ Filmmaking Competition