Instagram story viewer> @currentsea.co> Posts
CurrentSEA(@currentsea.co)'s profile avatar HD Profile

CurrentSEA

@currentsea.co

353
followers
257
following
A ___________ for contemporary performing arts makers in Southeast Asia
POSTS STORIES REELS
What an incredible premiere for BATU! After an intensive journey marked by deep research, shared rituals, and crushing more than 100 chillies across studios and residencies, we have officially brought this work to life on stage. Bringing BATU from initial seed to the stage would not have been possible without the dedication of our incredible team, collaborators, and institutional partners who believed in this vision from the very beginning. To our generous supporters, thank you for walking this path with us. Most importantly, heartfelt gratitude to our audiences who joined us in the theater, leaned into the rhythms of the stone, and held space with care, vulnerability, and presence. Your warmth and energy resonated through every movement and sound. If you experienced BATU, we would love to hear from you. What moments stayed with you? Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comments or via DM! BATU is available for tour from March 2027. If you would like to know more, do write to fezhah@current-sea.co. Photos by Bernie Ng. Courtesy of Esplanade - Theatres by the Bay. by @currentsea.co
In BATU, the audience is far more than a passive spectator—you are invited into an offering. Conceived as a space for being together with care, presence, and contemplation, the performance transforms domestic ritual into an intimate, shared encounter. Throughout its developmental phases, audience engagement has actively shaped the work. From open studio rehearsals to international showings, spectator responses and critical dialogues that grapple with the taboo, bodily autonomy, and female inheritance have helped steer BATU away from simple representation toward sensory abstraction. Rather than presenting a detached narrative, Ayu and Hasyimah cultivate an ethical space grounded in collective attention and shared memory. As the rhythmic grinding of the stone echoes through the space, the audience becomes a vital witness to living histories, emotional vulnerability, and quiet solidarity. You are invited to sit with discomfort, pleasure, and reflection alongside us. BATU premieres 16–18 October 2026 at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Link in bio. by @currentsea.co
In May 2026, Rose’s design helped to uncover inherent sonic possibilities within the material. During that time, Ayu and Hasyimah, with support from aRco, explored the relationships between sound and the body. At the end of the week-long process, we invited friends and colleagues to an open rehearsal where the team reflected on the questions and responses from the audience about the stone, the female experience versus broader systemic issues. By September 2026, the full team came together to allow costumes, music, and movement to coalesce. Rather than seeking entirely new material, the focus shifted toward deepening existing elements and refining transitions and interrelationships. Ayu considers this phase through the lens of “liyom dramaturgy”, a concept reflecting Lampung women's experiences of practicing self control to protect one’s family honour, though when turned on its head, it could also mean how women are pressured into silence. This is reflected in the work's start and stop rhythms, embracing a sense of incompleteness and unreached climaxes as part of its authentic voice. Hasyimah reflects on how dramaturgical conversations placed collaboration at the core, inviting designers to engage with their personal experiences of batu to build a shared rhythm. For example, the pounding of stones transformed repetitive domestic labor into a wild, collective anthem, while voices shifted from everyday kitchen sounds to expressions of rage, surfacing suppressed emotions and inherited expectations. The costumes marked identities shaped, imposed, and performed across generations while the elevated platform embodied both expected authority and confinement. These converging design and dramaturgical elements fostered shared memory and collective attention, transforming batu from a mere symbol of domestic labor into a powerful force for examining inheritance, performance, and release. Let’s hear more from our team of designers, Widi Asari, Rosemainy Buang and Emanorwatty Saleh. BATU premieres on 16-18 October 2026 at Esplanade- Theatre by the Bay. To join us, click on the link in bio! by @currentsea.co
Can a simple kitchen tool dictate the way we move, remember, and connect across the Malay world? In Batu, the stone becomes the ultimate director of movement. We explore how the physical shape, sound, and handling of the stone are directly translated into movement and metaphor through our bodies. The specific gestures of our hands as we treat the stone create dynamic patterns that ripple through the body, shifting into new paces and qualities of motion. Our research focuses on observing how the body naturally responds while actively using the stone. As we engage in repetitive physical actions, like the act of making sambal, the body unlocks deep memories and shared histories. Through these physical rhythms, the stone transforms the kitchen into a space of magic, connection, and care, serving as an anchor to pass down embodied knowledge no matter where we are in the world. Supported by Commissioner Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (Singapore ) and Co-Producer, Performance Space (Australia) Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), Singapore for providing production support and opportunities for artistic exchange during the developmental phases in September & October 2026 Dance Nucleus’ ARTEFACT Creation Residency & Yokohama Performing Arts Meeting: Direction in December 2025 Residency at B-PART, Bali as organized by Institut Mulawali with support from Dance Nucleus Singapore and the Dana Indonesiana from November to December 2024 Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore from April to June 2024 BATU premieres on 16-18 October 2026 at Esplanade- Theatre by the Bay. To join us, click on the link in bio! by @currentsea.co
What happens when domestic ritual evolves into a powerful site of artistic inquiry, rhythm, and resistance? Following their initial creative research, artists Ayu Permata Sari and Hasyimah Harith reunited in Singapore for Dance Nucleus’ ARTEFACT Creation Residency from 1-5 Dec 2025, culminating in a work-in-progress presentation at the YPAM Direction Platform in Yokohama on 9 Dec 2025. Facilitated by Dance Nucleus’ Artistic Director Daniel Kok, this phase marked a pivotal evolution in their collaborative process. In this continuation, Ayu and Hasyimah deepened their exploration of sound as choreography. By pairing the rhythmic pounding of the batu with breath, vocalizations, and spoken dialogues on societal expectations of the "good wife" and "good mother," the artists transformed everyday domestic labor into an evocative sonic score. Rehearsing within a shared home environment during this five-day residency in Singapore was a deliberate methodological choice that deeply shaped the creation of BATU. Living together at Hasyimah’s house created a fluid structure where moments of rest, shared meals, and spontaneous conversation seamlessly integrated into choreographic development. Informal spaces became sites to discuss religion, family, shame, and domesticity, ensuring these complex themes were lived and felt rather than merely staged. Their YPAM presentation generated vibrant international dialogue on Malay-Muslim identity, representation, and the female body. Confronting spectator readings around taboo, eroticism, and spice, the artists consider how to push BATU away from explicit narrative toward sensory abstraction and physical endurance. BATU continues to unfold as a rigorous negotiation between softness and rigidity, discomfort and pleasure. Rather than claiming universal representation, Ayu and Hasyimah offer an ethical space where traditional kitchen rituals become acts of agency and solidarity. BATU premieres on Oct 16-18, 2026 at Esplanade- Theatres by the Bay. Click on link in bio to experience BATU with us. Photos 1-6 are by Hideto Maezawa. by @currentsea.co
Ayu & Hasyimah reflect on their journey during the BATU residency at B-Part Bali 2024 where they learn about batu (stone) as a marker, sacred space, and mirror of civilization. "Shifting our exploration from Malay culture to Bali allowed us to deepen the work through diverse cultural perspectives, treatments, and viewpoints surrounding stones, rituals, and daily practices. Our first week was dedicated to deep listening: through interviews and separate discussion circles with male and female Balinese artists, we explored themes of the sacred kitchen, banten (ritual offerings), patriarchal structures, and the empowerment of women. We connected with local painters, sculptors, inscription researchers, and midwives, and experienced the spiritual intensity of a traditional Calon Arang dance-drama. In the second week, alongside creative presence Arco Renz, composer Komang Wulandari, and musicians Black Kobra, we shifted to studio work. We re-read and restructured our scenes, evolving the sequence to explore making sambal, the sex worker, the midwife scene, and offering dances through a powerful synthesis of movement, sound, and stone. On November 30, we shared BATU with the public at Masa-Masa during the B-Part Festival 2024, followed by insightful dramaturgy discussions facilitated by Teater Garasi. This residency transformed how objects choreograph the body and how we express desire, sisterhood, and resilience." We are grateful to be a part of the residency programme at B-PART, Bali as organized by Institut Mulawali with support from Dance Nucleus Singapore and the Dana Indonesiana from November to December 2024. BATU is produced by CurrentSEA and premieres as a commissioned work presented as part of da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN) on Oct 16-18, 2026 at Esplanade- Theatres by the Bay. Click on link in bio to experience BATU with us. Photos are by Amritha Wayan. by @currentsea.co
Choreography begins within the body as a personal act, but performance itself is deeply political. It serves as a space to question urgent themes and explore the inseparable ties between our identity, family, and culture. In BATU, the simple stone became a powerful material artifact connecting both Ayu and Hasyimah. Despite living in different countries with contrasting daily rhythms and seasons of life, using these domestic objects revealed striking similarities and shared stories about their mothers and grandmothers. Before we continue on with our journey tracing and recollecting the different phases of development of BATU, let's meet Ayu and Hasyimah as they share a bit more about their choreographic philosophy while taking a sneak peek into some moments of our work in progress from September 2026. Supported by Commissioner Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (Singapore ) and Co-Producer, Performance Space (Australia) Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), Singapore for providing production support and opportunities for artistic exchange during the developmental phases in September & October 2026 Dance Nucleus’ ARTEFACT Creation Residency & Yokohama Performing Arts Meeting: Direction in December 2025 Residency at B-PART, Bali as organized by Institut Mulawali with support from Dance Nucleus Singapore and the Dana Indonesiana from November to December 2024 Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore from April to June 2024 BATU premieres on 16-18 October 2026 at Esplanade- Theatre by the Bay. To join us, click on the link in bio! by @currentsea.co
What can a humble kitchen stone reveal about womanhood, intimacy, and sacred heritage? That was the question that emerged when artists Ayu Permata Sari and Hasyimah Harith unearth the deep-seated myths, domestic rituals, and body politics surrounding the traditional Malay stone mortar and pestle (batu lesung / cobek-ulekan). Growing up in Lampung, Indonesia, Ayu was taught by her grandmother that making delicious sambal with the cobek was the ultimate measure of an ideal woman. The rhythmic grinding motion carried an implicit lesson on sensuality and marital intimacy. Today, Ayu uses dance to critically question these inherited standards and reclaim bodily autonomy. For Hasyimah, a Malay-Muslim choreographer and mother in Singapore, the batu lesung represents the unbreakable bond between mother and child. With resonance in pregnancy rituals like Lenggang Perut, the protective mother stone houses the child stone, guarding against supernatural spirits. Hasyimah weaves these family traditions into her choreography to navigate faith, modesty, and maternal connection. Bridging Singapore and Lampung, Ayu and Hasyimah translate the sensory experience of grinding spices, the interplay of muscle strain and aromatic pleasure, into evocative movement scores. Batu transforms an everyday domestic tool into a dynamic medium for sacred folklore, female empowerment, and sensual expression. Ayu and Hasyimah were able to chiseled at this question thanks to the supportive space within the Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore from April to June 2024. This October 16-18, witness how Ayu and Hasyimah turn ancient family oral traditions into a vibrant, reflective performance on contemporary womanhood. BATU is produced by CurrentSEA and premieres as a commissioned work presented as part of da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN). Click on link in bio to join us in this journey. by @currentsea.co
We are excited to share about BATU, the first work that is being produced under the banner of CurrentSEA. As a lead up to its premiere this October 16-18 in Singapore, we will be bringing you across the many years and iterations of its development - the people, the stories and most importantly, the batu (stone)! BATU unfolds through the female body in domestic and ritual spaces, with the kitchen as a central site: a place that shapes, controls, and also empowers. Through movement and voice, two artists negotiate tradition, restraint, devotion, intimacy, shame, pleasure, sacrifice, and healing. At the centre of these negotiations is the stone (batu). More than a kitchen tool, it becomes a witness, a sacred sign, and a keeper of ancestral knowledge. Held close to the body, the grinding stone carries memories across generations, revealing habits, wounds, and histories embedded within matrilineal lineage. Moving between sensuality and spirituality, limits and power, BATU emerges as an offering: a space for being together—with care, presence, and contemplation. This work is a collaboration between Ayu Permata Sari (Indonesia) and Hasyimah Harith (Singapore) which started in 2024 under the support of Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore. Three years later, BATU premieres as a commissioned work presented as part of da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN), a weekend that spotlights contemporary dance works created by or in collaboration with Asian artists, focusing on distinct voices and creative impulses from the region. BATU premieres on 16-18 October 2026 at Esplanade- Theatre by the Bay. To join us, click on the link in bio! by @currentsea.co
CurrentSEA is a _______ for the performing arts in Southeast Asia. A portmanteau of currency and Southeast Asia, CurrentSEA aims to make visible the value and relevance of the performing arts communities in the region by creating various initiatives that will foster a greater sense of community to promote camaraderie, exchanges, and collaboration. As its first effort, CurrentSEA invites the Southeast Asian communities to introduce themselves and connect through a community-sourced online directory of practitioners, organizations, events and opportunities for contemporary performing arts in Southeast Asia. Complementing the directory, there will be monthly new listing features and campaigns to promote the artists, works and opportunities available in Southeast Asia and/or for the Southeast Asian contemporary performing arts community. This independent platform is meant to serve the multitudes that exist in the people, practices, and knowledge of these lands and seas. CurrentSEA is also open to others who are interested in engaging with the region. Get listed today or sign up for our newsletter! Be part of the community. Link in bio ♥️ by @currentsea.co
CurrentSEA is a _______ for the performing arts in Southeast Asia. A portmanteau of currency and Southeast Asia, CurrentSEA aims to make visible the value and relevance of the performing arts communities in the region by creating various initiatives that will foster a greater sense of community to promote camaraderie, exchanges, and collaboration. As its first effort, CurrentSEA invites the Southeast Asian communities to introduce themselves and connect through a community-sourced online directory of practitioners, organizations, events and opportunities for contemporary performing arts in Southeast Asia. Complementing the directory, there will be monthly new listing features and campaigns to promote the artists, works and opportunities available in Southeast Asia and/or for the Southeast Asian contemporary performing arts community. This independent platform is meant to serve the multitudes that exist in the people, practices, and knowledge of these lands and seas. CurrentSEA is also open to others who are interested in engaging with the region. Get listed today or sign up for our newsletter! Be part of the community. Link in bio ♥️ by @currentsea.co
CurrentSEA is a _______ for the performing arts in Southeast Asia. A portmanteau of currency and Southeast Asia, CurrentSEA aims to make visible the value and relevance of the performing arts communities in the region by creating various initiatives that will foster a greater sense of community to promote camaraderie, exchanges, and collaboration. As its first effort, CurrentSEA invites the Southeast Asian communities to introduce themselves and connect through a community-sourced online directory of practitioners, organizations, events and opportunities for contemporary performing arts in Southeast Asia. Complementing the directory, there will be monthly new listing features and campaigns to promote the artists, works and opportunities available in Southeast Asia and/or for the Southeast Asian contemporary performing arts community. This independent platform is meant to serve the multitudes that exist in the people, practices, and knowledge of these lands and seas. CurrentSEA is also open to others who are interested in engaging with the region. Get listed today or sign up for our newsletter! Be part of the community. Link in bio ♥️ by @currentsea.co

Download All

Save the photos and videos currently loaded on this page.

0Photos
0Videos
Ready to download 0 / 0

Keep this tab open until your download is ready.
back to up