Following rigorous review and deliberations by the Selection Panel, we are pleased to announce five independent practitioners and one trio as Residents from April – June 2026 within the thematic focus of This Time. Get to know the residents of 2026 and their research, traversing disciplinary boundaries, challenging existing systems, and aiming to collectively expand artistic inquiry, experimentation and discourse for the future.
The Silent Crackers is a performance-led research project examining labour, diaspora, and performative silences amid the rise of global protectionism, with Singapore as a central observation point. The project focuses on migrant workers, gendered experiences, and cross-generational labour, investigating how resurgent conservatism and tightened borders reshape mobility, belonging, and cultural expression. It explores how multilingualism and silence carry social tensions, revealing both the limits and resilience of displaced communities in contemporary Asia. Through interviews, archival research, and intercultural dialogue, Chen translates these dynamics into textual and theatrical experiments. During the residency, she will develop stage compositions that transform linguistic gaps and muted gestures into voices and bodily montages, opening new pathways for performance to engage with localised experiences shaped by globalisation.
Jung Chen is a Taiwan-based writer-director whose practice spans theatre, dance, sound, and multimedia. She develops montage-like compositions that intertwine field research, personal narratives, and improvisation to evoke fluid atmospheres and global flows. Her work examines how capital and social structures shape everyday life and performance, tracing rhythms, silences, and gestures that convey meaning beyond words. Recent projects explore diaspora, labour, intergenerational dynamics, and collective memory, connecting individual experiences with broader societal currents.
Chen’s recent works expand across theatre productions, site-specific creations, and exhibitions, often integrating community co-creation, field research, and interdisciplinary exchange. Notable recent projects include The Blossom (2024), NTT Giants Meet Series: "R&J and others" (with Wu Tzu-Ching) (2022), New Taipei City Arts Festival: Disembodied Human (2023).
Photo credit: YJ Chen
