This announcement goes out to all S-1 School. It is extracted from a welcome email sent out by our Principal, Mr Tan Chee Siong on the 31st January and subsequently forwarded by the Cluster Superintendent to all S-1 School Principals.

Ang Mo Kio Secondary School would like to warmly welcome our fellow cluster schools in the S-1 Cluster to take part in our bi-annual Arts Festival NOMAD 2008.

Interested schools should get in touch with AMKSS if they would like to join us.

NOMAD 2008 is designed as a student performing platform for a variety of art forms explored in the school’s Integrated Arts Programme (IAP) and the performing arts CCAs. It provides an invaluable experience for students to participate in a major arts production.

To achieve the above objectives, the theme 1964 has been chosen for NOMAD 2008. It aims to develop in pupils a sense of rootedness and a sense of place to better understand their social and emotional environment within the AMK heartland. This is done through research and archiving the physical mapping of Ang Mo Kio in the 1960s and the changes that have taken place in recent times and through the oral history project conducted with the assistance of the National Archives of Singapore.

The 1960s were decisive in the formative years of Singapore’s history. It was an era where the local cultural industries of music and motion pictures had their heyday. It was also a time where many of the challenges of independence and nationhood were most acute. Through the arts and with NOMAD as the platform, we would like to set the stage for discussion of that arduous journey which led to the creation of the larger community of modern Singapore and thus helps students to learn about citizenship and Singapore’s past, present and future.

For more background information, please see here for information on the theme of 1964, and here for the background of NOMAD in AMKSS.

3) The school would like to invite your Dance / Drama groups to perform in the festival finale on the 4th (Fri) and 5th (Sat) July.

In addition to the theme of 1964, we would like to propose some creative constraints. Groups will be provided with the following props:

4 dynamic mics

4 mic stands

1 table

2 stools Wooden Stool

1 vintage 1960s hot water tumbler Water Tumbler Top ViewWater Tumbler Front View

4 x floods

Within these creative constraints, your students and staff can then create a performance item based on the theme of 1964.Participating schools can provide additional props on their own.

4) Through this participation, your students and staff will have the opportunity to witness the production of a whole school arts event from the participant’s point of view and to interact with artists, lighting technicians, sound crew of a professional level. Students and teachers can also interact, via the arts, with other representatives from other in the S1 Cluster to see some of the possible culmination points of an in-curriculum arts programme.

Please see this slideshow for a view of the performance venue during the festival, just off to the centre stage where the opening and closing acts will be staged. Kindly contact us if you would like to view the performance venue to get a better feel for the dramatic possibilities of the space.

Please contact us via any of the contacts listed in “Contact Us” for any further clarifications