On 10th July 2021, AVAI @ Apsaras Arts, a performance space for Indian Performing Arts in Singapore was inaugurated.
When we scouted around for names for Apsaras Arts’ own performing venue – an idea that was born nearly five years ago and is finally finding fruition – we were keen for it to be a word that represented and celebrated the premise, intent, spirit and sanctity of the space. We were keen the word conveyed -in short – what it was meant to be but also was packed with meaning and has a sense of continuity.
That’s how we located AVAI, a Tamil word that literally means congregation, gathering, coming together, assembly of scholars, poets, artists, thinkers, do-ers, and intellectuals, of people who shared similar interests, energies and are part of an experience, together.
It is housed within the office of Apsaras Arts, at the Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore, our home-away-from-home for 11 years now. In its sanctum sanctorum – so to speak – that has been our studio, ideas and thoughts, ingenuity and imagination, energy and experience have birthed and been nurtured; dancers, musicians, scholars and poets from far and wide, from home, our home in India, and from foreign lands, have shared their arts, discussed their processes, found in it rigour and shared it with students and those waiting and willing to imbibe it all.
Drawing its design inspiration from South East Asian elements and raising a toast to all things Indian in the world of the performing arts, AVAI is also an extension of the Apsaras personality. Like its name – short but full of character and meaning – AVAI is all things intimate. Loaded with state-of-the-art technology – both in terms of sound and lights – and with configurable seats – depending on the nature of the event.
AVAI also arrives as a smart and spiffy answer to the post-pandemic world that finds its presence in a digital world; where performing arts are increasingly reaching audiences through online portals and platforms. With a dual identity – both offline and online – AVAIl also allows us the potential and possibility of not merely meeting and curating events, in real-time but also translating that experience, online, through the AVAI platform on www.apasarasarts.com
We are excited about AVAI; all that it stands for; of connections, offline and online.
