Page 15 - NAFA Annual Report 2015/2016

8th ASEAN Para Games

NAFA is proud to have been part of the 8th ASEAN Para Games, an event hosted
by Singapore for the first time that involved around 3,000 athletes and officials from
the region. The Academy was invited to produce the first movement of the opening
ceremony. The beautifully choreographed movement was made possible by NAFA’s
Senior Dance Lecturer, Dr Filomar Cortezano Tariao, and inspired by modern dance
luminary Alwin Nikolais’ Tensile Involvement. Celebrating the kaleidoscope of culture
and diversity through sports and the arts, the performance featured Luo Mang,
a 15-year-old with moderate autism, together with 20 NAFA Dance students.

NAFA-RCM Partnership Agreement

Following the successful partnership first inked in 2011, NAFA and the
Royal College of Music, London (RCM) extended their partnership on
12 January 2016 which saw RCM’s validation of the Bachelor of Music
with Honours programme. This degree programme follows on from
NAFA’s three-year Music Diploma. There have since been 67 graduates
from the programme, with 28% achieving First Class Honours.
The agreement was signed by Mr Chia Mia Chang (President, NAFA)
and Professor Colin Lawson (Director, RCM), and witnessed by
Professor Vanessa Latarche (Head of Keyboard, RCM) and Mr Kevin
Porter (Deputy Director, RCM), as well as colleagues from NAFA’s
School of Music. As part of the programme, NAFA students will
visit London for an international placement, where they will study
and perform alongside London-based students.

FurnitureORIGINS 2016

FurnitureORIGINS 2016 marks the third year of collaboration between NAFA and King
Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand (KMUTT). Students from both
schools worked together to design a new furniture collection with Thai manufacturers,
Hawaii Thai and Deesawat, titled New Scenery on Daybed. Two earlier collections were
on display alongside the new 2016 collection at FurnitureORIGINS 2016 at The Ngee
Ann Kongsi Galleries 1& 2.

This latest installation involved a total of 15 participants. Seven were NAFA students

majoring in Furniture & Spatial Design as well as Object & Jewellery Design under the

3D Design programme, and eight were KMUTT students majoring in Industrial Design

and Interior Design from the School of Architecture and Design. The project was carried

out in four stages and kicked off in Thailand with a five-day workshop in October 2015,

after which students collaborated online to realise their designs with the fabrication of

1:1 scale prototypes in Thailand. The students were mentored by Jitrin Jintaprecha and

Pote Nilsaard from Thailand and Melvin Ong from Singapore, all of whom are established

designers in their own right. The collaboration helped the students develop skills in

design professionalism and entrepreneurship in furniture design. Students also pitched

their prototypes and ideas to industry partners in an event held on 10 March 2016, which

provided an opportunity to have their designs taken in for actual implementation and

production. FurnitureORIGINS 2016 was presented as part of a slew of activities

under the Singapore Design Week 2016. 12