Literature comes alive through art, music and collaboration at Singapore’s civic and cultural heart – The Arts House at the Old Parliament

The Arts House at the Old Parliament will once again transform into a vibrant literary playground as VERSE 2026 returns from 9 to 31 January 2026. As a dynamic platform for partnerships and new voices, VERSE 2026 champions independent producers, community groups and emerging writers. Organised by Arts House Group, this year’s edition features more than 15 programmes – including two exciting commissions – and brings together over 18 partners across fully accessible venues, ensuring VERSE remains open to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Continuing to reimagine how literature is experienced, VERSE blends text, sound, movement and visual art in unexpected ways.

Held in conjunction with Light to Night 2026 by National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Week 2026, VERSE amplifies its reach and impact across the Civic District, opening the year’s literary arts calendar with a bold multi-sensory celebration of Singapore literature.

A Festival of Unity, Collaboration and Transformation

Responding to the Light to Night theme “The Power in Us,” VERSE 2026 celebrates the collective strength of individuals, communities and artists uniting through literature. Audiences can look forward to interactive installations, immersive performances and hands-on activities that spark dialogue, strengthen connections and create resonant moments of social impact.

Participant enjoys a moment of creativity at VERSE by Arts House Group. Image credit: Arts House Group

Projections: Larut’s Tears & Start Here: From Every Vantage Point

The Arts House façade becomes a storytelling canvas for Gerimis Art Project and Youngsook Choi’s Larut’s Tears, and Fei Yue Community Services’ Start Here: From Every Vantage Point. Larut’s Tears reflects on ecological grief and the exploitation of nature through the eyes of Larut the elephant, contrasting ancestral harmony with modern practices. Start Here: From Every Vantage Point gives voice to NEET youth – those who are not in employment, education, or training – transforming their unseen struggles into vibrant patterns and animated forms.

VERSE 2026 Commissions

VERSE 2026 invites audiences to experience Singapore literature in bold, unexpected way through these curated commissions. Step into brumblings, a luminous outdoor installation that turns the lawn at The Arts House into a tactile playground. Inspired by Singaporean poet Wahidah Tambee’s Eke (2025), the interactive artwork invites you to explore the messy, in-between moments of expression, where letters bump into each other and meanings happily misbehave. With playfully reimagined alphabet blocks you can assemble and pull apart like clouds, audiences are encouraged to poke at language and discover new possibilities along the way.

Pass the Mic by publishing collective Books& is a conversation series that pairs up-and-coming writers and musicians in creative dialogue. Across intimate evenings at The Arts House at the Old Parliament, six pairs share the stage to talk about the interests and influences they have in common – and what it means to be inspired by the city they love – with live snippets, audience Q&A and time to mingle. Each session offers a unique blend of text and sound, with opportunities to meet the artists and purchase books. The line-up includes Jean Seizure, Wen-yi Lee, Stephanie Dogfoot and Cayes Hong. This event is free of charge with prior registration required.

Extending the spirit of these live encounters, VERSE takes Pass the Mic into the digital space. This digital strand offers audiences fresh ways to experience Singapore literature beyond the page, exploring how words, rhythm and melody intersect as expressions of voice and identity. Through image and video references, it deepens the conversation between literary writing and songwriting, positioning their interplay as a site of interdisciplinary exchange and offering insights that go beyond the stage.

Ticketed Programmes

Attendees can look forward to unique and exciting experiences at VERSE 2026 that can be redeemed using Culture Pass credits. The much-anticipated fifth edition of the theatre series Cherita Hantu: Quwwa by Hafidz Rahman returns with three haunting, multi-sensory stories inspired by Southeast Asian folklore and contemporary life. Co-presented by VERSE, this edition features immersive storytelling, atmospheric set design and a powerful exploration of the theme “Quwwa” – meaning “power” in Arabic. Tickets are priced at $35 per person.

A captivating moment from theatre series Cherita Hantu at VERSE 2025. Image credit: Arts House Group

Neural Echoes: Enter the Sleep Lab by Tusitala and Artwave Studio plunges you into SomniTech’s experimental trials in this interactive, technology-driven theatre experience adapted from Victor Fernando R. Ocampo’s Book of Red Shadows. Go undercover, solve puzzles and uncover the truth behind missing participants. Supported by VERSE, this 50-minute adventure explores how sound shapes consciousness in a near-future world of impossible choices. Tickets are $40 per person or $216 for a bundle of 6 tickets.

Exciting Happenings at VERSE 2026

Arts House Group is collaborating with multiple partners to present a series of installations and exhibitions that invite attendees to engage, explore and fully immerse themselves in the VERSE experience.

• Presented in partnership with the National Library Board, Read on the Go features 16 stories hidden in plain sight – each revealing the strength within us. These tales speak of being unheard and the moments when the ordinary turns extraordinary – when we listen, share and dream. The installation showcases Singapore Literature in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, reminding us that power is always within reach.

• Presented as part of SWF Encounters in collaboration with CANVAS and in conjunction with VERSE, A View of Things to Come is cross-disciplinary exhibition that brings together visual art and poetry to explore how lived experiences shape our view of the future. Featuring eight original paintings by ex-offender artists mentored by Barry Yeow and producer Phan Ming Yen, alongside poems composed by seniors through workshops led by poet Aaron Lee, the showcase invites audiences into a conversation of change and possibility.

Turning Points 3 spotlights emerging neurodiverse artists and their transformative journeys. Image credit: Arts House Group

• Presented by ART:DIS (Arts & Disability Singapore) in conjunction with VERSE, Turning Points 3 is the third edition of a landmark exhibition platforming emerging neurodiverse artists and their journeys of transformation. Guided by established mentors, the artists present new works that reflect resilience, creativity, and personal growth, offering fresh ways of encountering identity and lived experience through art.

• As part of Light to Night in conjunction with VERSE 2026, The Looking Glass of Language by Amanda Tan and Irsyad Ishak is an installation delves into the written word as both communication and discovery. Using anagrams and motion, it invites viewers to interact with shifting projections of letters and symbols. As patterns rearrange dynamically, audiences uncover fresh meanings and interpretations, revealing the fluidity and playfulness of language.

• Supported by VERSE 2026, AfterForms: Metaverse amid Climate Grief & Memory produced and curated by Spang & Lei explores how form disintegrates under the weight of environmental collapse and digital acceleration. Here, form is not fixed but eroding, unstable and continually reshaped by memory, grief, migration and technological desire. Cultural Medallion recipient Han Sai Por’s Land Erosion anchors the show with a hybrid experience – a physical installation paired with a metaverse environment. The work confronts ecological loss as both material reality and psychic condition, turning the forest’s disappearance into an index of human vulnerability and making climate grief spatial, tactile and inescapable.

• At SWF x SG60 Homage – Behind the Pages: Evolution of Publishing in Singapore, attendees can explore the history of publishing in Singapore with – from missionary presses of the 1800s to the post-independence boom that shaped a nation of readers. Commissioned under SG60 Homage by Singapore Writers Festival 2025 to mark Singapore’s 60 years of independence, this exhibition spotlights the decade that laid the foundation for a homegrown industry and honours the pioneers who enriched our literary landscape.

Every Friday and Saturday during VERSE 2026, from 7 – 10pm, visitors can drop by The Corner Bookshop pop-up by Chio Books to browse a curated selection of arts and lifestyle titles alongside crowd-favorite Sing Lit works. At the same time, they can step into the Screening Room to discover winning works from the Golden Point Award 2025 through an accompanying video presentation that brings these exceptional pieces to life.

🧧🏮 CHINESE NEW YEAR 2026 🏮🧧

Feeling adventurous and hoping to soak in the Chinese New Year atmosphere? We have compiled a list of Where to go during Chinese New Year 2026 and CNY Lion Dance Performances 2026, especially for our readers.

Looking for CNY goodies for your home? Here’s where to buy pineapple tarts and bak kwa in Singapore.

Planning a feast for the festivities? Check out these Chinese New Year Buffet Catering Services for a hassle-free celebration.

Want to shower your family and friends with blessings and bountiful gifts this CNY? Here is a list of unique CNY gifts and hampers to consider gifting!

* * * * *

Looking to reach over 100,000 parents in Singapore? Let us amplify your message! Drop your contact details here, and we’ll reach out to you.

Discover exciting family-friendly events and places to explore! Join our Telegram channel for curated parenting recommendations.