Sonic Shaman 2026: Borderless
DuckUnit. Image courtesy of the artist
Cheryl Ong. Image courtesy of the artist
Kamal Sabran. Photo by Anpis Wang. Image courtesy of the artist
Sl_OWTALK. Image courtesy of the artist
Sonic Shaman 2024. Image courtesy of TheCube Project Space.
Stylish Nonsense. Image courtesy of the artist
The Analog Girl. Photo by Kristy Campbell. Image courtesy of the artist
Umeda Tetsuya. Photo by Peter Neusser. Image courtesy of the artist
Yuen Chee Wai. Image courtesy of the artist
Weish. Photo by Marc Gabriel Loh. Image courtesy of the artist
DJ Sniff. Photo by Hsuan Lang Lin. Image courtesy of the artist
Julian Abraham “Togar” and Oni Imelva. Image courtesy of the artist
Koichiro Osaka. Image courtesy of the artist
lololol. Image courtesy of the artist
Louis Quek. Image courtesy of the artist
Mervin Wong. Photo by Aloysius Lim. Image courtesy of the artist
Mong Tong. Photo by Etang Chen. Image courtesy of the artist
Seething Mass. Image courtesy of the artist
Social Dis Dance. Photo by Manbo Key. Image courtesy of the artist
Making its Singapore debut during Singapore Art Week 2026, Sonic Shaman 2026: Borderless arrives as a resonant cross-border gathering of experimental sound, performance, and contemporary art. Presented at Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in collaboration with Taipei’s TheCube Project Space, the festival marks a significant moment of transregional exchange—one that foregrounds listening as a cultural, political, and communal act.
Conceived in Taiwan and developed through TheCube Project Space’s long-standing commitment to experimental and time-based practices, Sonic Shaman has, since its earlier editions, cultivated a platform for artists working at the intersections of sound, ritual, technology, and embodied knowledge. Its evolution from Taiwan to Singapore reflects not only geographic movement, but a widening constellation of voices across East and Southeast Asia—where histories of vernacular sound, oral transmission, and diasporic memory continue to shape contemporary artistic expression.
For CNTRFLD.ART, Sonic Shaman 2026: Borderless speaks directly to the urgencies of working across borders—cultural, disciplinary, and sensory. Bringing together more than 20 local and international artists, musicians, and thinkers, the festival resists fixed definitions of “music” or “performance,” instead proposing sound as a shared space of encounter. Through live performances, sound works, oral presentations, and participatory formats, audiences are invited into modes of listening that unsettle hierarchies and open collective imagination.
This Singapore edition expands the festival’s scope through site-responsive activations across SAM and the city, alongside a curated Memory Market that extends sensory engagement beyond sound alone—incorporating taste, scent, and touch through collaborations with Singapore-based creatives and designers. These gestures underscore the festival’s ethos: that sound is not only heard, but felt, remembered, and lived.
As a Singapore debut rooted in Taiwanese artistic lineage, Sonic Shaman 2026: Borderless embodies a regionally grounded yet globally attuned approach to contemporary practice. In amplifying experimental voices from East and Southeast Asia within an international framework, the festival aligns with CNTRFLD.ART’s commitment to fostering dialogue across borders—where artistic exchange becomes a means of rethinking how we listen, gather, and imagine together.
22nd to 31st January 2026
SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore
