SINGAPORE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's vibrant arts and heritage district will once again be transformed into an imaginative wonderland by night as the ninth edition of the Singapore Night Festival returns this August with the theme of "Inventions and Innovation."
Over two weekends starting Friday, the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct is set to enthrall visitors as its streets and iconic facades come alive with unique light art installations, interactive activities and roving street performances laid on by a stellar line-up of artists from around the world.
The festival's centerpieces and certain crowd pleasers will certainly be the light projections and installations, the organizers said, which use the facade of the National Museum of Singapore as well as the Singapore Art Museum as its canvas.
Featuring a thought-provoking micro-story of urban life, the light installation "KEYFRAMES" by Groupe LAPS from France will turn the National Museum of Singapore into a huge playground, where jaunty LED-stick-men will scale and tumble across windows and walls, showing the liveliness of their urban life.
Groupe LAPS is renown globally for animating public spaces, marrying art with technology by pooling light, sound, and multimedia to create quirky, immersive public art. This time, they will use LED sticks to make the shapes of little characters, and animate them to run, play in an urban area, Xinhua has learned.
"We had the idea of mixing traditionalism and modernism with electronics. Because in Asia, there's a lot of electronic stuff. For example, the LED we've got for the installation is from China. So this kind of tradition and modernism is quite the idea. And the projection for us is video game," Richard Le Bihan, one of the artists from Groupe LAPS, told Xinhua.
In addition to a visual feast, the festival will also invite the public into a world of adventure and discovery. Event-goers will be able to step into a time machine and wander through a tunnel of mirrors, and even take part in a fashion parade.
"The Singapore Night Festival is one of the most anticipated outdoor events. Its success is contingent on the unwavering support we have received from every festival-goer and partners, especially our friends in the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct," said Angelita Teo, the Festival Director.
"This is an exciting marquee year as we work towards the 10th year of the festival. We are reinventing and innovating to experiment with new ways to present the festival. I hope our audiences will join us in our journey towards building an exciting 10th anniversary next year," she added.
The festival will take place over two weekends on August 19, 20, 26 and 27 and is free to the public.
PARIS, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema will not be call up for France when his country host Euro 2016 this summer, confirmed the French Football Federation (FFF) on Wednesday.
"Athletic performance is an important factor but not exclusive criterion for deciding the France football selection," read a statement released after the FFF president Noel Le Graet and the France coach Didier Deschamps had met that afternoon to discuss Benzema's situation.
"The ability of players to work towards unity, in and around the squad, and to be exemplary are also taken into account.
"As a result, Noel Le Graet and Didier Deschamps decided that Karim Benzema will not participate in Euro 2016."
Earlier, the 28-year-old striker confirmed it through network ahead of the FFF release.
"Unfortunately for me and for those who have always backed me and supported me, I will not be selected for our Euro in France," Benzema revealed on his Twitter account.
He also wrote on his Facebook page, saying that "Wahtever happens... Once a Blue, always a Blue!"
The Real Madrid star forward was just lifted his legal restrictions over his alleged involvement in Mathieu Valbuena's sex-tape case one month ago, considered having paved the way for Benzema to play for the national team.
Earlier last November, a French judge placed Benzema under formal investigation as the Real Madrid star was accused of blackmailing fellow French international Valbuena over a sex-tape.
Both players were omitted from the national squad just an hour after Benzema was charged, while Benzema was not allowed to come into contact with Valbuena.
Benzema has admitted approaching Valbuena about the sex-tape "on behalf of a childhood friend" who himself had been contacted by blackmailers, but denied any wrongdoing. If convicted, he would serve up to five years.
As part of the France side that lifted the European Under-17 Championship 12 years ago, Benzema has represented his country on 81 occasions with 27 goals and was a key part of the squad for last year's World Cup in Brazil.
He has won the La Liga and the Champions League with Real and has twice won the Copa del Rey, and he won four Ligue 1 titles and a Coupe de France with Olympique Lyon before joining Madrid in 2009.
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