Between the sea and the shore: mediating the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Singapore. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lim, Alvin Eng Hui
• Is Part Of: Journal of contemporary religion. Volume 34:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 117
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Procession -- religious practice in Singapore -- public performance -- multi-media ritual -- religious festival -- digital technology; Religions -- Periodicals; Religions -- History -- 20th century -- Periodicals; 200
• DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2019.1585125
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1353-7903

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Chinese diaspora brought tablets and effigies of their Taoist gods with them when they migrated to Southeast Asia. Temples in the region hold annual festivals to evoke this passage from the sea to the shore, assisted by makeshift sets, props, and generators with floodlights. In this article, I examine the durational performances of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Singapore, which consist of people and deities moving in processions. What does it mean to perform spirituality between the sea and the shore? What happens when this coastline is constantly redrawn with land reclamation? There is a mobile imagery described here: technological media transport yet circumscribe the spiritual to the material stage onshore as devotees invite the deities to land. The spiritual is eventually pulled back, leaving behind its residue (ashes, footprints on the sand, talismans) as the deities depart. Spirituality performed along the coast through technological mediation reveals the contemporary nature of these religious practices.