Fringe Modalities

Poet, frontwoman, and shamanic healer ArunDitha Emmanuel returns to Singapore with renewed vigour to push the state-enforced boundaries of art.

- LU YAWEN

ArunDitha Emmanuel is an otherworldly being. When the poet singer-performer arrives for the interview and photoshoot, she sweeps into the lobby in a black T-shirt, her wrists adorned with jewellery, and her hair curled and untamed. It's as though she's arrived from another universe.

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

As the frontwoman of Mantravine, one of the many hats she wears, ArunDitha lends her strong emotive voice to the band's world, psychedelic (sometimes neo-shamanic) dance music. The Singapore-based three-piece band is well known within the circles of alternative music, or "super fringe modalities", as she calls it, locally and abroad.

They've performed at festivals such as Germany's Evolution Festival and Thailand's Wonderfruit Festival.

This year marks the 10th year of her singing practice, something she's been doing since she was a child and that has taken her through various genres like black metal and dub in previous bands she's been in.