STATE OF THE ARTS (Aug 8 to 14)   The annual stage extravaganza that is the National Day Parade was held in the form of a “musical”. Organisers of the Singapore Writers Festival 2011, to be held in October, released an initial list of writers, which included Freakonomics’ Stephen Levitt and Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon, and a special focus on the late Kuo Pao Kun. Online portal www.acsr.sg was launched, where the public can offer their feedback on ideas gathered by the Arts And Culture Strategic Review steering committee, which will then sketch out Singapore’s cultural development until 2025. The Artists Village revealed its new home in Pulau Ubin. The Man Singapore Theatre Festival went all socially conscious with its much-awaited Cooling Off Day, a forum on politics and a drama workshop.  The IndigNation Film Festival was held, along with the satellite reading event ContraDiction. Overseas, Ho Tzu Nyen’s Venice Biennale piece The Cloud Of Unknowing was screened over the weekend at the Locarno Film Festival, and Jennifer Phillips and Loretta Chen’s The F Word was rolled out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.