Here’s an update from the Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) steering committee. (You know, they-who-have-the-power-to-chart-Singapore’s-cultural-scene-until-2025.)
Yesterday, a new portal was launched where the public can offer feedback on ideas collated from discussions with members of the arts community and the public a couple of months ago.
Check it out here. Or go straight to the list of recommendations here. More news here.
In case you were wondering why the blog’s been quiet, the RAT was away last week so you’ll have to wait for his views on this year’s UOB Painting Of The Year winners.
In the meantime, the new designs for the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall were announced last Friday and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts just released their arts and culture statistics for 2010.
Continue reading ‘Victoria Theatre’s new look! MICA’s arts stats for 2010!’
If the National Arts Council wanted to send the strongest possible message to the arts community at this afternoon’s Workplan Sharing Session at Goodman Arts Centre, then this photograph sums it up.
In front of around a hundred or so people from the arts community and creative industry sector, the council’s CEO Benson Puah sat flanked by Felicia Low, a visual artist known for her community-based projects, and Ahmad Mashadi, head of the NUS Museum.
Symbolically, it’s an image that would make any spin doctor proud – the figurehead of an establishment at turns vilified and feared in-between a magnanimous artist who works with under-represented sectors of society and an articulate intellectual who commands the respect of the academe and the visual arts community.
Continue reading ‘NAC is your new BFF! 2011 to 2013! Pinky swear!’
Sometimes it pays to sit on an idea. More so if it’s in a literal sense, as was the case with Tara Tan. The dance critic/arts writer-turned-er, part-time dance critic/arts writer (who works in advertising during the day) has a new production, a “theatrical duet” if you will, involving a hundred chairs. Imagined Future Benefit will feature Tan and fellow performer Gareth Mayer toying around with chairs for 45 minutes at Old School in Mount Sophia.
What’s up with artists and chairs anyway?
Tada! Welcome to Goodman Arts Centre.
The former LASALLE-then-SOTA campus looks pretty much the same. Except that they’re sprucing it up (naturally).
So anyway, the National Arts Council – which will be moving in on Jan 14 – are looking for other people to keep them company. Continue reading ‘Goodman Arts Centre! A sneak peak! Hurry while “supplies” last!’
The anticipation is finally over. The National Arts Council has released its “New Framework for Arts Spaces” (NFAS) report, a spankin’ new set of guidelines to replace the old Arts Housing Scheme.
To be honest, I’m also still trying to completely wrap my head around it, and there are a lot of nitty-gritty details which you can pore over here, but I’ll try my best to break it down to the basic stuff.
First, the facts.
The old AHS first came out in 1985 and currently has 43 properties housing 96 groups and individuals. According to NAC, some 135 artists/groups have benefitted from it for the past decade. In contrast, 520 new companies and societies were formed since 2000, and that doesn’t include individual practitioners like visual artists.
Suffice it to say, there’s a lot more arts practitioners now. Continue reading ‘Arts housing! New schemes! The details!’
Ho ho holy ^&*(!
Time for our “best of” list for 2010. Or what passes for that on this blog. The print version has already come out, but we didn’t have space for all of them so here’s the (more or less) complete version. Admittedly, the RAT’s memory is rather bad, so if he missed out on something, holler! (It’s rather strange referring to yourself in the third person)
And if you have your own faves of 2010, go ahead and put it down! Continue reading ‘TODAY’S T Awards for 2010! The best and worst of the year! Sort of!’
There’s an ongoing conference by the Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion at Marina Bay Sands. It’s an industry event for arts managers within the region but what the hey, the RAT likes to gatecrash once in a while.
Primarily because I wanted to check out what the two integrated resorts had to say about their roles in the local arts and entertainment scene.
(Warning: It’s a rather long post without pictures. But it has lots of words!)
Continue reading ‘FACP! How will the IRs help Singapore’s arts scene?! MBS and RWS speak up!’
And the saga continues. In response to the release of the Censorship Review Committee 2009′s report with its whopping 80 recommendations, Arts Engage has compiled some 20 reponses from various people. I’ve posted them all here with permission. You may also want to check out some of the feedback the CRC2009 had gathered while they were doing the report here. Elsewhere in their site, there are also links to feedback from various industries too.
Happy reading, folks!
Quickie newsflash! Er, seven hours delayed! The complete CRC 2009 report was posted around 4pm this afternoon. Check it out here. If you want to compare it to the CRC 2002 one, it’s here.
If you’re lazy, here are the key recommendations. But there are, like, 80 in total so…
Continue reading ‘Censorship Review Committee 2009 report! It’s out!’
