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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
The Substation: How Many More Canaries In The Coal Mine?, Su Fern Hoe
The Substation: How Many More Canaries In The Coal Mine?, Su Fern Hoe
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Since 1990, The Substation has been the sole occupant of the conserved building at 45 Armenian Street. Over the years, it has transformed the once-abandoned power station into Singapore’s first artist-led multi-disciplinary arts centre. However, in February 2021, The Substation was officially asked to vacate the building. Although the current situation facing The Substation is not new or unique, its impending fate is emblematic of, and raises deep questions about the progressively precarious and capricious conditions of arts practice in Singapore. This editorial highlights four underlying problems that we should be concerned with.
The Substation: How Many More Canaries In The Coal Mine?, Su Fern Hoe
The Substation: How Many More Canaries In The Coal Mine?, Su Fern Hoe
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Since 1990, The Substation has been the sole occupant of the conserved building at 45 Armenian Street. Over the years, it has transformed the once-abandoned power station into Singapore’s first artist-led multi-disciplinary arts centre. However, in February 2021, The Substation was officially asked to vacate the building. Although the current situation facing The Substation is not new or unique, its impending fate is emblematic of, and raises deep questions about the progressively precarious and capricious conditions of arts practice in Singapore. This editorial highlights four underlying problems that we should be concerned with.
Great Expectations: What Does It Mean To Hold And Make Space For The Arts In Singapore?, Su Fern Hoe
Great Expectations: What Does It Mean To Hold And Make Space For The Arts In Singapore?, Su Fern Hoe
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The arts and artists need space to thrive. However, as much of the land in Singapore is stateowned, providing space for the arts—literally and figuratively—remains challenging. Today, there is a rich variety of arts infrastructure in Singapore, including performing arts venues, statesubsidised artist studios and co-working spaces for freelancers. However, this stateadministered infrastructure comes with expectations, as these arts spaces have been positioned as expedient policy resources capable of achieving a broad confluence of cultural, urban, economic and social outcomes for Singapore. These “great expectations” on state-initiated arts spaces and the ensuing implications are the foci of this paper. I …
Global Ambitions: Positioning Singapore As A Contemporary Arts Hub, Su Fern Hoe
Global Ambitions: Positioning Singapore As A Contemporary Arts Hub, Su Fern Hoe
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This chapter has two objectives. The first is to critically interrogate the state’s efforts in utilising the visual arts as a means to position Singapore as an international arts hub and marketplace. As Kwok Kian Woon and Low Kee-Hong have noted, “Singapore’s cultural policy has everything to do with staying on top as a focal node in the late-capitalist world system of the new millennium” (Kwok and Low, 2002, p. 154). This chapter offers an overview of the programmes and initiatives introduced by the state from the 1990s to the present in order to encourage the entry of international art …
The Arts And Culture Strategic Review Report: Harnessing The Arts For Community-Building, Su Fern Hoe
The Arts And Culture Strategic Review Report: Harnessing The Arts For Community-Building, Su Fern Hoe
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) was initiated in 2010 to chart the next phase of cultural development in Singapore. The final report, which was released in 2012, appears to propose a paradigm shift in focus for arts and cultural policy making in Singapore: from the desire to manage the arts and cultural sectors into profitable creative industries to the utilisation of the arts and culture as expedient tools for social cohesion and community building in Singapore. This shift has resulted in government programmes placing (renewed) importance and emphasis on “community arts” as a cultural activity. This chapter critically …