1. The
arts and cultural scene of Singapore has made good strides since the 1989 Report
of the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts. The development of institutions
and infrastructures has put in place much "hardware" for culture and the arts.
It is now necessary to give more focus on the "software" aspect.
2. The
Ministry of Information and
The Arts (MITA) has produced a report, in consultation with
members of the cultural community, that articulates a vision of Singapore as a
world-class city supported by a vibrant cultural scene, and outlines the
strategies required to take Singapore there.
3. This
Report has two aims:
(a) To
establish Singapore as a global arts city. We want to position Singapore as a
key city in the Asian renaissance of the 21st century and a cultural centre in
the globalised world. The idea is to be one of the top cities in the world to
live, work and play in, where there is an environment conducive to creative and
knowledge-based industries and talent.
(b) To provide cultural ballast in our
nation-building efforts. In order to strengthen Singaporeans' sense of national
identity and belonging, we need to inculcate an appreciation of our heritage and
strengthen the Singapore Heartbeat through the creation and sharing of Singapore
stories, be it in film, theatre, dance, music, literature or the visual
arts.
4. It is
useful to look at comparative data across cities to obtain a clearer picture of
where Singapore stands in terms of cultural development. While we are in the top
league of cities in terms of economic indicators, we fare less well on the
cultural indicators, in terms of talent pool, facilities, activities, audience
figures and level of state funding for the arts. We should aim to reach a level
of development that would be comparable to cities like Hong Kong, Glasgow and
Melbourne in 5-10 years. The longer term objective would be to join London and
New York in the top rung of cultural cities.
Culture and Creativity in the Future
Economy
5.
Culture and the arts are important to us because they enhance our quality of
life, contribute to a sense of national identity and add to the attractiveness
of our country.
6. Apart
from the direct economic benefits that accrue to arts and cultural activities,
creative and artistic endeavours will also play a decisive role in the future
economy. To ensure sustained growth in the long run, Singapore must forge an
environment that is conducive to innovations, new discoveries and the creation
of new knowledge. Knowledge workers will gravitate towards and thrive in places
that are vibrant and stimulating. Building up a cultural and creative buzz will
thus help us to attract both local and foreign talents to contribute to the
dynamism and growth of our economy and society.
7.
Renaissance Singapore will be creative, vibrant and imbued with a keen sense of
aesthetics. Our industries are supported with a creative culture that keeps them
competitive in the global economy. The Renaissance Singaporean has an
adventurous spirit, an inquiring and creative mind and a strong passion for
life. Culture and the arts animate our city and our society consists of active
citizens who build on our Asian heritage to strengthen the Singapore Heartbeat
through expressing their Singapore stories in culture and the arts.
8. In
order for this to happen, the state, the arts community, the private sector and
individual Singaporeans will have their own roles and responsibilities to
fulfil. The state and the private sector must provide support and space for the
development of the arts. The arts community must strengthen its sense of
professionalism and accountability. The private sector and individual citizens
must engage in a fruitful and symbiotic partnership with the arts community.
9. Six
key strategies for developing the arts and heritage sectors are proposed:
i).
Develop a strong arts and cultural base
·
Expose
students to the arts as an aesthetic experience as well as to broaden their
understanding and appreciation of the creative possibilities in our world. The
current Arts Education Programme should be expanded with additional funding of
another $400,000 per annum. Consider expanding the role of the Arts Education
Council to include overseeing the systematic introduction of arts education at
the junior college, secondary and primary school levels.
·
Set up a
Singapore Studies Department or Programme at the NUS to offer courses relating
to the people, society, heritage and culture of Singapore.
·
Allocate
$500,000 a year for the next 5 years for the National Arts Council
(NAC) to fund or
undertake research and documentation projects in culture.
ii)
Develop flagship and major arts companies
·
Allocate
to NAC an
additional $5 million per annum over the next 5 years to support up to 8 major
arts companies. Funding could be on a 2-year cycle to give arts groups greater
flexibility.
·
Provide
$200,000 per annum to develop technical and managerial skills among our arts and
heritage managers and administrators.
iii)
Recognise and groom talent
Mount
concerted effort to discover, groom and recognise artistic talents. Initiatives
recommended include:
·
Beef up
scholarship funding by $300,000 per annum to send local and foreign talents for
training.
·
Set up a
"New Artist Discovery Scheme" with an initial sum of $200,000 per annum to fund
promising projects proposed by fresh talents.
·
Accord
greater recognition to Singaporean artists or arts groups who have attained high
standards of excellence in their field. They could be designated as cultural
ambassadors or recognised as arts laureates. Create an annual $200,000 fund to
support projects or commission works by recipients of Cultural Medallions.
·
Upgrade
the current Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) into an international event that will
include the participation of foreign schools. The Ministry of Education, National Youth
Council and NAC should work together to develop the SYF
into an event to showcase young and budding talents.
iv)
Provide good infrastructure and facilities
·
Expand
NAC's
successful Arts Housing Scheme to include a further 7,000 square metres over the
next 5-7 years. Arts housing should expand strategically and systematically to
create belts of cultural activities.
·
Consider
building film-making facilities such as a standard film studio coupled with a
digital studio within the next five years to establish Singapore as the regional
hub for post-production work in films.
·
Continue
to cater for good cultural facilities such as the extension of the Singapore
History Museum, the refurbishment of Old Parliament House as an arts and
cultural centre, and the development of a national arts gallery at Queen
Street.
v) Go
international
·
Allocate
an additional $700,000 per annum for NAC to reinforce our efforts to promote our
artists overseas and for NHB to bring our exhibitions overseas. This fund can
also be used to help our overseas missions showcase our arts and heritage.
·
Strengthen
cultural relations with other countries to facilitate cultural exchanges and
forge partnerships with other cultural agencies.
·
Encourage
and facilitate international co-productions and collaborations involving
Singapore and overseas talent.
vi)
Develop an arts & cultural 'renaissance' economy
Create
vibrant arts and cultural activities:
·
Allocate
an additional $1.5 million per annum to make events such as the Singapore Arts
Festival and Singapore Writers' Week the leading ones in Asia. Upgrade the
National Piano and Violin Competitions into regional competitions.
·
Initiate
a Sculptural Biennale to showcase sculptures from all over the world in our
indoor and outdoor venues, with funding of $500,000 for each Biennale.
·
Create a
new biennial mini arts festival similar to the Boston arts festival around the
Waterloo and Fort Canning areas with funding of $1 million for each festival.
·
Develop
more outreach programmes such as concerts in the park and lunchtime concerts.
·
Seek to
host respected arts awards such as the Commonwealth Book Prize on a permanent
basis or as often as possible.
·
Develop
our own prestigious regional art awards. Set up a fund of $1 million over the
next 5 years to develop a regional award in the visual arts. Upgrade the Golden
Point awards for literature into a regional competition.
Strengthen
arts marketing and cultural tourism:
·
MITA
should work with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to promote arts
and cultural tourism through: a) capitalising on opportunities in conferences,
conventions and exhibitions (e.g. medical conventions, architectural
conventions); b) systematic international marketing of our arts and cultural
activities by working with foreign media, travel writers and tourism industry
operators; and c) developing an online ticketing system to better promote
advance ticket sales for performances and exhibitions in Singapore.
·
Set up an
Arts Marketing Task Force to systematically develop marketing practices in the
arts industry that would attract more audiences and sponsors from Singapore and
abroad. This should be supported by $500,000 over 3 years to enable it to
commission market research, identify potential marketing opportunities and
advise on marketing plans.
Increase
incentives for arts sponsorship:
·
Study how
tax incentives can be extended to encourage corporate sponsorship for
culture.
Promote
Singapore as an international arts events hub:
·
Encourage
international arts events to be staged in Singapore. Consider concessionary
measures in areas such as the withholding tax on income earned by foreign
performing artists and tax on income earned by show presenters from arts
productions.
·
Set aside
$500,000 over 3 years to organise an international performing arts market with
an Asian focus to attract our neighbouring countries to sell their arts groups
and productions to festival directors and impresarios.
·
Promote
the development of art auction houses through the judicious use of pro-business
packages.
10. These
proposals will require an increase in the long-term level of funding for arts
and heritage. For a start, MITA is proposing additional funding of $50 million
over the next five years for the new programmes and schemes proposed here. This
does not include capital expenditure and additional recurrent expenditure from
development projects.
11. The
Renaissance Singapore vision and recommendations will help us establish a strong
position as a premier cultural city in Asia. These initiatives in culture and
the arts will demonstrate the Government's resolve in pursuing policies that
will secure a bright, vibrant and creative future for Singaporeans in the 21st
century