Singapore’s arts and cultural scene bustles with diversity and local flavours. In spite of its cosmopolitan nature, which opens doors to rich and contemporary global influences, the city remains uniquely Asian. Packed with arts activities, festivals, events and cultural spaces, arts junkies are spoilt for choice.
Singapore’s Arts Festival 2010 – Between You and Me
The Singapore Arts Festival began in 1977 as a national arts festival celebrating local arts activity of Singapore’s diverse communities. Over the last three decades, the Festival, organised by the National Arts Council, has played a symbiotic and catalytic role in the development of the artistic and cultural life of Singapore. It has helped to transform the city landscape, turning it into one of Asia’s major cultural capital of today.
The year 2010 will be a turning point for the arts scene in Singapore in more ways than one. The Singapore Arts Festival has embarked on a new phase of development. Key changes and initiatives are set in motion to grow the 22-year –old Festival into a Creative Festival and a People’s Festival.
The Festival will have greater focus on the creative process and perspective of arts making in Asia. It will provide a platform to showcase performances, collaboration and new works-in-progress by Singaporeans and Asian artists while maintaining a global perspective.
Between You and Me, the Singapore Arts Festival's new theme for 2010, is all about getting closer to the arts. For the first time, the Festival will actively reach out to everyone through an outreach programme called com.mune. Together with a stellar showcase of international performances, the Festival will truly touch you in ways you never imagined possible.
For more information, visit www.singaporeartsfest.com.
Museums
Be sure to visit our cultural and art spaces, such as the National Museum of Singapore, the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. These are some of Singapore’s top spots to view world-class exhibitions and artworks, theatre and much more.
For a visit that will put a twinkle in your eye, the MINT (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) Museum of Toys is the world’s first purpose-built museum for toys. Opened in May 2006, it exhibits a wide range of vintage toys from mid-19th century to mid-20th century. These include rare and unique items such as Tintin collectables, exclusive teddy bear collections and Astroboy figurines.
Singapore’s new Peranakan Museum is a treat for culture junkies, or anyone curious about Peranakan heritage. It houses the first comprehensive display of Peranakan culture worldwide and showcases more than 1,200 items. Through the latest technology used in the museum, visitors can enjoy a rich multi-sensory experience of Peranakan heritage that spans from material culture to merchandising and food sampling.
Coming up in 2012 is the National Art Gallery of Singapore, housed in the historic City Hall and former Supreme Court Building. The main focus of this designated cultural icon will be Southeast Asian art. The gallery adds to Singapore’s aspirations of being a regional and international hub for the visual arts; even its compounds are designed to be conducive for art exhibitions. Adding to its complete appeal, the gallery will be adopting a lifestyle concept of retail, food and beverage to serve up an enjoyable experience of the arts in comfort.
Visual and performing art groups
Besides still art forms, Singapore also offers entertaining performances by local and international visual and performing art groups.
The country’s arts scene is enriched by both traditional performances as well as modern eclectic performances which are originals in their own right. For starters, check out Singapore’s established arts groups, which include the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Dance Theatre, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Repertory Theatre and TheatreWorks.
The Singapore Tourism Board Event Calendar has a comprehensive listing of arts and cultural events in Singapore.
To find out more about the development of arts and culture in Singapore, check out the Profile section.
Images courtesy of Visitsingapore
All Together Now
You can also play a role by being an advocate for the Republic's arts and cultural scene. We can build a partnership between ourselves and the arts/culture through cultural philantrophy such as volunteerism and online donations. To find out more about how to become an active participant in Singapore's arts and culture, visit http://give2arts.sg for more information.
Sign In now to share your views