Stay home for Singapore arts

Singapore

THEATRES are shut. Performers are forced to social distance. The public has to stay home. As far as the National Arts Council is concerned, however, that's no reason to miss out on the best of Singapore arts.

The Council has partnered with several organisations, including the Esplanade and the National Gallery Singapore, to present a wide array of Singapore arts on one digital platform. Under its #SgCultureAnywhere campaign hosted on the A-List.Sg website, it offers links to virtual concerts, art exhibitions, dance excerpts and theatre plays, among others.

Highlights include Monologues From My Bedroom comprising raw one-person performances by young local actors; Poems On The Air featuring original Singapore poetry sung or read online to music; and the complete String Fantasy concert by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra featuring violinist Lu Si Qing and cellist Qin Li Wei. There are also full productions by The Necessary Stage, W!ld Rice and Nine Years Theatre, three of the best theatre companies in Singapore.

For our money, though, we recommend an interactive digital game-book by Tania De Rozario.

The award-winning writer has crafted an unusual choose-your-own adventure novel titled Somewhere Else, Another You that has you as the reader conjuring an alternate cyberspace existence based on the choices you make at critical points of the novel.

Meanwhile, parents in need of content for the young ones can also find a myriad of resources such as activity sheets, colouring pages, storytelling sessions and kids' dance videos to keep them distracted.

Over the next few months, more digital offerings will be added on the site, in part to encourage Singaporeans to stay home and stay safe. These include an online video series titled From the Living Room featuring 30 episodes of performances by Singaporean artists filmed in their homes and released daily on NAC's Facebook page.

Sustainability of the arts and culture

The #SgCultureAnywhere campaign comes on the heels of the April 7 announcement by Minister for Culture, Community And Youth (MCCY) Grace Fu on the S$55 million Arts And Culture Resilience Package (ACRP) under the Resilience Budget.

The ACRP, in addition to the S$1.6 million announced at the Committee of Supply (COS) debate, will see to the sustainability of the arts and culture sector during the crisis.

The ACRP includes a Digital Presentation Grant for the Arts to help artists make the leap onto the digital realm. NAC's partnership with Bandwagon, Viddsee and Sing Lit Station, to name a few, will also result in commissions of new digital arts content.

On top of these, the government is supporting various forms of artists' training so they may emerge stronger after Covid-19. Courses ranging from digital technology to entrepreneurship have been made more affordable for an extended period of time until Dec 31. Artists and arts-related companies renting spaces on MCCY properties will also have their rentals waives for two months.

Currently, the nationwide Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) co-funds 25 per cent of the wages for all local employees till the end of 2020 and 75 per cent for the month of April and May. But MCCY is set to announce additional support for major companies, as well as leading arts and culture organisations after the circuit breaker period.

Rosa Daniel, chief executive officer of NAC, says the Council is determined to have Singapore arts and culture be experienced anywhere and anytime: "With digitalisation, the best of Singapore's works will be brought to our audiences here and the world through the #SGCultureAnywhere campaign. Through the Digitalisation Fund, artists and arts organisations will have opportunities to leverage technology and digital mediums to make their works more accessible to audiences in these extraordinary times."

"This is a time for everyone to band together, with cultural institutions, artists and Singaporeans all playing an important role in ensuring sustainability of the scene. A stronger digital presence also offers significantly enhanced opportunities to share the best of our arts and culture with international audiences."

The Council doesn't want just Singaporeans to enjoy the creations of their own artists: "In the coming months, NAC will work with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to promote #SGCultureAnywhere in international markets. With the resilient spirit of our arts and culture community, we can together weather the storm and emerge stronger in the recovery phase."