Great expectations: What does it mean to hold and make space for the Arts in Singapore?

• Main Author: HOE, Su Fern
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: arts spaces; cultural policy; placemaking; Singapore; contemporary art; Arts and Humanities; Asian Studies
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3371; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4628/viewcontent/HSF_What_does_it_mean_to_make_and_hold_space_for_the_arts_in_SG_Substation_Conference_2020_Final__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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 will use two case studies to question what it truly means to make space, hold space and lose space in the arts in Singapore. In doing so, I will explore the possibilities of practices of community, solidarity and collectivism in the arts in Singapore. The paper will highlight the limitations of mere physical space provision, by focusing on the practices of commoning and forms of solidarity that inhabit artistic practice and arise from coming together.