SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL

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SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL

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(Future direction): **

19.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (a) what is the Ministry's vision for the Singapore Arts Festival; (b) whether the budget allocated this year for the festival was sufficient to achieve the ambitions stated; and (c) whether the Ministry plans to review the budget, programming and organisational structure of the Singapore Arts Festival to meet the challenges ahead.

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20.

Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts with regard to the recent Singapore Arts Festival 2008 (a) what is the Ministry’s overall evaluation of the Festival and the reason(s) for the fall in ticketed audience numbers; (b) what are the objectives and how has the Festival changed over the years; and (c) how it is distinguished from the upcoming Singapore Biennale.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: I would like to thank both Ms Ng and Ms Low for their interest in the Singapore Arts Festival and its future direction.

The Singapore Arts Festival has evolved over the past 30 years in line with our arts scene and audiences. In the 70s and 80s, it was the main platform for fledgling semi-professional Singapore arts companies. Since 2000, in support of Singapore’s vision to be a global city for the arts, the National Arts Council had enhanced the international dimension to complement the strong Asian flavour and also strived to bridge the traditional and the contemporary.

As Singapore’s pinnacle arts event, the Festival aims to meet three objectives. Firstly, for our performing arts talents and industry, the Festival promotes artistic development and excellence. This is done by commissioning new works by our artistic talents and forging international artistic collaborations. Secondly, for the audience, the Festival promotes wider and deeper appreciation for the arts. It offers a broad range of enjoyable and appreciated free outreach programmes in the city and the heartlands, as well as a core programme of ticketed shows which includes new works and some cutting edge performances. Thirdly, to position Singapore as a global arts city, the Festival seeks to raise international awareness of Singapore arts by developing strong partnerships with foreign art festivals and creating an international profile synonymous with artistic innovation.

While the Festival’s focus is on the performing arts, NAC has not neglected other artforms. Ms Penny Low enquired about the upcoming Singapore Biennale. The Singapore Biennale is an equivalent platform to the Singapore Arts Festival, but with a focus on visual arts. While the Arts Festival showcases quality Singapore and international performing arts, the Singapore Biennale will present international contemporary visual artists alongside Asian and Singaporean artists. The Singapore Biennale is Singapore’s largest contemporary visual arts exhibition. It will enhance Singapore’s standing as a regional and international platform for showcasing and discussion on contemporary visual

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arts. It thus complements the effort of the Singapore Arts Festival to position Singapore as a vibrant global arts city.

The overall budget for the Singapore Arts Festival has remained relatively steady at around $6.5 million to $7 million a year over the past decade. Each year about 50% of the budget comes from sponsorship and ticket sales. A major challenge that NAC faces is to keep within the budget despite rising local and international organising costs. For 2008, more of the core ticketed programme were medium to small scale performances instead of big "blockbuster" shows. This approach addressed the cost factor for "blockbuster" shows and also recognised that such shows are now presented throughout the year by other art promoters. For example, the Sun-Festival organised by IMG Artists in October 2008 will bring in big names in arts and entertainment such as the opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Vienna Boys Choir, among others. Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q will also start its season in October.

The focus on more medium and smaller scale shows in the core programme meant that only 30,000 tickets were available compared to the 37,000 tickets for the 2007 Festival. Hence, this year’s Festival recorded a lower ticketed attendance. Nonetheless, the core programme provided audiences with a line-up of innovative, exciting and diverse works of an international standard. The overall attendance was 74% of the 30,000 available tickets. This is close to the average of 75% to 80% ticketed attendance for the past ten years of the Festival. In fact, of the 50 ticketed performances, 18 were sold out which was comparable to 2007 when 16 of the 48 ticketed performances were sold out.

While some people were of the opinion that this year’s Festival had failed, critics’ opinion of the Festival’s productions in both Singapore and foreign media was predominantly positive. NAC counted over 50 positive reviews received from the key Singapore media alone, including the Straits Times . For example, ST had remarked that the opening performance Architecture of Silence was a “winsome and ambitious work that was contemporary and accessible” and a “refreshing and delightful piece”.

This year’s Festival also continued to support artistic development by commissioning new works from Singaporean arts groups. Through the Festival’s international collaborations, works by Singaporean artists such as The King Lear Project had already performed at an Arts Festival in Brussels, while Awaking by Ong Keng Sen was co-commissioned by the Edinburgh Arts Festival. To meet the aim of bringing the arts to Singaporeans, the Festival also successfully spearheaded new partnerships to develop more engaging outreach programmes, especially in the heartlands. As a result, there were 580 outreach events attracting an overall total attendance of about 570,000. For example, the Festival’s closing performance at Bedok Reservoir, in partnership with the PUB’s Singapore International Water Week, attracted 18,000 people alone. This partnership approach contributes significantly to the Festival’s outreach efforts, and the objective of growing a more discerning arts audience.

I would like to assure Ms Irene Ng and Miss Penny Low that we will continue to review the organisation and form of the Festival to address the challenges of a changing cultural landscape. Today, the Singapore arts scene is more vibrant and there is greater diversity. Audiences can choose from a range of arts performances throughout the year. The Festival need not duplicate programmes that are already provided by commercial arts promoters. Instead, the challenge is for the Festival to evolve a programme mix that would continue to meet the goals of artistic and audience development, and to enhance its

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international position and influence. We will also study the possible organisational structures that would best ensure the attractiveness and standing of the Festival. Even though we have received numerous domestic and international accolades about the quality of the festival and performances, there is certainly much room for improvement. We will continue to review various aspects of the Festival to improve its programming and delivery. NAC will consult closely with event partners and arts groups, as well as take into account audience needs and public feedback in such review.