The Esplanade: Centrepiece of a Renaissance City?
Date: 17 Apr 2004
Speaker: Mr Ivan Heng
Time: 2:00 pm
Quick Links:
[ Quotes | Resource Materials | Guest Speaker ]
Speaker: Mr Ivan Heng
Time: 2:00 pm
Quick Links:
[ Quotes | Resource Materials | Guest Speaker ]
Intended to profile and position Singapore as an international hub for culture and the arts, the Esplanade is the centrepiece of the Government's efforts to transform Singapore into a Renaissance City that both attracts global creative talent and inspires national pride and belonging.
To what extent can the Esplanade accomplish these objectives? Can it transcend its iconic function to serve as a physical and emotional space for cultivating culture and cultural capital? Does it invite and facilitate the creative participation of communities and citizens? Does it articulate - and/or anticipate - a Singaporean identity? Whom and what does it serve? Locals or foreigners? Culture or commerce? How relevant, ultimately, are government-sponsored efforts to cultivate creativity and culture?
Talk with us. Share your views.
To what extent can the Esplanade accomplish these objectives? Can it transcend its iconic function to serve as a physical and emotional space for cultivating culture and cultural capital? Does it invite and facilitate the creative participation of communities and citizens? Does it articulate - and/or anticipate - a Singaporean identity? Whom and what does it serve? Locals or foreigners? Culture or commerce? How relevant, ultimately, are government-sponsored efforts to cultivate creativity and culture?
Talk with us. Share your views.
Quotes
"Unlike great arts cities of the world, Singapore works on a Faustian bargain, which swaps political and artistic freedom for profit."
- Salil Tripathi, in the Australian Financial Review, Dec 14, 2002
"We have used the term 'renaissance' to embody ... the spirit of creativity, innovation, and multi-disciplinary learning and of socio-economic, intellectual, and cultural vibrancy that we want to help create. In the era of the knowledge-based economy, such qualities take on an added imperative because they contribute to innovation, imagination, and the creation of new knowledge - key inputs in the future economy. A vibrant arts and cultural scene and this renaissance spirit are mutually reinforcing. It can give us that creative buzz and stimulate our minds to think outside the box. At the same time, it enlarges our leisure options and makes Singapore an attractive place for talent. Our culture and heritage also help to define who we are as a people, thereby strengthening our shared perspectives and our sense of belonging."
- Minister Lee Yock Suan, Minister for Information and the Arts, in a speech on the Renaissance City Report, 9 Feb 2000
"...thanks to the rise of the Internet, the corporate embrace of outsourcing and contract employees, as well as the spread of resources for the self-employed, more and more artists see themselves as entrepreneurs making a long-term living off their creativity."
- Christopher Farrell, in BusinessWeek, Aug 7, 2003
"Art does not begin in a test-tube, it does not take its origin in good sentiments and clean-shaven, upstanding young thoughts."
- Poet D.J. Enright, Lecturer at what-became-the National University of Singapore, at his inaugural lecture
- Salil Tripathi, in the Australian Financial Review, Dec 14, 2002
"We have used the term 'renaissance' to embody ... the spirit of creativity, innovation, and multi-disciplinary learning and of socio-economic, intellectual, and cultural vibrancy that we want to help create. In the era of the knowledge-based economy, such qualities take on an added imperative because they contribute to innovation, imagination, and the creation of new knowledge - key inputs in the future economy. A vibrant arts and cultural scene and this renaissance spirit are mutually reinforcing. It can give us that creative buzz and stimulate our minds to think outside the box. At the same time, it enlarges our leisure options and makes Singapore an attractive place for talent. Our culture and heritage also help to define who we are as a people, thereby strengthening our shared perspectives and our sense of belonging."
- Minister Lee Yock Suan, Minister for Information and the Arts, in a speech on the Renaissance City Report, 9 Feb 2000
"...thanks to the rise of the Internet, the corporate embrace of outsourcing and contract employees, as well as the spread of resources for the self-employed, more and more artists see themselves as entrepreneurs making a long-term living off their creativity."
- Christopher Farrell, in BusinessWeek, Aug 7, 2003
"Art does not begin in a test-tube, it does not take its origin in good sentiments and clean-shaven, upstanding young thoughts."
- Poet D.J. Enright, Lecturer at what-became-the National University of Singapore, at his inaugural lecture
Resource Materials
Renaissance City Report (March 2000)
Author: Ministry of Information and The Arts
Summary: (Read only Executive Summary) Report outlines the government's aim to position Singapore as a global arts city that both roots its citizens through a shared arts and cultural base and provides an environment for a creative and knowledge-based economy to flourish.
Interesting ***
Readable ****
Relevant *****
The Renaissance Starts Here?
Author: Far Eastern Economic Review
Summary: This article discusses the potential cultural, social, and economic benefits arising from the construction of the Esplanade, but also the limits that continued curbs on artistic and political freedom pose for Singapore's transformation into an arts and cultural hub. The article also discusses the tensions between attracting and catering to the tastes of expatriates and the well-heeled, on the one hand, and cultivating the local arts scene and enabling access to "art and culture" by the majority of citizens, on the other.
Interesting ****
Readable *****
Relevant *****
Cultural Capital? Singapore's government has decided that citizens must be creative - at all costs
Author: Tan Hwee Hwee
Summary: Tongue-in-cheek take on Singapore's commercial approach to art
Interesting ****
Readable *****
Relevant ***
Art for Art's Sake? No, the Economy's
Author: Christopher Farrell, BusinessWeek
Summary: This article defends the relationship between the arts and business, arguing that art not only spurs commerce but also depends on it.
Interesting ***
Readable ****
Relevant ***
Author: Ministry of Information and The Arts
Summary: (Read only Executive Summary) Report outlines the government's aim to position Singapore as a global arts city that both roots its citizens through a shared arts and cultural base and provides an environment for a creative and knowledge-based economy to flourish.
Interesting ***
Readable ****
Relevant *****
The Renaissance Starts Here?
Author: Far Eastern Economic Review
Summary: This article discusses the potential cultural, social, and economic benefits arising from the construction of the Esplanade, but also the limits that continued curbs on artistic and political freedom pose for Singapore's transformation into an arts and cultural hub. The article also discusses the tensions between attracting and catering to the tastes of expatriates and the well-heeled, on the one hand, and cultivating the local arts scene and enabling access to "art and culture" by the majority of citizens, on the other.
Interesting ****
Readable *****
Relevant *****
Cultural Capital? Singapore's government has decided that citizens must be creative - at all costs
Author: Tan Hwee Hwee
Summary: Tongue-in-cheek take on Singapore's commercial approach to art
Interesting ****
Readable *****
Relevant ***
Art for Art's Sake? No, the Economy's
Author: Christopher Farrell, BusinessWeek
Summary: This article defends the relationship between the arts and business, arguing that art not only spurs commerce but also depends on it.
Interesting ***
Readable ****
Relevant ***
Guest Speaker
We're happy to have Ivan Heng join us at this session as a guest speaker.
Ivan Heng is an internationally acclaimed theatre practitioner whose works have toured to more than 20 cities throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
A lawyer by training, Heng was Singapore’s first recipient of the prestigious BAT Arts Scholarship and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Glasgow). After seven years in the United Kingdom, where he worked in film, television and founded the award-winning Tripitaka Theatre Company, he moved back to Singapore to make theatre that was closer to his heart and home.
His awards for excellence in theatre include: the Straits Times Life! Theatre Award for Best Director 2002 (Animal Farm), the Singapore Youth Award ‘98, the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award ‘96, the Edinburgh Fringe First and the Scottish Daily Express New Names of ‘93 Award (The Woman in a Tree on the Hill), the Spirit of the Fringe Award (Journey West) and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Award (Richard III).
Heng is the Founding Artistic Director of Wild Rice, one of Singapore’s most dynamic and exciting theatre companies. His projects for the company include directing (Landmarks Asian Boys Vol.2, Cinderel-lah!, Animal Farm, Ang Tau Mui, The Woman in A Tree on the Hill, An Occasional Orchid), set designing (Landmarks,Boeing Boeing, Ang Tau Mui, Animal Farm, An Occasional Orchid, and Kuo Pao Kun’s Double Bill), acting (Animal Farm, Emily of Emerald Hill), and executively producing all the company’s works.
Ivan Heng is an internationally acclaimed theatre practitioner whose works have toured to more than 20 cities throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
A lawyer by training, Heng was Singapore’s first recipient of the prestigious BAT Arts Scholarship and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Glasgow). After seven years in the United Kingdom, where he worked in film, television and founded the award-winning Tripitaka Theatre Company, he moved back to Singapore to make theatre that was closer to his heart and home.
His awards for excellence in theatre include: the Straits Times Life! Theatre Award for Best Director 2002 (Animal Farm), the Singapore Youth Award ‘98, the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award ‘96, the Edinburgh Fringe First and the Scottish Daily Express New Names of ‘93 Award (The Woman in a Tree on the Hill), the Spirit of the Fringe Award (Journey West) and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Award (Richard III).
Heng is the Founding Artistic Director of Wild Rice, one of Singapore’s most dynamic and exciting theatre companies. His projects for the company include directing (Landmarks Asian Boys Vol.2, Cinderel-lah!, Animal Farm, Ang Tau Mui, The Woman in A Tree on the Hill, An Occasional Orchid), set designing (Landmarks,Boeing Boeing, Ang Tau Mui, Animal Farm, An Occasional Orchid, and Kuo Pao Kun’s Double Bill), acting (Animal Farm, Emily of Emerald Hill), and executively producing all the company’s works.
