CHAPTER II

EXCELLENCE

Championing the ArtsThe National Arts Council spearheads and develops thearts in Singapore as it enriches people’s lives. Oursupport for the arts is comprehensive across art formsincluding theatre, dance, music, visual, literary andtraditional arts. We believe in cultivating artists and artsgroups as their high-quality art works inspire futureaudiences and the next generation of artists.

Key highlights this year include the inaugural LiteraryTranslation Boot Camp, launch of the Dance MedicineWorkshops, successful editions of Singapore Art Weekand Singapore Writers Festival, as well as opportunitiesfor artists’ residencies both locally and globally.

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SINGAPORE WRITERS FESTIVAL 2014V I S I T O R F E E D B A C K

1Personalenrichment

2Entertainment/Leisure

3Accompanycolleagues/friends(the social element isa strong determinantof arts attendanceamong visitors to non-ticketed programmes)

TOP MOTIVATIONS FOR ATTENDANCE

INTEREST IN SINGAPORE LITERATUREAMONG SINGAPORE WRITERS FESTIVAL VISITORS

82% of ticketed audiences

75% of non-ticketed audiences

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Source: Singapore Writers Festival 2014 Survey

95% of ticketed audiences

89% of non-ticketed audiences

PERCENTAGE OF VISITORS LIKELY TO ATTENDTHE FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR

96% of ticketed audiences

PERCENTAGE OF VISITORS WHO WOULDRECOMMEND THE FESTIVAL TO OTHERS

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93% of ticketed audiences

PERCENTAGE OF VISITORS SATISFIED WITHTHE FESTIVAL’S PROGRAMME

o-organised by NAC, TheArts House and the BritishCentre for LiteraryTranslation (BCLT), theinaugural Literary

Translation Boot Camp was heldfrom 12 - 15 May 2014 in conjunctionwith the annual SingaporeInternational Translation Symposium.

The initiative aimed to offerparticipants an intensive programmefocused on hands-on translationpractices to fill a critical gap inprofessional developmentopportunities for literary translatorsin Singapore.

Through a multi-faceted approachinvolving a prominent translator, theauthor of the original text and aneditor, participants were providedwith a comprehensive learningexperience. Three language trackswere offered: Chinese to English,Malay to English and Tamil toEnglish. The workshops were led byrespected international literarytranslators Harry Aveling, LakshmiHolmström and Andrea Lingenfelter,and involved local authors You Jin,Isa Kamari and K. Kanagalatha.

Internationally established andaward-winning author Tash Aw wasalso brought in to conduct aCreative Writing Workshop,providing attendees with anintroduction to the writing process.

The event saw a total of 23participants, and overall responsewas positive with 78.3 per centindicating that they wouldrecommend the workshop to afriend. BCLT also provided feedbackthat it found the event andpartnership to be very successful.

The 2014 Translation Boot Camp isthe pilot programme in a recurringannual platform aimed at the

development of literary translationtalents. It will be followed by theTranslation Lab in 2015.

Text in the City is a nationwidecampaign advocating theappreciation of reading and writingpoetry as a creative form ofexpression.

The campaign consisted of threecomponents. The first was a mobileapp that featured more than 100Singapore poems about well-lovedplaces such as the Singapore River,

Bras Basah, National Library and theheartlands. Featured poets includeAlvin Pang, Arthur Yap, EdwinThumboo, Grace Chia, Johar Buang,Liang Yue, Pooja Nansi and RobertYeo. The app also makes poetrymore accessible for all Singaporeans.

The second component was a publiccall for submissions, which has sinceclosed, where users could uploadtheir poems via the app throughseveral media – text, photos, soundand video. Lastly, the initiative alsoconsisted of a travelling roadshow

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C H A P T E R I I : E X C E L L E N C E – C H A M P I O N I N G T H E A R T S

LITERARY ARTS

C

A Chinese translation workshop

Kate Griffin, International Programme Director, BCLT, speaking to participants

featuring giant alphabet letters atsecret locations.

This campaign has boosted publicawareness of Singapore poetry. Themobile app acts as a bridge betweenplace and poetry, as well as memoryand technology, by enabling peopleto read poetry written by Singaporepoets based on where they are,anytime and anywhere on demand.At the same time, they wereencouraged to upload their ownworks. This easy access to poemsthrough an app, public exhibitionsand roadshows all over Singaporehas led to greater visibility andaccess to Singapore poetry.

Mentor Access Project (MAP) is a12-month mentorship programmeto groom emerging writers acrossEnglish, Chinese, Malay and Tamillanguages in the genres of prose,poetry, plays and creative non-fiction such as biographies, travelwriting, art criticism and personalessays. MAP provides emerging andyoung writers mentorshipopportunities with establishedpublished authors who offerconstructive, critical feedback.Following a review held in 2011,besides the opportunity toparticipate in dialogue sessions,workshops or public readings duringthe mentorship, participants will also

enjoy new components to MAP suchas the introduction of a short andstructured stay-in residency. Thisreplaces the looser format of ad-hoc master classes and talks ofprevious MAP cycles. At the end ofthe programme, the participants’manuscripts will be sent toconsultant literary agents andeditors for professional industryfeedback and the best works will bepublished in a chapbook. MAP 2014is managed by The Writers CentreSingapore.

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Poetry trail of Bras Basah led by Kirpal Singh

Singapore’s most anticipated literaryevent, the Singapore WritersFestival (SWF), did not disappointwith another riveting line-up ofnearly 200 Singapore andinternational writers. Held from31 October – 9 November 2014, the17th edition of the Festival featuredthe world’s literary talents such astravel writer and novelist PaulTheroux; leading figure in thefeminist movement, social critic andpolitical activist�Naomi Wolf; feministpoet and filmmaker LeenaManimekalai; science fiction andfantasy author Raymond E.Feist;�best-selling writer who waslong-listed for the Man Booker PrizeKaren Joy Fowler; the ‘father ofChinese suspense’ Mai Jia; Irishpoet�Paul Muldoon, winner of the2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; BarryLopez, often regarded as the mostimportant living writer on natureand human culture;�Americanjournalist, novelist and warcorrespondent William Vollmann; aswell as popular women’s fictionauthors Adele Parks and EvelynRose.

With “The Prospect of Beauty” asthe theme, the event featuredgenres like romance, song writingand the lyrical in literary fiction andpoetry. The festival also exploredthe philosophy of aesthetics, today’smulti-billion dollar beauty cultureand the anxieties modern societyfaces about the body. The themealso saw paeans to Mother Natureas well as critical debates on thevery real threats to biodiversity andthe environment today.

Lectures and panel topics rangedfrom the effect of the beautyindustry on the fourth wave offeminism to new models ofcapitalism that allow sustainablegrowth. A notable expansion fromthe 2013 programme was theincrease in family programming. Intotal, 50 events for children aged4 – 12 were conducted, up from 11events in 2013. In all, the SWFattracted 19,500 visitors.

This year, the Festival alsointroduced more experientialprogrammes inspired by the writtenword and beyond:

PoemJazz: Making Up Poetry,Improvising Music, a sold-outsession with three-time AmericanPoet Laureate Robert Pinsky, andSingapore-based musicians RickSmith and Christy Smith, saw poemsput to live music. Apart blendedtheatrical and poetic forms, drawingon the works of poets Cyril Wong,Pooja Nansi, Tania de Rozario,Joshua Ip and Jollin Tan. DramaturgJoel Tan also presented five talesthrough a series of interlockingmonologues, poetry readings andsongs. Creative writing workshop,Body/Language, engagedparticipants in picking apart gendernotions through poetry andculminated in a reading showcaseat the festival. Eye/Feel/Writepaired 10 eminent writers with worksfrom the Singapore Art Museum’sMedium At Large exhibition forinspiration to pen new poetry andfiction pieces. The project wasmanaged by Desmond Kon ofSquircle Press. The second half ofthe project, which takes place in2015, will be held in collaborationwith the National Gallery Singaporeand engage a new crop of writers.

Beyond the glossy, pretty things,SWF also delved into the extremeswith the fringe component, themed“truly, madly, deeply”, which wascurated by the SWF’s key programmepartner The Arts House. Featuringwriters who risk their lives in pursuitof truth, justice and freedom,audiences were treated to insightsfrom the likes of North Koreandefector Jang Jin-Sung and SpecialRepresentative for the Aegis Trustfor the prevention of crimes againsthumanity Mukesh Kapila (CBE). Inthe spirit of experiential programmes,the fringe also included an interactivemurder mystery production stagedwithin The Arts House. Titled BodyX, the production saw participantstry their hand at solving a murdermystery, Cluedo style, with liveaction thrown into the mix.

SWF continued to build upon itsseries of exclusive workshops ledby leading writers and industryexperts. This year, the eventintroduced its first Malay shortstories writing workshop conductedby Helvy Tiana Rosa, a pop-up bookworkshop for adults by French duoAnouck and Louis Boisrobert, anda workshop titled “Introduction toInteractive Digital Storytelling” byEmily Short and Alex Mitchell -opening up possibilities for authorsto create stories that adapt toreaders’ choices.

SWF boasts year-round events notonly to engage literature lovers butalso to generate publicity andinterest for the main Festival inNovember. For Utter 2014, SWFpartnered Sinema to adapt fourSingapore texts into short films:Homecoming by Gopal Baratham,Tin Kosong by Muhammad SalihinSulaiman; Peaks by KamaladeviAravindhan and Going Home by LinJin. These were correspondinglydirected by Wee Li-Lin, Sanif Olek,Don Aravind and Kenny Tan. Thefilms were launched at GV Vivocitywith two screenings due to populardemand from a sold-out first show.A comprehensive behind-the-scenesbook was also produced foreducational purposes and circulatedto film students. Post-event, theUtter 2014 films continue to beavailable online via Viddsee and onthe Sinema website.

Words Go Round (WGR), the schoolprogramme of the SWF, was heldin March 2015. WGR featured a mixof local and international writerssuch as Matt Dickinson (UK), RomainPuértolas (France), DeborahEmmanuel (Singapore) and JohnWong (Singapore). Based on thepositive reception in 2014, theinitiative continued to offerprogrammes at pre-primary level.A new focus on translation was alsointroduced as well as differentformats of programmes, such asspoken word performances. In all,WGR 2015 saw 95 participatingschools, an increase from 80 schoolsin the previous edition.

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SINGAPORE WRITERS FESTIVALTHE PROSPECT OF BEAUTY

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PERFORMING ARTS

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DanceOrganised by the NAC and co-presented by Frontier Danceland,SPROUTS is a national platformdesigned to uncover and developSingapore’s upcomingchoreographers, provide theopportunity for these emergingtalents to showcase their works andkick-start their professional careers.Unlike dance competitions centredon techniques and performancequalities, SPROUTS�celebrates theoriginality and creativity ofchoreographic concepts across allforms of dance.

The 6th edition kick-started with anopen call in February 2015 and willbe completed in September 2015.In total, 16 applications werereceived, and six have been selectedfor the Finals in September. Thefinalists will undergo a mentorshipprogramme and workshops fordance composition and lightingdesign. Through these initiatives, wehope to provide insight, guidanceand�refinement to theparticipants’�choreographyand�impart knowledge on essentialcomposition and choreographictechniques.

To establish safe dance practicesand improve injury treatmentservices for the dance community,NAC supported a pilot series ofDance Medicine workshops overthe course of the year. Theseprogrammes were a response to thedance and health needs raised bythe dance community during adance injury dialogue held in 2013.

The workshops aimed to bridge theunderstanding of dance injuriesbetween healthcare professionalsand the dance community, as wellas to raise awareness of dance safetyamong professional dancers, dancestudents and teachers. To develop

the content, NAC worked withDr Jason Chia, a Senior Consultantand Head of Sports Medicine andSurgery Clinic, from Tan Tock SengHospital.

The first workshop on 2 August 2014titled “Introduction to Basic DanceMovements for HealthcareProfessionals”, was attended by atotal of 36 physiotherapists anddoctors. Due to overwhelmingresponse, the programme was againconducted on 4 October 2014, andattended by 22 medical practitionersincluding podiatrists and sportstrainers. The second workshop“Managing Dance Injuries” was heldon 29 November 2014, and includeda tour of Tan Tock Seng Hospital’snewly opened Sports Medicine andSurgery Clinic. A total of 46members of the dance community,comprising professional dancers,dance instructors and dancestudents attended.

To serve as a central resource andinformation portal for all who areinterested in dance in Singapore,NAC supported i Dance Central,an emerging dance intermediary,to provide resources for thedance community through arevamped online portal previouslyknown as dansing.org.sg. Theredeveloped website,www.idance.sg, was launched inNovember 2014. The site hosts awide range of dance-relatedinformation for the dancecommunity as well as those whowould like to learn more aboutdance in Singapore. Apart frominformation and articles related tocareers and professionaldevelopment, some new featuresinclude a dance event calendar anda page dedicated to Dance andHealth where the dance communitycan consult healthcare professionalson dance injuries and accessresources.

From 15 – 16 March 2015, a Singapore delegation of dancers, artistic directors andvenue presenters attended Dance Massive in Melbourne, Australia, for the first time,as part of the dance festival’s International Visitors Programme

TheatreTo raise the public profile of this artform for young audiences aged 12and below, and to give recognitionto professionals who havedemonstrated dedication andexcellence in the field, NAC will bepartnering Singapore Press Holdings(SPH) to launch a new awardcategory - the ‘Best Production forthe Young’ Award. This wasannounced by NAC Chairman,Professor Chan Heng Chee at the15th M1-The Straits Times Life!Theatre Awards on 20 April 2015,and will be introduced in 2016.

Centre 42, Singapore’s dedicatedcentre for text-based works, wasofficially launched in July 2014 byMinister Lawrence Wong. A strikingblue presence on Waterloo Street,Centre 42 is committed to thecreation, documentation and

promotion of texts and writings forthe Singapore stage.

In the past year, the Centre has beenactively establishing relationshipswithin the theatre community, andhas launched a full suite ofprogrammes. Highlights include itssignature incubation programme,the Boiler Room. In its pilot run,three playwrights (Daniel Chan,Suzanne Choo, and Bryan Tan) andtheir ideas were selected via anOpen Call to undergo an 18-monthprocess of refinement andhothousing together with Centre 42and industry players. Centre 42 alsolaunched The Repository, workingtogether with arts companies andinstitutions to develop a digitalarchive of informational, visual andaudio artefacts from Singapore’stheatre history that will be madeaccessible to the public online and

at the premises at 42 WaterlooStreet itself.

Director’s Lab, a two-yearprogramme in theatre directing, wascompleted in March 2015. Thisparticipant-designed initiative washeld in partnership with TheSubstation, which oversaw andcoordinated the research,development, and mentorshipaspects of the programme for sixtheatre practitioners: AgnesChristina, Eng Kai Er, Patricia Toh,Tan Liting, Tan Shou Chen andTimothy Nga. Participants receivedguidance from mentors based locallyand in Southeast Asia with expertiseranging from subculture to classicaltexts. Finally, the participants weregiven opportunities to showcasetheir work through a series of work-in-progress showings and a finalproduction.

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Centre 42 was officially launched in July 2014

Traditional Arts / MusicOrganised by NAC, the triennialNational Indian Music Competition(NIMC) is the only establishedplatform recognising musicalexcellence in the Indian musiclandscape in Singapore. With its 8th

edition from 16 – 22 June 2014, thecompetition continues to be aunique way to identify promisingnew talent, raise musical standards,and provide budding youngmusicians with a platform to developtheir performing skills.

In recognition of the increase in thenumber of people and studentspracticing Hindustani Vocals inrecent years, NAC introduced a newcategory for it in the competition in2014.

Over 182 applications were receivedfor the eight Solo Section categories,including 25 entries in the newHindustani Vocal category, thehighest since the competitionstarted in 1998. We also saw ouryoungest-ever contestant at the ageof 7 years old.

To close the competition season, aseries of master classes wasconducted on 22 June 2014. Opento the public, these master classesare an exclusive opportunity forbudding musicians and enthusiastsalike to learn from internationallyrenowned practitioners in Indian

classical music. These well-regardedgurus were Chhote Rahimat Khan,R.S. Jayalakshmi, S. Sowmya, SikkilMala Chandrasekhar, SrimushnamV. Raja Rao and Sriram Parasuram.

The 9th National Chinese MusicCompetition (NCMC) was held from1–12 December 2014 at the Schoolof the Arts (SOTA) Concert Hall.This marks the third time that NAChas co-organised the biennial eventwith the Singapore ChineseOrchestra.

In this edition, the Ensemble sectionwas revised to encourage variousinstrumentation formats and musicalarrangements. The revision allowedfor more flexibility as ensembleswith 3 – 20 members could take partas compared to previousrequirements where the minimumnumber of members was is 12. As aresult, the competition attracted awide diversity of participatingensembles from string quartets tochamber orchestras.

Out of a total of 263 entries and 321participants, 65 young musiciansand four ensembles were awardedthe top three prizes in theirrespective categories. Thecompetition also included a Dialoguewith Adjudicators session andculminated in a Prize Winners’Concert and Prize PresentationCeremony on 14 December 2014 at

the Singapore Chinese OrchestraConcert Hall. Beyond thecompetition, we will continue tofeature prize winners in identifiedshowcase platforms and otherperformance opportunities.

In line with the capabilitydevelopment strategy of theTraditional Arts Plan, the MalayMusic Enrichment Course (MMEC)seeks to equip Traditional Malaymusic practitioners with criticalmusic skills. The course wasorganised by the Association ofMalay Singers, Composers &Professional Musicians(PERKAMUS).

Taking place from March to June2014, the second edition of thispopular course consisted of are-run of the 2012 course for newparticipants, and an expandedprogramme for existing participants,which included a practicalcomponent by Pak Ngah (alsoknown as Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Zain)from Malaysia.

Dr Tony Makarome from Yong SiewToh Conservatory of Music and DrGhouse Nasuruddin from UniversitiSains Malaysia were also instructorsfor the course.

The course ended with a showcaseat the Malay Heritage Centre on 6June 2014 and attracted an audienceof some 300 people.

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Participants in the NIMC

Participant in the NCMC

Visual ArtsSingapore Art Week 2015, a nine-day visual arts extravaganza from17 – 25 January 2015, featured aninternational art fair, blockbusterexhibitions, institution shows, galleryshows, public programmes andlifestyle events. The vision for theevent is to become a key fixture inthe calendars of international artcollectors, enthusiasts andbusinesses so as to further entrenchSingapore’s position as an artdestination for high-quality regionaland local art. It also serves toenhance the appreciation the publicand art enthusiasts have for a widearray of art experiences and services.

This year marked the third editionof a multi-agency effort, with NACdriving the campaign and workingclosely with the Singapore TourismBoard and the EconomicDevelopment Board to showcaseand promote Singapore artists,collectives, organisations, artinstitutions and spaces. Over 100events and programmes took place,resulting in a significant increase invisitorship to key art spaces andvenues. There were commercial andnon-commercial events, as well asinstitutional programmes thatcatered to a wide range of interestsand audiences, from seasoned artcollectors and enthusiastic museum-goers to families and youths.

This year, NAC also worked withnew partners and stakeholders suchas the National Library Board,National Parks Board, Singapore ArtMuseum, People’s Association,Institute of Contemporary ArtSingapore, National University ofSingapore Baba House, Arts HouseLimited, Westgate and Raffles City.There was also more participationfrom the arts community such asLASALLE College of the Arts,

Singapore Art Society, ArtOutreach, Sculpture Society,APAD, Objectifs, VerticalSubmarine and Theo Arts PR.

Following the Ministry ofCulture, Community andYouth’s announcement of itsplans to set up a Public ArtTrust (PAT) in March 2014,NAC held two consultation sessionswith members of the visual artscommunity and the public in Mayand June 2014. In these sessions,NAC shared the objectives of PATand what it would mean to thevarious stakeholders. This initiativewas warmly welcomed by thecommunity and NAC received goodfeedback and suggestions for theproject.

Concurrent to thesetting up of PAT,NAC launched anopen call forproposals from17 June - 17 August2014 tocommission threenew public artworks for theSG50 Jubilee

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Over 100 programmes took place during thenine days of Singapore Art Week 2015

Walk. NAC received 39 submissionsfor the three sites, of which threeproposals were shortlisted andcommissioned by an InterimAdvisory & Commissioning Panel,convened specifically to commissionPAT’s first public art commissions.

To oversee PAT’s strategic andartistic direction over the next twoyears, a ten-member panel wasappointed in January 2015, to ensurethat PAT’s efforts would be alignedwith its mission to commissionimpactful and meaningful public art,cultivate philanthropy, championbest practices, and develop visualliteracy.

Following a hiatus in 2013, NAC alsogeared up for Singapore’s return to

the Venice BiennaleInternational ArtExhibition in May 2015with a work titled SEASTATE by commissionedartist Charles Lim, andcurator Shabbir HussainMustafa. The duo wasunanimously selected bya Commissioning Panelafter a process of invitingproposals from selectedartists and curators. Forthe first time too, NACcommissioned the NTU

Centre for Contemporary Art toorganise a public conversation inVenice featuring a range ofSingapore and Southeast Asianartists and curators.

Singapore International Festivalof ArtsAfter a one-year hiatus in 2013, theinaugural Singapore InternationalFestival of Arts (SIFA), programmedby Arts House Limited (AHL) ranfrom 12 August - 21 September 2014and drew an audience of 22,000 forits ticketed and non-ticketed events.This figure includes the 8,500 peoplewho attended its pre-festival eventO.P.E.N (Open, Participate, Enrich,Negotiate). The main festival, whichconsisted of 12 productions, sawfour sold-out shows (“Oedipus”,“Sambaso”, “Peter Pan”, and “Amidthe Clouds”) with sales for ticketedevents hitting 86 per cent of totalinventory. Media coverage of thefestival was positive, with manypointing to a “leaner, meaner, morefocused” festival under FestivalDirector Ong Keng Sen’s direction.SIFA also adopted an innovativeapproach to outreach throughO.P.E.N, opting for ticketed filmscreenings, discussions, and somelive performances closely related tothe themes explored in the mainfestival. The audience appreciatedthe high quality of the productionsand diverse programme offerings.This is in line with the festival’spurpose, as recommended by theSingapore Arts Festival ReviewCommittee in January 2013.

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R E S I D E N C I E S

ITALYTHEATRE RESIDENCY - LA MAMA UMBRIA

Since 2009, NAC has partnered La Mama UmbriaInternational to provide Singapore artists withintensive training helmed by internationallyacclaimed theatre artists. The 2014 residencyhad a strong community focus, and was attendedby artists Elaine Foo and Jean Ng.

BERLINVISUAL ARTS – KÜNSTLERHAUS BETHANIEN

As part of an ongoing partnership with the KünstlerhausBethanien (KB) in Berlin, NAC provided an opportunity for ourVisual Artist Choy Ka Fai to participate in the prestigious 2014- 2015 International Artist-in-Residence programme in Berlinfrom June 2014 to May 2015. Positioned as a launch pad formore established practitioners, the dynamic network in Berlinfor artists, curators and cultural producers provided Ka Faiwith numerous opportunities for international exposure, audiencedevelopment and international networking. The programmealso enabled him to incubate ideas, share and discuss researchfor knowledge production, and creation of new works for theannual residency exhibition.

PARISVISUAL ARTS – DENA FOUNDATION’S INTERNATIONALARTIST AND CURATOR-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAMME

The Dena Foundation’s International Artist and Curator-in-Residence programme is a three-month residency for emergingartists and curators. The residency includes a studio-basedprogramme, and guided visits to exhibitions and art spaces inParis, representing an opportunity to explore a historically richand vibrant cultural scene.

From September to December 2014, two emerging artists LukeHeng, Stephanie Jane Burt, and curator Jane Koh, participatedin the residency programme. The programme provided studiosand strong curatorial, technical, and marketing support to ourartists. This allowed them to develop new research and knowledgeproduction and created new works, which were displayed aspart of a concluding exhibition.

Separately, Jane Koh had the opportunity to intern at the LaMaison Rouge, a contemporary art institution known for itscuration of contemporary art with a focus on drawing fromprivate art collections. The internship was instrumental in impartingvaluable skills, knowledge, and deep exposure to the dynamicsof exhibition management, and working with collectors. Overall,the residency allowed our curator to further develop her curatorialpractice and form international connections with artists, curators,and cultural professionals.

BERLIN

FRANCE

ITALY

UNITED STATESOF AMERICA

FRANCE/SINGAPORELITERARY ARTS – SINGAPORE-FRANCE WRITING RESIDENCY

Under the Singapore-France Co-operation Project in 2014, NAClaunched the Singapore-FranceWriting Residency, a bilateralresidency programme with theBordeaux arts and cultural agency,ECLA Aquitaine. Dr Chua Chee Laywas the first Singapore writer toparticipate in the residency, where heworked on two manuscripts from 3March to 14 April 2015. During hisresidency, he also participated in theSalon du Livre de Paris and aconference for students of theUniversité Bordeaux-Montaigne’sdepartment of Chinese studies. Apartfrom the residency, the 2014Singapore Writers Festival featuredtwo French artists, pop-up bookartists Anouch Boisrobert and LouisRigaud. Through the festival, theyintroduced writing about nature tochildren and also conducted twoworkshops on creating pop-up booksfor adults and children.

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NAC’s continued support of Singaporewriters’ participation in these outboundresidencies provides them with theopportunity to increase their skills base,broaden their cultural perspectives,facilitate international exchanges andheighten their international profile.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICAIOWA WRITING PROGRAMMERESIDENCY

The University of Iowa offers one of thelargest and highest-ranked annual creativewriting programmes in America, andattracts many international writers ofdiverse backgrounds to its long-standingannual International Writing Programme.

In 2011, NAC partnered with the Universityof Iowa to offer a fully-paid three-monthresidency to one Singaporean author toattend the prestigious Iowa Programme.In 2014, writer and literary editor Yeow KaiChai was selected to attend the FallResidency, held between 23 August and11 November.

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SOUTHKOREA

SOUTH KOREALITERARY ARTS - TOJI RESIDENCY

NAC’s partnership with Toji CulturalFoundation provides residential facilitiesand a quiet environment for writers towork in and focus on their craft.

In 2014, Tan Mei Ching, David Leo andLew Kow Fong (pen name Ah Guo)attended the Toji Residency. During thecourse of the programme, each writerworked on the creation of a collectionof short stories, a novel, as well as anillustrated journal and picturebook foradult readers respectively.

SINGAPORELITERARY ARTS - WRITER-IN-THE-GARDENS RESIDENCY 2014-15

The Writer-in-the-Gardens Residency is a six-month residency programme that aims to provide an inspirational space for Singapore writersto develop original works as well as to raise the profile of Singapore writers / writing. Up to two writers are selected per garden and theresidencies are open to Singapore writers who work in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

Four writers were selected to participate in the 2014-2015 gardens residencies: Tan Mei Ching; Marc Nair; Madeleine Lee; and Daryl Li Zhenhong.The former two were attached to Gardens by the Bay while the latter two were attached to Singapore Botanic Gardens.

The appointed writers who participated in the first round from November 2014 to April 2015, Tan Mei Ching and Madeleine Lee, indicatedthat the residency was useful for them and provided them with inspiration to draw on for their writing. Tan Mei Ching is currently workingon a work of fiction targeted at adults and young adults, while Madeleine Lee has composed several poems during the course of the residency.

Marc Nair is also working on a collection of poetry and Daryl Li Zhenhong on a novel-length work of creative non-fiction.

This is the second year that NAC is funding writers through the Gardens Residencies; both emerging and established writers working in arange of forms and genres continue to receive NAC’s support in the creation of new works.

Previous writer-in-residence, Desmond Kon, won the Best Visionary Fiction award at the Beverly Hills International Book Award, for his novelSingular Acts of Endearment, that was developed while in residence at the Gardens by the Bay.

SINGAPORELITERARY ARTS - NUS MALAY RESIDENCY

In 2014, NAC developed the inaugural Malay Creative WritingResidency in partnership with National University of Singapore(NUS) to address the lack of sustained and formal tertiary creativewriting programmes, especially in the vernacular languages. Theinitiative is also supported by The Lee Foundation, The ShawFoundation, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) and Mendaki.

The residency is open for national and regional writers with arecord of creative excellence to contribute to teaching andmentorship, while working on their own literary projects.

To generate a new pipeline of creative writing talents, theprogramme requires each appointed writer teach creative writingat NUS, deliver a public lecture, conduct a seminar, and delivera lecture for students of literature at National Institute of Education.

Professor Zakaria Ali, a Malaysian writer, poet and art scholar,was appointed as the first writer-in-residence. The lectures werewell-received by both students and the public, and enhancedthe literary and academic discourse within the NUS MalayDepartment while facilitating their educational outreach in thecommunity. During the course of the semester, he also producedseveral short stories and oil paintings.

Singaporean writer and poet Suratman Markasan was selectedas the writer-in-residence for the second semester.

SINGAPORELITERARY ARTS - NTU ENGLISH AND CHINESERESIDENCIES

The NAC-NTU (Nanyang Technological University,Singapore) Creative Writing Residency Programme ispart of NAC’s efforts enhance the quality academicprogrammes in Singapore that are geared towardsdeveloping the next generation of Singaporean writers.It also provides a structured programme and supportingresources for appointed Singapore and InternationalWriters-in-Residence to hone their writing skills anddevelop new works.

In 2014, NAC entered the second phase of its three-yearpartnership with the NTU English Department. NTUengaged 3 international writers for academic year 2014-15: Miguel Syjuco and Geroge Szirtes for the first semesterand Githa Harirayan for the second semester.

2014 also marked the third year of NAC’s partnership withthe NTU Chinese Department. Singaporean writer Chia JooMing and Chinese writer Su Tong were invited for the firstand second semester respectively. Local writer Wong KoiTet was also selected as a writer-in-residence for 2015.

Besides teaching the creative writing classes, the writers were also involved in publicprogrammes, including public lectures within campus and at The Arts House. MiguelSyjuco, Geroge Szirtes and Su Tong were all Featured Speakers at the SingaporeWriters Festival 2014.

As the Creative Writing Residency continues to provide support for the creationof new literary works, facilitate exchanges between Singapore and internationalwriters, and engage with the wider community in Singapore, the visibility andstanding of the creative writing programme as well as Singaporean writers involvedin the programme has increased. Feedback obtained also attest to the fact that theresidency has had a significant positive impact on the students as the presence ofestablished writers contributed to nurturing of creative writing skills as well as avibrant literary scene in the university.

JAPAN

SINGAPORE

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JAPANTHEATRE RESIDENCY - SCOT

We continued to partner the SuzukiCompany of Toga (SCOT), from which theSuzuki Method of Actor Training originated,to host Singapore artists at their annualSummer Residency Programme in Toga,Japan. This year, we supported two artists(Neo Hai Bin and Doreen Toh) to attendthis residency, where they were trained inthe Suzuki method, observed rehearsalsby the SCOT company, and watched theSCOT Summer Season featuring variousinternational productions.