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29-719: The Singapore Writers Festival is a literary event organised by the National Arts Council . Inaugurated in 1986, the festival serves a dual function of promoting new and emerging Singaporean and Asian writing to an international audience, as well as presenting foreign writers to Singaporeans. SWF has hosted Singaporean writers Meira Chand , Cyril Wong , Suchen Christine Lim and You Jin , as well as international writers such as Steven Levitt , Michael Chabon , Neil Gaiman , Bi Feiyu , David Mitchell , Bei Dao , F. Sionil Jose , Taichi Yamada , Andrew Motion , Alexis Wright and Marc Smith . To date, it remains one of

58-671: A lawyer which was not possible as a lawyer would have required half of the budget given. The proposed work had intended to interview 5 individuals who have been active in the arts scene in Singapore and the video recording would be presented as a 5-hour long screening during the Singapore Biennale 2006. The work was not completed and not presented at the Biennale. In 2007, the NAC removed artist-writer Jason Wee 's essay, "Raising

87-563: A new guideline was introduced in 2007 where only unpublished writers are eligible for the competition. This is also to differentiate SPH-NAC GPA from other literary prizes which focus on published works. While the new rule sparked some debate and attracted due attention, the result was an overall increase in both the number of participants and entries for the competition. Since 1997, the First Prize winners of SPH-NAC GPA have received an Enrichment Grant of up to S$ 6,000. This aim of this grant

116-567: A one-woman show about an Indian Muslim woman's divorce, which had already been staged twice. They suggested that Agni Kootthu arrange a preview of the play for selected persons so that their recommendations would help the Public Entertainment Licence Unit (PELU) of the Singapore Police Force to decide on the licence application. When PELU refused to grant a licence, the NAC supported the staging of

145-450: A queer-themed art performance to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Arts (NTU CCA) Singapore. The article was originally published with the headline, "LGBTQ-themed arts performances in public spaces in line with the times: National Arts Council Chief" but later amended to "LGBTQ-themed arts performances in public spaces in line with the times, says arts community" after being accused by

174-512: A study on a refuse collection centre for Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall in 2016, when the eventual bin centre cost $ 470,000 to build. National Development Minister Lawrence Wong argued that an extensive study had to be done due to the location of the bin centre within the Civic District and that the project was "delivered satisfactorily and at an acceptable cost". In September 2023, Today published an article reporting on

203-580: Is made up of the following departments: Education and Development, Engagement and Participation, Strategic Planning and International Relations, Research, Sector Development and Precinct Development. They are supported by the Communications & Marketing, Information Technology, Human Resource & Administration and Finance departments. The current chairman for the NAC is Ms Goh Swee Chen. The NAC provides funding infrastructure for Singapore's arts community. Each year, through its grants framework,

232-539: Is to provide writers with sufficient funds to participate in writing seminars, workshops, literature festivals overseas, or to publish their first solo publication. National Arts Council (Singapore) In 1989, the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong , produced a report assessing the status of various aspects of arts in Singapore. The report would form

261-490: The Singapore Biennale , organised by the NAC. This censorship was committed without any consultation with or notification of the artist. In May 2015, it withdrew $ 8,000 worth of funding after it deemed that the best-selling graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew , which it had previously read in full in draft form and approved of, had "sensitive content" and the potential to "undermine

290-471: The Arts Awards, and Silver Arts. The NAC organises and supports a range of nationwide and international events to grow and showcase Singapore's artistic talents: After artist Josef Ng 's 1994 performance Brother Cane , in which he bared his buttocks and trimmed his pubic hair to protest media coverage of an anti-gay operation in 1992, for the years 1994 to 2004, the NAC withdrew funding support for

319-555: The Empress Place Civic District. Since November 2019, the festival has been led by poet Pooja Nansi , who was also Singapore's first Youth Poet Ambassador. The Golden Point Award (GPA) started in 1993 and has been organised in conjunction with SWF by the National Arts Council of Singapore. With official sponsorship from SPH and Singapore Press Holdings Foundation in 2009 and 2011, the award

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348-473: The Festival of Arts as recognition and awareness for literary arts in Singapore grew. The festival was held biannually. The festival has traditionally been organised by the National Arts Council (NAC). However, since 2007, NAC has been working with Arts House Limited, to co-organise the festival. SWF 2007 attracted more than 21,000 attendees. In 2010, Singaporean poet Paul Tan became the first director of

377-456: The NAC aims to develop new and existing arts organisations, encourage production of, presentation of and participation in the arts, as well as provide training, research & development for market and audience development needs, both locally and internationally. NAC provides artists and arts groups with accessible performing venues for their productions, and to sustainable platforms where artists can collaborate with each other and interact with

406-434: The NAC declined to fund Drama Box's re-staging of the same play. In 2002, the NAC demanded that lines from Alfian Sa'at 's play Causeway , staged by Teater Ekamatra , be removed due to its supposed incitement of cross-strait and racial tensions. In 2003, the NAC withdrew its funding of the journal FOCAS: Focus on Contemporary Art and Society Vol. 5: Second FRONT three days before it went to print. The suspected reason

435-515: The NAC for misreporting comments made by Chief Low Eng Teong. Several back-to-back statements were released from both parties. National Heritage Board (Singapore) The National Heritage Board ( NHB ) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of the Government of Singapore . It was formed on 1 August 1993. The National Heritage Board operates

464-535: The NAC revoked its publishing grant for playwright Chong Tze Chien 's book Four Plays as it included the controversial play Charged . In late 2011, following a private preview, the Singapore Art Museum removed Japanese-British artist Simon Fujiwara ’s work, Welcome to the Hotel Munber (2010), which featured homoerotic content, despite appropriate advisory notices put up by the museum and

493-550: The Subject", from the catalogue for "Raised", an art festival that was part of the Singapore Art Show 2007 which thematically focused on migrant labor, reportedly because it included references to Operation Spectrum . In May 2010, the NAC cut the annual grant given to local theatre company W!LD RICE . It got $ 170,000, down from $ 190,000 the year before. It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from

522-455: The authority and legitimacy of the government". This led to a heated debate between artists and the council. From November to December 2015, NAC was involved in a fracas with local artists and academics after its CEO Kathy Lai and Chairman Chan Heng Chee argued for the need for and defended NAC's use of censorship. This prompted calls to boycott the NAC. The NAC has also drawn criticisms for paying $ 410,000 in consultancy fees to undertake

551-588: The blueprint for cultural policy in Singapore, and led to the establishment of the National Arts Council and National Heritage Board to spearhead the development of arts in Singapore. In 1991, the National Arts Council (NAC) was formed from the amalgamation of the Singapore Cultural Foundation, Cultural Division of Ministry of Community Development, Festival of Arts Secretariat and the National Theatre Trust. The NAC

580-432: The council. Artistic director Ivan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted so-called "alternative lifestyles", were critical of government policies, and satirised political leaders. Veteran theatre company TheatreWorks also had its funding cut, from $ 310,000 to $ 280,000. Its artistic director Ong Keng Sen was told that the company had to have more "local presence". In early 2011,

609-627: The festival and SWF became an annual event from 2011 onwards. SWF 2011 attracted more than 50,000 attendees. In July 2014, writer Ovidia Yu resigned from the festival's steering committee in protest against the National Library Board 's move to pulp children's picturebooks with homosexual themes. NLB is a programme partner of the festival. From November 2015 to November 2018, the festival has been helmed by poet Yeow Kai Chai , who takes over from director Paul Tan. The festival also returned to The Arts House and held its activities in

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638-592: The few literary festivals in the world that is multi-lingual, celebrating works in Singapore’s official languages – English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. In 1986, Singapore Writers’ Week started as part of the Singapore Festival of Arts that focuses on the merit of the literary arts. In 1991, the Singapore Writers’ Week was renamed as Singapore Writers Festival and was also presented outside

667-627: The following national museums and heritage institutions. The Museum Roundtable is an initiative led by NHB since 1996. There are more than 50 members for this initiative, consisting of public and private museums, heritage galleries and attractions in Singapore such as the Singapore Art Museum , the National Museum of Singapore , the Asian Civilisations Museum , the Science Centre Singapore and

696-461: The play subject to some changes being made. Agni Kootthu instead decided to hold an invitation-only rehearsal to document the play at the Drama Centre, which it had booked beforehand. NAC, as the Drama Centre's landlord, decided to close the Drama Centre on those days, resulting in a four-hour standoff when S. Thenmoli, president of Agni Kootthu, arrived. The then-Executive Director of NAC called

725-418: The police and Thenmoli was arrested for alleged trespassing. In the same year, the NAC withdrew funding of $ 8,000 from theatre group Drama Box 's staging of The VaginaLogue , a one-woman show by Li Xie , because the group's artistic director Kok Heng Leun declined to take down a projected image of a vagina that was used as a backdrop. As a result, the group lost money on the production. Three years later,

754-492: The scriptless art forms of performance art as well as forum theatre. Condemning the expressions by both Ng and fellow performer Shannon Tham, who had vomited into a bucket as part of his act, the NAC stated: "By no stretch of the imagination can such acts be construed and condoned as art." Ng and Tham were consequently banned by the NAC from ever performing in Singapore again. In 2000, the NAC objected to theatre group Agni Kootthu 's planned staging of Elangovan 's play Talaq ,

783-510: The wider public. The NAC also organises large scale festivals, providing a platform on an international scale to host artists' collaborations and interaction, concurrently engaging the public. The NAC is the sole organiser for Singapore Art Week. The NAC works with other agencies to bring arts to the wider public. Through initiatives such as Arts & Disability Forum, Arts In Your Neighbourhood, Art Reach, National Arts Council - Arts Education Programme (NAC-AEP), Noise Singapore, Patron of

812-514: Was given the additional title of the SPH-NAC Golden Point Award. It is the only national literary writing competition for poetry and short story in Singapore which promotes the art of creative writing in all four languages (English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil). Many past winners are now well-established writers (e.g. Alfian Sa'at , Cyril Wong , Claire Tham, Anuar Othman). In its aim to uncover new writing talent in Singapore,

841-468: Was playwright-poet Alfian Sa'at 's essays, “The Racist’s Apology”, about being an indigenous Malay in Singapore, and one on NAC's censorship in previous issues of the journal. In 2006, the NAC informed an unnamed artist invited to the Singapore Biennale that he would need a lawyer for his project, and that he would be held responsible if anything should go wrong in the project. He was also told that he would not receive further support unless he had engaged

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