Image: Chen Wen Hsi, Dance, 1954, Oil on canvas, 154 x 200 cm, Gift of the artist.
Speakers:
Alvin Tan, Founder and Artistic Director, The Necessary Stage
Goh Ching Lee, Executive and Artistic Director, CultureLink
Mary Loh, Head, Talent Development and Programming, NUS Centre For the Arts
Moderated by Chang Yueh Siang, Curator, NUS Museum
The NUS Museum presents a panel discussion about the Arts Festivals in Singapore and how they have contributed to and affected the development of the local art scene, as well as the shaping of social and cultural identities. Beginning with the 1955 Arts Festival put together by Michael Sullivan and the Chinese School Students’ “arts festivals” movement of the 1950s, the topics of discussion will touch on the historical, cultural, and political contexts of arts festivals in their time, up to the present.
This panel discussion is organised under the Museum’s Foundations series, which was conceived in relation to the current permanent exhibition, Between Here and Nanyang: Marco Hsu’s Brief History of Malayan Art. The series aims to contextualise art and artistic practices against the backdrop of nation-building and independence in the period of Merger between Singapore and Malaya. Drawing on the content of the book that the exhibition was based on, A Brief History of Malayan Art by Marco Hsu, the series features talks, panel discussions, film screenings and walking tours to facilitate various formats of knowledge enquiry and production.
