Why people are at the heart of Our SG Arts Plan (2023 - 2027)

The following is a foreword by National Arts Council Chairman Ms Swee Chen Goh and CE Mr Eng Teong LOW , featured in Our SG Arts Plan (2023 - 2027), a strategic roadmap guiding Singapore’s arts and culture policies over the next five years. Read the full plan at go.gov.sg/OurSGArtsPlan.

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At the heart of Our SG Arts Plan (2023 - 2027) is the people. The process of creating this plan reflects the focus on inclusivity. The plan is the result of over a year of conversations with more than 16,500 stakeholders from the arts and culture sector, partners in the public and private sectors, as well as members of the public. We consulted artists, leaders of cultural organisations, public and private sector partners, seeking to understand their aspirations for arts development in Singapore, and their views on how the arts could play a part in the society, economy and our everyday lives.

Several important questions arose from these conversations: What must we do to sustain the arts ecosystem and nurture artistic excellence? How can technology better support artists and spur new business models to broaden the reach to diverse audiences, sustain appreciation, and increase access to the arts regardless of background and abilities? How do we pave new pathways to encourage more people to pursue a career in the arts and adjacent sectors? In today’s increasingly polarised environment, how do we draw on the arts to express ourselves, carve safe spaces for conversations and strengthen bonds among people?

The first step in the development of the arts plan involved exploring possible responses to these questions. We believe that the time and effort we invested to gather different perspectives helped to create a robust arts plan that is well poised to deliver an exciting arts agenda for the next five years.

Our SG Arts Plan (2018 - 2022) focused on supporting the integral role of the arts to inspire our people, connect our communities and position Singapore on a global front. Some of these initiatives have already begun to bear fruit and helped the sector to gain some ground against external pressures such as economic uncertainties, rapid technological advancements, and the wave of changes in the way we live and work post-pandemic. Other initiatives advanced the good work done by past cultural policies and strategies.

Drawing on the work done in the past five years and the feedback from the engagement sessions, Our SG Arts Plan (2023 - 2027) will be built on the following three ambitions:

1. A Connected Society

We want to build a tight-knit Singapore community anchored by our shared arts and culture. This will be achieved by embedding arts in key life areas such as education, leisure, and well-being across ages. For example, we aim to deepen engagements with schools so that more students can experience our art galleries and performances from an early age. We also hope to spur more giving to the arts from private donors and corporations.

2. A Distinctive City

We envision Singapore as a creative city filled with vibrant spaces for and inspired by the arts. To enable creativity to flourish across different points in the city, we will ramp up our efforts to work with other government agencies and industry partners to unlock physical and virtual spaces to support arts creation and presentation and connect with audiences.

3. A Creative Economy

We will focus on helping our artistic talent develop capabilities to drive excellence and innovation, as well as work on providing pathways for career progression, skills development and acquisition, and career mobility. We will also explore new business models to increase employment opportunities, monetise creative assets and grow international demand.

The efforts under this plan will be underpinned using data and insights, technology and innovation, and driven by forging strategic partnerships to expand the playing field for the arts.

Our SG Arts Plan (2023 - 2027) seeks to address pressing challenges, pave the way for professionals to build a viable career in the arts and enable audiences to enjoy and be inspired by the arts. We see this masterplan as a living cultural policy document, evolving as the needs of the arts community change, as new partners in the public and private sectors come onboard, and as we learn novel ways to engage audiences.

The arts are an essential part of human experience. They convey our story, what we stand for and our hopes for the future. Collective effort and support will bring about new peaks in creativity, excellence, and dynamism in the arts, making Singapore a creative city that inspires both citizens and visitors alike.