Arts Creation fund seeds first 20 projects

National Arts Council, 29 July 2009,Singapore

Twenty new projects will be the first beneficiaries of Arts Creation Fund (ACF), a Renaissance City Plan III initiative launched by the National Arts Council (NAC) in November 2008. Ranging from theatre productions to Chinese fiction novels, the nature of the projects span across performing, visual and literary arts genres to form a diverse palate of artistic endeavours primed to veer into new frontiers and challenge boundaries of art-making.

Said Mr Lee Suan Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, NAC, "We are very happy with the quality and diversity of the proposals. They will certainly enrich the current body of home-grown works. It is important that our artists continue to experiment and create more original works. The ACF will enable our artists to develop their new ideas, incubate their new artworks and achieve new heights in their artistic development."   

Approximately S$759,000 will be disbursed as seed funding. Of the 20 beneficiaries, six are performing arts productions and five are visual arts projects, with the rest of the literary genre. Proposals were received from artists at different stages of artistic development, from established artists such as theatre director Kuo Jian Hong, Chinese opera playwright Leslie Wong and visual artist Heman Chong, to emergent artists like first-time writers Nanny Eliana Ismail and Adele Wong. These proposals were evaluated on the strength of their artistic merit, their potential to contribute to the legacy of the local arts scene, and the applicants’ demonstration of good project management. The proposed projects also bear distinctive characteristics of Singaporean identity, reflecting its multi-cultural and Asian context.

Avid theatre goers will be able to look forward to groundbreaking music and theatre productions from Joyce Beetuan Koh, and Jean Tay, while fans of the traditional arts can enjoy the staging of Chinese Huangmei opera epic Plague Fighter Dr Wu Lien Teh by Dr Chua Soo Pong. Award-winning local artists Zhao Renhui, Ho Tzu Nyen and Heman Chong will be conceiving multi-disciplinary works, and photography buffs can anticipate innovative concepts from photographer Tay Wei Leng. Veteran writers such as Alvin Pang and Felix Cheong amongst others will be penning novels, poems and short stories to add to Singapore’s English literary scene, while Chinese fiction authors Lee Chee Keng and Lee Seng Chan will also be producing works.

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