A Cultural History of the Singapore Arts Festival, 1959 to 2012
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Designing Culture, Policies and Festivals: A Cultural History of the Singapore Arts Festival, 1959 to 2012 VENKATESWARA PURUSHOTHAMAN ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0861-3824 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY July 2017 Screen & Cultural Studies School of Culture and Communication Faculty of Arts The University of Melbourne Abstract This thesis studies the culture and cultural policies of postcolonial Singapore to chart the cultural history of the Singapore Arts Festival from 1959 to 2012. The study undertakes a detailed examination of the production of culture and contextualises the morphing cultural landscape that informs the Singapore Arts Festival. This thesis is in two parts. Part One sets out the historical contexts and conditions that inform the nature and direction of the Singapore Arts Festival. It studies the design of culture built around multiculturalism, Asian Values and Shared Values and shows how dynamic and pragmatic cultural policies weave these ideas into economic and cultural development in Singapore. The thesis sketches the role of arts in nation-building in the late 20th century and how the role metamorphoses to support economic imperatives of the 21st century. This sets the backdrop for the study of the Singapore Arts Festival. Part Two maps the cultural history of the Singapore Arts Festival through the study of all documented arts festivals from 1959 to 2012. The thesis shows how the Singapore Arts Festival harnessed artistic communities, inspired audiences, developed new platforms for the arts and became an artistic creator and arbiter of cutting-edge performances and productions for a global arts market. The thesis will show how over the decades while adhering to cultural and policy imperatives, it has evolved to present a unique set of programmes that have bonded multicultural communities, re- imagined Asia and served as a laboratory for the arts. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the study of postcolonial Singapore, which is mere fifty-two years, articulating its transformation from a colonial trading post into a global city and a renaissance city for the 2 arts. This thesis will serve as a cultural history and archive of the transformation of an otherwise imagined city-state. 3 Declaration This is to certify that: i. the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated in the Preface, ii. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used, iii. the thesis is fewer than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Venkateswara Purushothaman Student ID: 126822 July 2017 4 Preface This thesis is informed by my work and research in arts, cultural policies and arts festivals in Singapore. My research during my candidature coincided with the National Arts Council's (NAC) desire to commemorate the Singapore Arts Festival from 1977 to 2007. They afforded me with research funding, facilitated access to archives, connected me to individuals with first-hand festival experience and commissioned me to publish my primary research. I am deeply grateful to the NAC. An early version of my research was published by the NAC in a commemorative festival monograph, Making Visible the Invisible: Three Decades of the Singapore Arts Festival (2007). Published during my candidature, the work is entirely my own. Part Two of this thesis, in particular, is a reworked version of this material. I am grateful to the NAC for its permission. I thank the National University of Singapore’s Centre for the Arts for giving me an opportunity to present my research in January 2017 at the NUS Arts Festival’s inaugural public forum Critical Conversations: Looking to the Past for the Future, Arts Festivals in Context. Research funding from Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore enabled me to complete the research for which I am greatly indebted. Research residencies, in recent years, at Goldsmiths College, University of London and Trinity College, Dublin, enabled me to reflect and research on the larger enterprise of cultural policies. I am most thankful to my hosts. 5 Acknowledgements This thesis is borne by my work as an arts writer, arts and cultural manager and arts educator in Singapore. I have had the privilege of working with numerous individuals critical to the shape of culture and arts festivals in Singapore today. In a way, I have been there through Singapore’s journey in arts and cultural development from the early 1990s. My interest in festivals was sparked by a rare opportunity to be an artist liaison to the world-renowned mime artist, Marcel Marceau during the 1994 Singapore Arts Festival. I spent considerable time looking after him. Our conversations were magical and inspirational. I learned about the world through his art, his friendship with French intellectuals, his love for his audience and fans and his frustrations with the media. Till today, I cherish that moment of being able to see the festival through the lens of an incredible artist. This thesis would not be possible without the inspiring insights gained from conversations I have had with various artists, civil servants, policymakers and festival workers from Singapore and around the world who were deeply involved in the Arts Festival at different points in time. The list is too long to enumerate but I would like to thank especially Ms Goh Ching Lee and Professor Bernard Tan. My PhD research into the arts and culture was seeded through a casual but inspiring conversation with Professor Simon During at the University of Melbourne in the late 1990s when I was working as a management trainee at the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia. That followed suit with an intense study and contextualisation of the arts in Singapore. 6 I must sincerely thank my supervisor Professor Audrey Yue at the University of Melbourne for her guidance, patience and endurance in seeing me through this. Her avowed belief in my research kept me vigilant in completing it. I also thank Professor Fran Martin for her insightful feedback in the final stages of the thesis. I thank Dr Bernard Platzdasch and Ms Yvonne Choo for their feedback and comments at various stages of this thesis. Finally, this thesis is dedicated to Aiyah and Moi. 7 Designing Culture, Policies and Festivals: A Cultural History of the Singapore Arts Festival, 1959 to 2012 8 Contents Abstract 2 Declaration 4 Preface 5 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction 13 1.2 Purpose of Study: Singapore Arts Festival from 1959 to 2012 14 1.3 Literature Review: Arts Development in Context 17 1.3.1 Understanding Socio-Political Context 20 1.4 Methodology and Challenges 33 1.5 Understanding Festivals 40 1.5.1 The Concept of the Festival 42 1.5.2 The Cultural-Anthropological View 44 1.5.3 Migratory Movement, Tourism and Globalisation 50 1.5.4 Festivals as Management Systems 54 1.6 Chapter Outline 62 PART ONE: SINGAPORE: CULTURAL CONTEXT Chapter Two: Designing Culture and Policy for a Global City 2.1 Introduction 65 2.2 Understanding Culture 68 9 2.3 Designing Culture for a Global City 72 2.3.1 Multiculturalism 85 2.3.2 Asian Values 93 2.3.3 Shared Values 99 2.4 Conclusion 104 Chapter Three: Culture and Policy in a Renaissance City 3.1 Introduction 105 3.2 Understanding Cultural Policy 106 3.3 Buildings as Culture: The ACCA Report, 1989 121 3.4 The Renaissance Nation: The Renaissance City Report, 2000 137 3.5 The Creative Economy 149 3.5.1 Understanding the Creative Industries 152 3.5.2 Creative Singapore 168 3.5.3 Fields for Creative Practice 177 3.6 Conclusion 205 PART TWO: THE SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL AND THE PRODUCTION OF CULTURE Chapter Four: The Emerging Years: 1950s to 1980s 4.1 Introduction 208 4.2 Arts in a Newly-Emerging Nation: 1950s and 1960s 209 4.2.1 Singapore Arts Festival 1959 211 4.2.2 Southeast Asia Cultural Festival 1963 217 4.3 Arts in an Independent Singapore: 1970s 219 10 4.3.1 Arts Festivals as Private, Public and People Enterprise 222 4.4 The People’s Festival: 1980s 226 4.4.1 Internationalism and Bringing the World to Singapore 229 4.5 Conclusion 245 Chapter Five: The Arts Festival in a Global City: 1990s 5.1 Introduction 246 5.2 Arts in a Global City: 1990s 248 5.2.1 Fringe Acts & Arts Activism 259 5.2.2 Urban Vibrancy through the Arts Festival 264 5.2.3 Festival of Asian Performing Arts 272 5.3 Conclusion 276 Chapter Six: New Inspiration for a 21st Century Renaissance City 6.1 Introduction 278 6.2 The Arts Festival in a New Creative Economy: 2000-2009 279 6.2.1 Taking Risks 289 6.3 ACSR Report 2012 and Communitarian Ideals: 303 Arts Festival 2010-2012 6.4 Conclusion 310 Chapter Seven: The Arts Festival as Business 7.1 Introduction 312 7.2 The Business of Managing the Arts Festival 313 11 7.3 Global Challenges 319 7.4 Understanding Audiences 322 7.4.1 The Media as Audience 329 7.4.2 The Sponsor as Audience 333 7.5 Conclusion 338 Chapter Eight: Conclusion 340 References 347 12 Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Located in a complex and diverse contemporary Asia, the city-state of Singapore annually conjures an imagining of the world through the prism of the Singapore Arts Festival (Arts Festival henceforth). The Arts Festival, which has been running for several decades, serves as a means to shape culture and influence cultural expression in postcolonial Singapore. A key player in the global festival market, the Arts Festival celebrates the best of the artistic and aesthetic in the performing arts in Singapore and to date remains an event of national enjoyment.