Durham E-Theses The formation of identities and art museum education: the Singapore case Leong, Wai Yee Jane How to cite: Leong, Wai Yee Jane (2009) The formation of identities and art museum education: the Singapore case, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1347/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ano Iq/Durham uºYivet"sity The Formation of Identities and Art Museum Education: The Singapore Case The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. Leong Wai Yee Jane A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Education School of Education University of Durham, U. K. 2009 Supervisor: Professor Michael Byram 23 JUN2009 ,. DECLARATION I certify that the content of this dissertation is my own work, except where otherwise stated,and that the material hasnot been submittedfor anotherdegree. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be in format, published any including electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to expressmy sinceregratitude to my supervisor,Professor Michael Byram, for his encouragementand invaluable commentsduring the preparation of my thesis, and for his guidance and patience throughout my Doctorate of Education programme. I am grateful to all the informants for sharing their experiencesand insights with me, which made this researchstudy possible. My deepestthanks go to my family for their forbearance and support. Finally, thanks are due to all my friends for their kind words which often gave me much-needed encouragement. 11 ABSTRACT The two main questionsthat guide this study are: Can collections and exhibitions in art museums function as markers of national identities? What role should art museum education play in contributing to the understanding of national artistic heritage and thereby to national identity? To answer these questions, this study investigates the theories or beliefs held in society about the educational role of a public art museum in constructing national (and regional) identities. It does so by focusing on the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) as the site of analysis. Using a case study and qualitative data, two avenues of inquiry are pursued in this study. First, an examination of the official/formal discourse - revolving around notions of arts heritage and the role of the Art Museum in fostering a sense of local identity - locates the discussion within the socio-political context of Singapore and its relation to recent developments in museum practices in general. Next, data were collected from informants in the fields of museum and art education through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and these data were analysed using grounded theory techniquesto conceptualiseand representthe views and experienceof the informants about local art and identities in an Asian educationaland cultural setting. The final analysis draws upon the theories that emergedfrom the informants' discourse and compares them with the official discourse about the educational role of the art museum.The findings shows that informants affirmed the belief that art museumscould and should play a role in the formation of national identity but they remained critical of the reality factorsthat affect policy and practice in the caseof SAM. 111 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 67 3.1 Strategiesto promote `trustworthiness'in the study 3.2 Informants and their different functions 68 77 3.3 Extract of opening coding of interviews 3.4 The Paradigm Model of Grounded Theory 80 4.1 SAM Exhibitions groupedby categories(1996-2008) 88 5.1 Informants' theory about the under-utilised local/national art collection 135 5.2 Informants' theory about the limited representationsof local/national art 146 through exhibitions 5.3 Informants' theory about the difficulty in facilitating visual art educationin 165 the museum IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration ' Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii iv List of Figures Table of Contents v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Context of the Study 1 1.2. Purpose and Significance of the Study 6 9 1.3. Organization of the Study 2. REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE 2.1. Museumsand National Identity 2.1.1 National identity as a construct 11 2.1.2 The role of museumand identity work: Theoretical perspectives 18 2.1.3 Balancing Local/National and Global Identities in Singapore 23 2.2. The Educational Role of Art Museum 35 2.2.1 Museum Education and Communication, 36 2.2.2 The Aesthetic Museum versus the Public art museum 41 2.2.3 Education in Art Museums 45 2.3 Implications 49 V 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1. The ResearchProcess 51 3.1.1 Qualitative CaseStudy 59 3.1.2 Credibility and Trustworthiness 64 3.2. Key Informants 67 3.2.1 Access 69 3.2.2 Informed Consent 70 3.2.3 Confidentiality and Anonymity 71 3.3. Grounded Theory 73 3.3.1 Interviews 73 3.3.2 Coding 75 3.4 Analysis and Presentation of Data 82 3.5 Conclusion 84 4. ART MUSEUM EDUCATION AND LOCAL/NATIONAL IDENTITY: THE POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM 4.1. The Practice of Art Education in SAM 85 4.1.1 The Purposeof Exhibition programmesfor Singaporeand SoutheastAsia 86 4.1.2 EducationalProgrammes 96 4.2. The official discourseon local art and identity in the SingaporeArt Museum 4.2.1. Local/National art and heritage 103 4.2.2. Global city for the arts - art as cultural capital 109 4.2.3. Education for all 112 4.3 Summary 115 5. INFORMANTS' DISCOURSE ON LOCAL/NATIONAL ART AND IDENTITIES IN THE SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM 5.1. The under-utilised local/national art collection 117 VI 5.1.1. The capacity of the permanentcollection 118 5.1.2. Defining local/national art collection 119 5.1.3. Spaceconstraints of a non-purposebuilt museum 123 5.1.4. Insufficient researchand study of the collection 127 5.1.5. Unclear Acquisition Methods 131 5.1.6. Summary 133 5.2. Limited Representationsof Local/National Art through Exhibitions 5.2.1 Curatorshipand educationalfunction 136 5.2.2 Museum Identity 141 5.2.3 Summary 145 5.3. Difficulty in facilitating visual art educationin the museum 5.3.1. Art museum education and the public 147 5.3.2. Disjunction betweencuratorial and educationalfunctions 153 5.3.3. Limited Understandingof Multiculturalism 155 5.3.4. Misconceptions about Art in the Society 161 5.3.5. Summary 154 5.4 ChapterSummary 166 6. FINAL ANALYSIS 169 6.1 Comparisonof official discourseand informants' discourse 170 6.1.1 Developing a Local/National Art Narrative through Exhibitions 170 6.1.2 The Educationalfunction of the Art Museum 173 6.1.3 National Identity and the Art Museum 175 6.2 Future Research 180 6.3 Conclusionand Implications 182 AFTERWORD 187 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY 188 APPENDICES A. Imagesof the SingaporeArt Museum 199 B. DocumentaryInformation for Analysis of the Official Discourse 202 C. Guiding Questionsfor Interviews 205 D. Excerpts of Interview Transcripts 206 E. Examplesof Interview Mindmaps 209 F. List of Art Exhibitions by categoriesin SAM (1996-2008) 210 G. A New Singapore Icon Roars to Life' The Straits Times, January 24 2005 213 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Context of the Study Throughout the developed world, structural trends and changes in society have exerted a profound influence on the role of museums and galleries for the 21st century. Among the principal trends are the emergence and implications of post-industrial society, developments in technology, changing government attitudes, and the concept of educationfor life (Knell, Macleoad,& Watson, 2007; Middleton, 1998,pp. 27-34; Vergo, 1989). On an international level, art museumand gallery practices are readily related to an aesthetics revolution, which over the last decade, has brought about a complex artistic transformation, renewing people's history and bringing artistic and creative interests into people's lives (Dalin & Rust, 1996,pp. 55-56; Sandell,2002). The rise of a broad-based political and cultural movement towards pluralism has significantly challengedthe accepteddefinitions and purposesof contemporarymuseums. The notion of `pluralistic museums' in contemporarysociety can be seen in the number of roles that museumshave come to play - collection, conservation,research, exhibition, interpretation as well as acting as cultural centres and social instruments (Black, 2005; Edward, 1996,pp. 14-15; Witcomb, 2003). Over the years,the role of museumeducation has moved beyond providing accessto collection or simply creating a teaching and learning environment for individuals. The growing interest in the social and cultural roles that museumsplay within communities is evident among researchersin the fields of art and museumeducation (e.g. Kaplan, 1996; Karp, Kreamer, & Lavine, 1992; Whitehead, 2008). 1 "lý ir`ý',:, ýýýýý ýýý r Vinson (2001) noted that cultural heritageand museumcollections continue to remain the core of the UNESCO World Culture Report 2000 because"people want to share and enjoy all kinds of world cultural creations,but also want to preservetheir own identity and the symbolsof their cultural differences" (p.