The Remote State of Art in Singapore

It's rather interesting to gather feedbacks from a fellow photographer with regards to the earlier project "Say what you say" (which is still in its pregnancy stage). He'd informed me that someone have already conceived a similar idea using a writing board instead of the card that I'd in mind. On one hand this is an exciting aspect knowing that someone else have the similar idea; on the other hand, it's saddening to know that the inauthentic project faced a possible competition! I shall not speculate any further with regards to this like-minded photographer which I'd yet to meet. However, I shall focus more on the other aspects that was brought up by the feedback, i.e. the remote state of art in singapore.

The Remote State of Art in Singapore
There are always people who claims that Singapore is a cultural desert. Yet, time and again, works of art have been produced by Singaporean or a result of the environment in Singapore. For instance, I was particular pleased to see a children's book illustrated and written by a RGS girl on Chek Jawa a coupla of years back. The contents may not be polished, yet the sincerity and passion illuminated through her unassuming book. A spark in the cultural desert definitely, if Singapore is indeed a cultural desert.

No, Singapore is not a cultural desert; Singapore is just a place where artistic inclinations are drowned off with the pragmatic spirit which is present in any urban landscape. All of us have this artistic inclination in us, and there's really no difference whether you are from Singapore, Paris, London, New York or Beijing. Everyone could see things artistically and represent them out in one form or another, be it in visual, music, performance or poetry. The problem with Singapore really isn't that people aren't artistic. The problem lies in the non-emphasis on art, the lack of tolerance for radical artforms, and the lack of sphere in which artistic inclinations could groom. These problems resulted in a remote state of art in Singapore.

Remote state of art in Singapore in this case meant the lack of communication between artistically inclined individuals in the similar field. The experience I'd related to (in the first paragraph) simply typefied this. If there were indeed a place or a sphere that could effective gather like-minded individuals, wouldn't the whole art scene move forward more? If people were to come together to incubate ideas and to execute projects together, rather than in isolations, wouldn't a whole movement be created, and effectively rid the accusation of Singapore as a cultural desert?

Unfortunately, I have nothing much to offer with regards to the remote state of Singapore at the current moment. My personal feel is that it would take a concerted effort from many groups with effective communications, in order to solve this problem in the remote state of art in singapore. This is extremely difficult especially, since the problem is probably too vague anyway. We could end up complaining about this and that, and nothing moves on.

However, having said that, I do see some potential in terms of bridging the remote state. Potentials that are not well-tapped unfortunately. They are namely: the internet communities, cafe, shops opened by enthusiasts and galleries. Still, these would at most resulted in a small community and not a artistic sphere that's opened to all.