National Arts Council of Singapore and Creative Australia sign MOU, commit to greater collaboration in the arts

The National Arts Council of Singapore (NAC) and Creative Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Thursday, committing to greater collaboration in the arts between Singapore and Australia over the subsequent 5 years. Under the MOU, NAC and Creative Australia will work carefully on joint analysis initiatives in the areas of arts and wellness, know-how, and viewers engagement. They may also facilitate artists’ collaboration, presentation alternatives and cross-cultural exchanges between artists and arts organisations from each international locations.

The NAC-Creative Australia MOU enhances the agenda of the Australia-Singapore Arts Group (ASAG) which has been prolonged for a second time period till 2025. The ASAG was fashioned below the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) signed in 2015.

Thursday’s NAC-Creative Australia MOU was signed in Singapore by Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer of NAC, and Adrian Collette, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Australia, in a ceremony held alongside the ASAG assembly on 23 May, forward of the Cultural Leaders’ Forum 2024.

NAC’s partnership with Creative Australia signifies the deep dedication of Singapore and Australia to work collectively to create new alternatives for our artists to showcase their expertise and develop new audiences. As we glance to selling greater understanding and appreciation of one another’s arts and cultures, we hope to additionally contribute to an much more vibrant and numerous arts scene in Singapore, Australia, and the area.

– Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer of NAC

Adrian Collette stated: “Creative Australia warmly welcomes this new Memorandum of Understanding with the National Arts Council of Singapore. This settlement underscores our shared dedication to championing and investing in the arts, working collaboratively on analysis, and fostering significant connections between artists and organisations from our respective international locations. We look ahead to exploring the alternatives that come up to work along with the National Arts Council of Singapore in a spirit of friendship and mutual collaboration.”

Singapore and Australia share a powerful and lengthy standing arts and cultural relationship. In 2019, NAC signed a three-year Letter of Understanding (LoU) with Creative Australia (previously Australia Council for the Arts) to sign each events’ dedication to greater cultural cooperation. Under the LoU, NAC and Creative Australia supported eight artists from the two international locations below a micro-residency programme to seed analysis on creative apply and collaborative alternatives, with the potential to spark new connections or deepen present partnerships. NAC additionally commissioned a video efficiency titled Childhood for the Cultural Leaders’ Summit and ASAG assembly held just about in 2020, bringing collectively components of music, dance and poetry from Australia and Singapore.

The Singapore-Australia CSP has offered alternatives for each international locations to study from each other and showcase the greatest of the international locations’ respective arts and cultural choices to world audiences. Some notable collaborative initiatives embody showcases by Singaporean artists from NAC Major Company recipient SAtheCollective at the 2020 Sydney Festival, and the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts organised by Arts Centre Melbourne which showcased Singapore productions and artists. More lately, in 2023, Wild Rice Singapore and Victorian Opera’s co-production, The Butterfly Lovers, written by Cultural Medallion recipient Ivan Heng with music composed by Richard Mills, was offered in each nations to stellar critiques and marked the first time the basic Chinese folktale has had a remake as an authentic English-language opera.