The pressures art students in Singapore must face in pursuing their passions
“People in Singapore often do not see the value in art,” says Anna Scola, a School Of The Arts (SOTA) graduate. In Singapore, there is an apparent lack of appreciation for different forms of art, which results in many students who study art such as dance, theatre, and even visual arts being judged and discouraged by the people they would normally turn to for support.
School Of The Arts(SOTA) is Singapore’s only national pre-tertiary specialised arts school with a 6-year embedded art program.
Source: www.sota.edu.sg
In order to uncover the true nature of many judgments and censorships SOTA students face, Anna, as well as multiple other SOTA students who graduated under the International Baccalaureate Career Program (IBCP), were asked about personal experiences involving judgements and censorship.
One recurring judgment from the family and friends of art students who attend SOTA is the idea that a career in the arts would not be lucrative. “Culture in Singapore is family oriented and chasing prosperity. People usually tell you to go be a doctor or a lawyer because then you can support your family,” explains a visual arts graduate from SOTA. Many of these ideas of art being an unfavourable career path stem from a clear misunderstanding of what art is and what it can be. “My Mom just doesn’t know what a career in art would mean,” said one SOTA students with a strong interest in jewellery making. The result of this lack of awareness is the discouragement of pursuing a further education in the arts.
Interestingly enough, the perception that art is not a profitable career path is a commonly shared understanding among many schools in Singapore – both local and international. In terms of the International Baccalaureate(IB) program, when faced with the decision of taking an additional science subject in place of an art, “many people are pressured by their parents into taking double science and dropping their art,” explains one SOTA graduate.
Taking all this into consideration, truly the most disconcerting thing must be this comment from a recent SOTA graduate; “None of us thinks that our families truly understand our work.” The fact that this idea is not uncommon shows the extent of the disconnection between parents and their children regarding their passions, and why there are these misconceptions of careers in art.
Stepping outside the boundaries of the school, censorship becomes a concern for those involved in the Singapore art scene. However, many students feel that “Censorship may not be a very big issue within the art school,” says SOTA student.
On August 2017, a student created a performance art piece as part of a masterclass commenting on the recent increase in teacher departures from the school. The student wrote the names of the teachers who had left on paper planes and flew them towards the door of the school office – the issue in question arising in conjunction with changes in management at the school. A few hours after the event the students responsible came back to find that the installation of planes planted between the concrete tiles had been cleaned out.
One grade 12 student said this in regard to the situation; “Some time later, the management came out with a statement saying there was no proposal sent to them for this event and that there were many safety issues associated with it, but the general belief by the student body was that they removed the work because they were confronted and being questioned.” They continue by saying, “It’s meant to be an art school. How can you just destroy someone’s work like that?”
One graduate said they think that the new management was trying to gain more control over the student body, “The student artist later gave a statement saying that she understands why the management did what they did, but I think she was forced to do it.” Many students believed this was an outright act of censorship and that it was unacceptable, especially from an art school with such a high reputation.
The basis of censorship in Singapore stems from the fact that many artists have to heavily rely on government funding. This is because there are very few independent donors as a result of the general lack of appreciation for the arts. Thus, much of the content produced by Singapore artists must comply with the general rules of decency and Singapore’s efforts for community and harmony.
Though Singapore has come a long way in accepting freedom of expression in most forms in that, “I have noticed that art exhibitions have become more broad in what art they present,” as said by one SOTA student. There is a vague understanding amongst members of the art community that the general rules of decency that the Singapore government is trying to institute are likely to get in the way of further development.
