COLLABORATION is the way forward for small art groups.
This was the general consensus at the recent WED WEB CHAT — Crafting Your Own Niche organised by STORM-ASIA.COM.
The five panellists in the discussion hailed from a variety of cultural disciplines — from opera to dance and percussion — and all of them from relatively niche groups in the context of Singapore’s cultural landscape.
Despite their relatively small size and budgets, their reach within the community supporting their art form is quite significant.
Aravinth Kumarasamy, the Artistic Director of Apsaras Dance Company, has been leading the Bharatanatyam troupe since 2005.
Celebrated recitalist and concert artist, Nancy Yuen, studied opera and performed it in numerous productions. The Artistic Director of the Singapore Lyric Opera is also a teacher, at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
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Watch the full discussion of WED WEB CHAT — Crafting Your Own Niche at the bottom of the article.
Future-proofing The Past
Riduan Zalani and Yaziz Hassan are master practitioners of Malay percussion. Both are skilled in the variety of regional ethnic percussion instruments, but lamented the lack of formal structure for the continuing education of this Nusantara art form. They set up Nadi Singapura in 2011 to bring more youth into the fold and to keep the flame of Malay music lit.
The newest entrant is Heather Tan, who launched Opera Festival Asia at the end of 2023. Based in Germany, OFA brings German classical music to the world, presenting it in a way that marries other cultures and practices to make it relevant to different audiences.
Heather admits there isn’t a large following for European opera in Asia, but she hopes to expand her reach in the region.
All of them shared the challenges of operating an arts group in Singapore. While sticking to the core principles of their art, they are also trying to incorporate other elements to make their fare appealing to wider audiences.
With the aid of the Internet and greater exposure to international art forms, all the troupes have equal opportunity to appeal to a mixed audience.
Funding for their causes, however, is a constant challenge. While the National Arts Council (NAC) does support with funding, it only goes part way. The balance has to be made up by the troupes’ marketing efforts, whether its sponsorship or ticket sales.
“In all honesty, Nadi Singapura doesn’t earn a lot from its productions,” explains Riduan.
“We are very young, and we became a charity organisation about three years ago, and we are still trying to go into the next phase of attaining IPC (Institutions of a Public Character) status.”
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Keeping Things In The Arts Fresh
Aravinth’s approach has been to draw in regional influences into Apsaras’ performances, which has broadened the appeal of their offering.
“The Singapore Indian cultural scene is very vibrant,” he enthuses. Till the end of the year, every weekend there are 2 or 3 performances, with visiting Indian artists.
While there’s so much happening, there’s not enough support. “Ticket sales are okay, if you are an established brand and tickets are priced affordably.
“The NAC grant does not fully support the annual budget that we need to do all the activities that we have planned for,” he echoes Riduan.
“Our art, that we create, is for multi-cultural audiences to appreciate. So everything is in English. Over the years, I’ve seen that we have grown the non-Indian audience very significantly. Sometimes even 60 to 70% of the audience are actually non-Indians.
“But, the downside is that we are still expected to go back to the Indian business community, to raise funds.
“The non-Indian community business communities don’t actually even entertain a conversation, let alone a rejection.”
Weaving An International Cultural Fabric
Heather and Nancy are bringing in European forms to Singapore.
The Singapore Lyric Opera has been around for decades, whereas Opera Festival Asia registered itself at the end of 2023.
“Opera is an art form that has been around for hundreds of years and there’s a good following here, so I feel it’s a mission to carry on with this work, to make operas happen, to get audiences to come and sit down and watch our performances,” says Nancy.
“Classical music is important, and it is a language that speaks to the entire world, regardless of your race and your age. And it is long lasting because it is an art form that people can relate to, from any part of the world. So, I think that is the beauty of it,” she adds.
For Heather, her experience in theatre production have set her on the path of producing German classical music.
She reaches out directly to embassies and other sponsors to fund her programme of activities, incorporating more current references into the classical fare.
This has been Apsaras’ modus operandi for several years.
“The interesting thing is that the art form that I practice, Bharatanatyam and Indian classical music, is actually ever evolving. What we practice today is the modern version, so it stays very relevant,” explains Aravinth.
“30 years ago in Singapore, there were freelancers or mostly serious hobbyists involved, because you can’t make a living out of Indian classical dance or music here, other than teaching it.
“But, today, I have many young Singaporeans who are actually pursuing it as a full-time career. So, the landscape has changed a lot.”
This has helped to inject fresh ideas into the art form, and allows Aravinth to pursue the two pillars of his craft.
“One is always thinking out of the box, so that we bring fresh ideas and new concepts. And the second most important thing is collaboration. So cross-cultural collaboration is something that we have embarked on for the last 20 years. And it’s working as we collaborate with a lot of Southeast Asian artists.”
As in almost every aspect of life, the constant changes that push us along are making art companies rethink their approach to their disciplines.
Between hanging on to their old ways and hanging on to market share, change becomes inevitable.
Watch the full discussion of WED WEB CHAT — Crafting Your Own Niche below.
Watch our previous wedwebchats: https://storm-asia.com/category/wed-web-chat/
If you have a topic that is of interest, or have someone who would make a good panellist with a thought-provoking perspective on a subject, please email editor@storm-asia.com with your details and a short summary.
REFERENCES
Apsaras Dance Company — https://www.apsarasarts.com/
Nadi Singapura — https://nadisingapura.com/
Opera Festival Asia — https://www.operafestivalasia.com/
Singapore Lyric Opera — https://www.singaporeopera.com.sg/
National Arts Council — https://www.nac.gov.sg/support/funding-and-schemes
