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FEDERATION OF ART SOCIETIRS (SINGAPORE) - AN ART COMMONAGE CONCEPT

by  Baet Yeok Kuan

(Vice President)

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PROFILE

The Federation of Art Societies was officially registered with the Registrar of Societies on the 24th January 1992. The federation has organised various platforms such as exhibitions, publications, workshops, public programmes, forums as well as going online to develop visual art in Singapore. The Federation comprises of twenty-four art societies working towards recognising the contributions of artists, and promoting cultural exchanges between artists from Singapore and abroad.

 

MISSION AND VISION

The Federation has three main objectives:

1. To coordinate and promotion of visual art in Singapore

2. To coordinate and promote the interests of artists and art societies.

3. To promote Singapore as a regional hub for Art Societies

 

The Federation seeks to fulfil its mission in four ways:

 

1.Visual Art Development

The Federation seeks to develop visual art by organising exhibition projects to showcase and explore the cultural diversity of Singapore Exhibitions such as the Creative Calligraphy series of exhibitions sought to challenge artists to expand and re-define the boundaries of traditional calligraphy. Other exhibitions such as the Karang-guni Art Exhibition established a dialogue with contemporary art developments through the use of found objects within local context.

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2.Developing Audiences

The Federation is committed to develop public programmes to educate, promote and present art accessibly to audiences in general. The Federation’s participation in steering committee of the Nokie Singapore Art Exhibition successfully reached the audiences previously unacquainted with art. The series of forums such as “Artists and the internet” and “Art Critique” created public awareness to better understand art and generated meaningful dialogues between artists, art cuties, art historian and the public.

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The Federation has been working in position Singapore as a visual art hub by facilitating transnational collaborations. The recent Singapore-Malaysia-China, Indonesia Chinese Art Exchange Exhibition in 2008 and the New Expression of Asian Art Exhibition co-organised by the Federation facilitated interactions and dialogues between artists from various countries in Asia. Singapore emerged as an entry-point to understanding art in Asia and beyond.

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As a non-profit organisation, the Federation works for interests of artists and their wellbeing by organising events for the artists and the public to interact on occasions such as the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Federation has also lobbied for the establishment of artist workshops and cultural awards to recognise the contributions of deserving artists.

 

 

 

ACHIEVEMENTS AND MILESTONES

There are more than thirty societies actively involved in the vibrant local art scene. The ultimate motive of the federation is to unite the different art societies together in order to shoulder the responsibility and carry out the mission of promoting art and culture. The Federation of Art Societies is playing an important role of bringing all the different art groups regardless of the different in guilds and styles together into a harmonious circumstance, creating an atmosphere for fellow artist to promote art in a new great way, adding new spirit and attractiveness into the traditional art in order to enhance the beauty of the classic and traditions, establishing a new dimension and mindset in art appreciation for the total community regardless of the artists inclined or non artists inclined people making it a way of social communication for the community in the future.

 

FASS has been actively functioning and involving as well as organising various forms of activities to promote art and culture i.e. art courses, calligraphy lessons, life model sketching and painting, talks and seminars, art exhibitions, group tours to visit art groups abroad exchanging artists ideas and the experience as well as establishing good mutual relationship with artist and art groups overseas.

 

 

BACKGROUND

Singapore has developed tremendously over the years, be it socially, economically or technologically. In today’s world, the Arts serve as a form of leisure, entertainment and psychological therapy to most people. With New Media, awareness of the Arts is communicated to the mass and more people have grown to be more appreciative of the Arts. The arts play four important roles in our society, It is a foundation of our cultural heritage, A source of aesthetic inspiration and intellectual stimulation, A rich resource for our creative industries, and also An enhancement to Singapore’s attractiveness as a place to live, work, play and learn. However, most of the time, the public is not able to access and have an insight to how an artist produce his/her works. We intend to create an Art Commonage, a common art activity centre for both the artist and the public to heighten the involvement in the Arts in the community. At the same time, we seek to outreach and nurture the future generations of the creative industries.

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INTRODUCTION

FASS is an Art Commonage to provide an avenue for people to indulge in the realm of art in Singapore. Art Commonage is a shared compound built using low cost containers and would utilise the plot of land beside Federation of Art Societies (FASS). The space will be filled with containers that can be used by artist to conduct workshops for the community. We hope to promote art through this project and engage the People Association and various schools by using the venue to conduct monthly workshops. The Art Commonage will consist of a library/bookstore, an interaction space (Sharing Studio) for the community to dialogue with the artist, and exhibition spaces (Viewing Space) to host international and inaugural exhibitions, and a administrative office and classroom to provide the community with an opportunity to learn from artists of different niche. Promulgating this project will benefit not just the Art Community, the General Public the young and old will also be benefitted greatly. We are providing a one-stop location to view, learn, discuss and enjoy the Arts. Besides, not only will it attract local art lovers, it adds-on to Singapore’s Diversity and Vibrancy as a tourist attraction.

 

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OBJECTIVES

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1. TO CREATE A SHARED SPACE FOR ARTISTS TO CONDUCT THEIR ACTIVITIES

2. TO BRIDGE TO COMMUNITY WITH THE ARTS

3. TO CONNECT THE ART COMMUNITY WITH THE PUBLIC

 

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Concept

We intend to share the allocated containers with artists who are interested to participate in different public outreach activities. These activities are organised to bridge the community and the arts. Details are as follows:

 

1) Art Community Library/ Bookstore

In order to provide opportunity to the local artists and writers to publish and distribute their books, there is a library inside our space which is open to the public. Publications will be published monthly for the public, interested public may also purchase a copy of the publication if possible via an order list sent out monthly. This will greatly help artists and also writers to establish their books more easily as they do not need to go through the hassle of finding a distributor to distribute their books. The public would also benefit from this as it helps them to purchase and loan art books published by the local artists easily.

 

 

2) Sharing Studio

Sharing Studio is a place whereby local artists and groups showcase their talents. By adopting from the parallel of Fukuoko Art Museum, we decided to infuse the concept of “Artists in Residence” Programme to house artists working stations into the allocated space. This “Artists in Residence” programme aims to engage a diversity of  different selected artists that are niche in each of their own area namely; Ceramics, Sculptures, Painting, Photography, Printing-making, Water colour, Modern art, and Chinese calligraphy. The location of the shared space is easily accessible by both the public and the artists, this reduces logistics costings that is incurred and enable the artist to have an affordable venue to conduct their workshops. There will be an open studio to house artist residency; the public can get to view the artist at work through studio visits after their workshops in Art Commonage. This serves as an eye-opener to the public and at the same time, enhancing the public perception about the aesthetics realm. From outside the glass panels, the public can also walk up closer to the studio for viewing close-up demonstrations by the artist/s, which will interest and inspire those who are interested in art a first-hand experience of how it feels like to be an artist. The artists/groups that are in residence will represent for themselves or their society to participate in solo events organised by the Art Commonage on a yearly basis. Simultaneously as the exhibitions are carried out, the public will be exposed to varied forms of presentations, innovations and creativity. The sharing studio also takes in students from tertiary institutions e.g. Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Lasalle College of the Arts, for internships. The interns are each attached to an artist to assist the respective artists in providing informative and introductory tours at stipulated time slots around the studios through informal talks this helps to outreach to the younger generations who are interested in art and gives the interns a chance to know more about different art forms from various reputable artists within the compound.

 

3) Viewing Space

The Viewing Space is an exhibition hall whereby activities and events are held. Similar to Parco (Shibuya, Tokyo), we decided to replicate an exhibition hall within the allocated zone. This hall will be utilised for exhibiting of artworks from overseas art exchange programme, collectors, modern/ contemporary art and artworks from international artists who is willing to share their experiences with us. Other than this, the hall will also be used to cater to event themed exhibitions, for example, the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Chinese Cultural Festivals which is organised annually. These festivals will help the commercial building to bring in business; calligraphy writing at the booth set up in the space will attract calligraphy enthusiast/s during festive period to visit the place, the increase of volume of people in the commercial space will mean more revenue for the business operating in the building itself in terms of dining and merchandises. The Viewing Space also gives budding artists or students a free platform to present their video projects and photography slide shows, and to put up their work for art critic by the various artist/s in the space. The place is free-for-admission as such the public can walk into the hall to view the exhibited works and converse with the artists. Services like T-shirt printing, photograph-taking, art work framing and seal craving will also be rendered to the public in this Viewing Space.

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4) Affordable Art Place

Akin to summer shows by Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Singapore Art Stage, we aim to use this art place to render help to new local art collectors and artists, this helps new artists and collectors to buy and sell paintings at affordable rate through direct transaction, reducing the competitiveness of the market. The general public will be able to get paintings at affordable prices and the artists will also be willing to supply and produce more paintings. Affordable Art Place is also a venue where external events can be held example Forums, Talks and Promotions. In order to promote art, art merchandises and artist’s products can also be sold here at the same time. Occasionally bidding will also be held for featured art pieces.

 

5) Workshop/Dialogue Space

Part of the allocated area is designated for workshop/dialogue space which is used for ancillary purpose. Aligning to what Epsite has done in Singapore, we decided to have an open concept for our Workshop/Dialogue Space turning it into an exhibition space in which the public can visit anytime even as we are working. There will be a fixed classroom equipped with chairs and tables which can be converted into a lecture room or meeting room depending on its usage. Art societies can also conduct their meetings and sharing sessions in this classroom. Going beyond, akin to community centres in order to cater to different age groups of people, we provide affordable lessons and courses which can be signed up by interested participants and schools; calligraphy lessons for the elderly, children art workshops for young budding artists, watercolour, water-based oil painting, sculpture making, basic drawing, and portrait drawing for art lovers. These lessons will be conducted inside this classroom by the various artists and societies namely Singapore Watercolour Society, Childrens’ Art Society, Sculpture Society and many more. If needed, overseas artists will be engaged to conduct master class painting programme and art conservation courses for local professional artists. Furthermore this activities can also be offered to schools and organisations all over Singapore.

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BENEFITS

FASS aims to bring art closer to the community, outreach to art enthusiasts and also at the same time promote the Arts. Bringing art towards the people and providing aesthetically-orientated programme like courses to help in lifting up the quality of art appreciation and knowledge in Singapore. Assimilating to Japan’s Fukuoko Museum, we seek to host local, regional, and regional exhibitions be it the performing arts, the crafts, and also videography and films. Such performing arts conference and programme in the Asia-Pacific region serves as a unique global platform for performing arts professionals to exchange ideas and concepts, conduct business and provide the industry with opportunities for collaboration in order to create exciting new projects and relationships.  In line with the NAC Art policy, we “aim to bring the arts to more Singaporeans and raise the level of artistic and cultural vibrancy in Singapore” The basis of our programme is to help Singaporeans “to harness arts and culture to transform Singapore into Asia’s most liveable city, maximise the creative capacity of our people, and strengthen our social fabric.” And to  “make arts and culture an integral part of the lives of our people, with twice as many Singaporeans – from 40% to 80% – attending and benefiting from at least one arts and cultural event a year in 2025”.” We hope to bring art to the people and the same time, bring the people closer to art, with  FASS Art Commonage I hope that we can be ‘A source of aesthetic inspiration and intellectual stimulation, A rich resource for our creative industries, and also An enhancement to Singapore’s attractiveness as a place to live, work, play and learn.’