Cyril Wong

Like all good things, bad things like the Biennale and its accompanying hype will end. Even the stench of the vomit thrown up by denizens of our local arts scene desperate to support and be a part of that hype will stop smelling too. (I am reminded of how a young person on the local Arts Community e-group actually made the claim that art critics around the world actually liked the Biennale, to which Lee Weng Choy rightly replied, “your contention that the biennale was loved by all international experts sounds as reliable as Donald Rumsfeld’s claim that Iraq had WMD”). ¹

A good thing to possibly come would be how since they are unlikely to stage the spectacle of the Biennale a second time, the money can actually be pumped back into developing the arts here again. (Unless, of course, some big fancy international meeting takes place here again, such that we have to put up another similar show in their honour.) Wishful thinking, perhaps?

And there will always be the vomit. Look at what Theatreworks has thrown up recently with the call to artists to come together so as to rally against the poor quality of art writing in the media. I laughed very hard for all of two seconds when I first heard this. Has everyone forgotten all this noise first began because somebody did not like a Straits Times review of his spectacular joke of a production called, Diaspora? (Read my humble review of the show elsewhere in this magazine.) I even thought the Life! reviewer was far too kind. In such an instance, especially in the way Theatreworks attacked the reviewer on their website, it obviously does not pay to be kind.

The other part of this that was funny was the idea of our arts scene coming together in one harmonious front. As one Lianhe Zaobao reporter snidely pointed out to a friend of mine, “Are you sure you are all so united?”

Just look at how artists have responded to The Substation’s attempt to raise funds through a recent Garden reading of poetry. Both these artists and The Substation are essential components of the scene. Both do not agree on the state of The Substation Garden as it is now in the hands of Timbre café. Like the people in The Straits Times, Life! section, The Substation knows what it is like to try to balance priorities only to be criticised repeatedly for not ever trying hard enough to please everybody.

And what are The Substation’s major priorities? Supporting the arts, encouraging experimentation, providing a space for meaningful failures in the development of one’s craft. Oh I bet you have heard it all before. But it grows more difficult to do this in a society guilty of cultural elitism, as well as apathy with regards to the health of an arts scene that is not made up of big-budget musicals and badly attended Biennales (the 900,000-figure for the approximate number of people who “visited” the Biennale is a joke, considering how easy it is to include any number of Singaporeans walking down Orchard Road who may or may not have noticed the “art” around them).

Working in The Substation for almost four years, I am very familiar with the problems of balancing priorities. In fact, I am getting tired of it. So I am leaving by the end of this year. I might return one day. Who knows? But for now, The Substation needs somebody new with fresh excitement and passion for the arts in Singapore; somebody “innocent” enough to want to go on supporting the arts in her or his own way, in spite of all the persistent obstacles. My passion is now only for my own artistic practices and winning the Singapore Literature Prize this year will tie me over for a while after leaving The Substation by end December. As I am editing this on a laptop in Vienna — where as part of the septet, The Singers Vocal Ensemble, we are currently staying, in between choral competitions in Prague (where we were the champions for the Small Choir category) and then in Bratislava — I think about what the future holds in store for the arts in Singapore. There would certainly be more individuals, groups or organisations engaging in more international collaborations, showcasing their works beyond our island to diverse and generally more open-minded and culturally-informed audiences elsewhere.

The lack of a credible and sustainable audience-base in Singapore aside, Singapore is still a useful place to start for artists daring to try something new and unfamiliar. There are grants available here and the media is supportive, regardless of what some solipsistic people might say. And there is The Substation, which is becoming increasingly “international” by not requiring its residents to find that shortcut to fame and where the love of one’s own practice is sufficient justification to put on a show or an exhibition.

I will still be working with this little online magazine after December 2006 as a contributing editor.

(originally posted 6 December 2006)