From Arts NMP to Arts NGO?
SINGAPORE — It looks like the arts community will have to settle for a double instead of a treble on the NMP front. The new Nominated Members of Parliament were announced yesterday and after two consecutive slates that included an Arts NMP — Audrey Wong and Janice Koh — the new line-up does not include one this time around. (Drama Box artistic director Kok Heng Leun, the sole candidate from the arts sector, was not chosen.)
SINGAPORE — It looks like the arts community will have to settle for a double instead of a treble on the NMP front. The new Nominated Members of Parliament were announced yesterday and after two consecutive slates that included an Arts NMP — Audrey Wong and Janice Koh — the new line-up does not include one this time around. (Drama Box artistic director Kok Heng Leun, the sole candidate from the arts sector, was not chosen.)
The *closest* person to someone arts-related in the NMP line-up is architect Rita Soh, the president of the Singapore Board of Architects (she’s also jury chair of the President’s Design Award 2014 and has been on-board many design panels including those for the National Gallery Singapore, Gardens By The Bay and Spors Hub).
Obviously, there was an air of disappointment when the names were announced and it’s not hard to figure out why. Built on Audrey Wong’s initial, low-key foray from 2009 to 2011, where she quietly but steadily primarily worked on the issue of freelancers; Janice Koh’s tenure from 2012 was widely considered a success. Parliament, perhaps, got used to an artist in its midst - and the public became used to a familiar face on TV and theatre embracing and balancing another role just as seriously and enthusiastically. And boy, was she a veritable workhorse — actively touching base with and bringing up issues surrounding various sectors in the arts and entertainment. Performing and visual artists, musicians, writers, film-makers, various industry pratitioners — she made sure she connected with everyone and played middle-woman between arts groups, the government *and* the public.
Plus, she’s quite awesome on social media.
After having an Arts NMP for almost five years, there’s no Arts NMP this time around — so what’s next?
In TODAY’s report, Kok echoed everyone’s disappointment (although maybe Drama Box’ll be somewhat slightly relieved they’ve now still got their boss on board) he also brought up something interesting: Who’s to say arts advocacy stops when there’s no NMP?
“We probably have to start thinking about finding and creating more legitimate spaces to talk about arts policies and important arts issues. Maybe, we should start thinking about forming NGOs to look at arts advocacy work,” he pointed out.
Which doesn’t seem like a bad thing altogether. A kind of glass half-empty, half-full thing. Could an NGO be the next step for the arts community?
You’ve got guilds and associations, both active and otherwise, for certain arts groups. The Music Society, Singapore (or SGMUSO), for instance, is “a non-profit entity that supports artistry, business and production by developing skills, advocacy and opportunities” for Singapore’s musicians. The film community has filmcommunitysg, “a collective of independent film-makers in Singapore who are interested in getting together to discuss, speak out and/or rally for issues relating to indie film-making in Singapore”. There are also plans for something more formal like a Film & TV Guild.
Granted, most of these are group-specific and perhaps not technically NGOs. But, and I’m just thinking out loud here, a group like Arts Engage could perhaps be a kind of model. It’s a network of arts practitioners that, even though it’s slightly heavy on the theatre side, has been quite active getting together artists from across the board when certain issues come up. It also has links with both Arts NMPs during their respective tenures.
Whatever it is, perhaps Kok’s remarks could be something the arts community can mull over.
Do you think an Arts NGO is a good way to go? Is it even feasible? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.