Singapore often bears the stereotype of being rigidly controlled. But in a candid interview, a prominent art critic talked everything from censorship in the art world to the notion of Singapore as his home, even as he lived in other places around the world.
At the foremost of many artists’ and residents’ mind is censorship in Singapore’s growing art world. While the government and artists in the nation have done much to grow the creative world in Singapore, there is always the notion that, especially with government-funded festivals and projects, there is, to some degree, a certain control the government has over those projects. If the government disapproved of an art piece based on the content or the artists themselves, they could always jettison the project by withholding funding. In this way, the message of the art itself could be snuffed out if it is limited from the very beginning.
However, the art critic broached the idea that if artists supported themselves monetarily without relying on the government, they could pretty much create whatever they wanted. He viewed censorship and control over Singapore’s art world as casual rather than stringent. In fact, a group of artists, in meeting with Singaporean government officials about censorship in the art world, recommended that art content be regulated instead of censored with a rating system not unlike those in movie theaters. If an art exhibit has nudity, foul language, or other subject matter that might be deemed offensive or inappropriate to certain age groups, the exhibit would simply come with an age limit. The art critic said that while many fear censorship in Singapore’s creative world, the reality is that certain exhibits and subject matter might be more likely to be restricted than others. In that sense, the standards for censorship would be casual.
The art critic went on to speak, at length, about the idea of Singapore as his home. While he lived in Singapore for many years, he also spent formative years living abroad. His world views are different from someone who has spent their entire life living in Singapore, and he has received some pushback for his views about economic practices and cultures within the country. However, the art critic has great love for the place he calls home. The fact that he remains in Singapore to critique all of the moving cogs in the growing art world there proves that he cares enough about it to want to change it for the better.
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To read more about the art critic’s view on censorship in the art world and more, go to https://hyperallergic.com/392562/censorship-is-always-arbitrary-an-interview-with-an-art-critic-in-singapore/.