Symposium examines key aspects of Singaporean and world practices in art


Art can only thrive when supported by the requisite institutions and these do not have to be multinational corporations.

Speaking at the International Art Symposium, local art expert T K Sabapathy, said the community itself could help preserve the authenticity of the art and where it came from.

Mr Sabapathy said people tend to equate globalisation with Westernisation. This is unavoidable since the concept emerged from the West. Moreover, multinational corporations tend to lend more support to the world of art and culture.

Mr T K Sabapathy, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, NUS, said: "These are also part of institutional make-up, so in addition to what might be seen or declared as the artist's vision there can be alternatives to the authorised vision and we have to, as far as it's humanly possible, lock these in between spaces to intervene in ways that we think are necessary."

The reason Mr Sabapathy and other expert speakers give for this is that familiarity is a very powerful tool, and often authorities cater to the demands of the corporate world.

He said: "In the effort to make what's from somewhere else familiar to the host country, there's an attempt to minimise. There's an attempt to suppress and there's an attempt to camouflage real areas of differences."

These issues, including key aspects of Singaporean and international contemporary practices in the art world will be discussed during the three-day symposium.