Sunday, October 01, 2023

The first 'title'

This has changed because of NAC claims that TODAY has misquoted and misrepresented the NAC Chief. The original title offers a more progressive NAC. More than it's later position after it has been clarified. Putting it here before this things becomes untraceable. 

LGBTQ-themed arts performances in public spaces in line with the times: National Arts Council chief 


SINGAPORE — While heartland "getai" shows typically showcase live performances of Mandarin and Hokkien music, a crowd at Gillman Barracks on Friday night (Sept 29) was treated to a different version of it.

With a set list of Malay, English and even Japanese songs, perhaps the highlight of the half-hour show was a drag queen playing trombone to the tune of evergreen National Day theme song Home, which moved its spectators to sing along.

Entitled Queer-tai, the show was among a series of arts performances commissioned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art (NTU CCA) Singapore.

In line with the times, the public can expect arts performances in the public and education space that touch on themes relating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.

This is because artists naturally explore a wide range of topics and will always produce work that “speaks to our times”, said National Arts Council (NAC) chief executive officer Low Eng Teong, who was attending the anniversary event as a guest of honour.

As part of NTU CCA's anniversary celebrations, a series of collaborative performances by the centre’s past contributing artists and artist-in-residence alumni members were commissioned.
Two of such shows were staged on Friday, including Queer-tai — a half-hour karaoke segment led by a few people, including some dressed in drag, followed by a DJ setlist.

Asked about the significance of having arts performances with LGBTQ themes in public spaces and educational institutions, Mr Low said: “Artists explore all types of topics and themes and issues in their work, so I think that is something that is to be expected, in (that) artists will always want to make work that speaks to our times.

“It is for artists to be interested in issues like climate change, environmental, social issues, the different kinds of events, world events happening around the world and how it affects our lives, so I think this is part and parcel of the natural process of art.”

Intervention, the group that staged Queer-tai, describes itself as “a queer party collective”.

It has organised three parties since it was formed in November and was commissioned to perform at an exhibition opening at the Singapore Art Museum.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...ine-times-national-arts-council-chief-2270861

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