2022 CMYAA

president's message

The arts have the power to strengthen bonds across different communities in a unique tapestry that tells the story of who we are as a people. Our arts and artists have given us solace by forging deeper connections through shared experiences, especially these past few years. With shared culture and experiences, we can better build empathy and understanding among us.

Although the pandemic has presented many challenges to the artists, they have demonstrated adaptability and resilience. We also continue to witness the tenacity and determination of the arts community as they roll out new ways of working and adapt digital technology to bring the arts closer to the public. Today, we can envision a stronger future for the arts, one where the arts can flourish and nourish us through good times and bad, and where everyone can enjoy, benefit and contribute to our arts.

The Cultural Medallion is Singapore’s pinnacle accolade for the arts, honouring outstanding artists who have inspired many with their artistic excellence and significant contribution. This year, I congratulate Artistic Director in classical Indian dance Aravinth Kumarasamy and Theatre Practitioner Kok Heng Leun, for their distinguished artistic endeavours and their substantial work in connecting communities.

Through innovative choreography and composition, Aravinth Kumarasamy has paved the way for classical Indian dance to thrive in contemporary society. Dedicated to growing the classical Indian dance scene in Singapore, he has created new opportunities for local Indian dancers through numerous platforms for performance and training. His distinctive works transcend borders and are recognised for their innovative concepts and presentations in countries including Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

As one of the most accomplished theatre practitioners in Singapore, Kok Heng Leun has displayed artistic innovation and strong leadership. His ability to harness the power of theatre to engage the community on societal issues has stimulated dialogue and discourse, in Singapore and internationally. As theatre director, playwright, dramaturg and educator, he has been exemplary in his dedication to the artform, thus becoming a role model for many younger practitioners.

I would also like to congratulate this year’s Young Artist Award recipients – Guo Ningru, Ho Rui An, Jerrold Chong and Rit Xu – for charting new frontiers in their respective practices. This award celebrates their achievements as they continue to work on their art and light the way for future generations.

Congratulations to the recipients of the Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award 2022. This year’s recipients reflect the vibrant and diverse community of arts practitioners in Singapore. I wish them all the very best in their journeys ahead.

President of the Republic of Singapore

Halimah Yacob

cultural medallion

The Cultural Medallion is Singapore’s highest artistic accolade, recognising individuals whose artistic excellence as well as contribution and commitment to the arts have enriched and shaped Singapore’s cultural landscape.

Since it was established in 1979, the Cultural Medallion has been awarded to 132 artists in the fields of film, literary arts, performing arts and visual arts. Each recipient will be able to access the Cultural Medallion Fund of up to $80,000. This supports their continuous artistic pursuits and their efforts towards advancing Singapore’s artistic development for the benefit of society.

The Cultural Medallion is presented by the President of the Republic of Singapore

Aravinth Kumarasamy

Kok Heng Leun

cultural medallion 2022

Aravinth Kumarasamy

A multi-talented artist, A ravinth Kumarasamy is involved in Indian dance, music, and other related fields, and is a prominent figure in the international Indian arts community.

Born in Sri Lanka in 1966, Aravinth was trained by some of the renowned gurus in the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, from Sir Lanka and India. In 1984, he delivered his Arangetram (graduation dance performance), for which he had composed music and choreographed part of the repertoire. Three years later in 1987, as a 21-year-old, Aravinth came to Singapore to pursue his dreams.

Over three decades, with a sense of commitment and conviction, Aravinth has envisaged and nurtured Bharatanatyam with imagination and ingenuity. His artistic philosophy drives his pursuit in enabling the dance form, predominantly a solo art form, to transform into a fine and compelling ensemble-centric expression. His dream and desire is to create and nourish a repertory company, a one-of-its-kind in Singapore as well as arguably across the world, in the space of Bharatanatyam .

Utsavam, 2017.

Much like his creations which are diverse in form and content, Aravinth is a storehouse of numerous identities which inspire and influence each other. An artist par excellence, he is conscious of tradition yet also cognizant of rapidly changing global dynamics where innovation and technology have vital roles to play. During the pandemic, Aravinth produced two unique digital and CGI-based dance films – ‘SITA’ and ‘AMARA’ – that pushed the envelope and pioneered a new possibility for the world of dance in exploring the digital space.

Under his leadership as Artistic Director, Apsaras Arts Dance Company has built a stunning repertoire, boasting more than 35 full-length productions, that sparkles with a distinct identity. As a Singaporean flagbearer for Indian classical dance ensemble work which is inspired by South-east Asian narratives, the company raises a toast to the potential of Bharatanatya m which is presented at various venues and world-class festivals.

Aravinth is also a champion of industry development, successfully curating and convening the Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC) annually in Singapore since 2012 and in Australia since 2021.

He is the proud recipient of several awards including the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award (1999), Bharata Kala Mani (Apsaras Arts, 2000), Aryabhata (Aryabhata Cultural Organisation, Bangalore, India, 2016), Kala Ratna (Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, 2019), Natya Kala Upasana (Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, 2019).

Kumarasamy

‘Anjaneyam – Hanuman’s Ramayana’ at Esplanade Theatre for Kalaa

Photo courtesy of Apsaras Arts

Innovating Tradition

by Lim How Ngean

Community, innovation and education form the bedrock of Aravinth Kumarasamy’s artistic oeuvre as he leads the critically acclaimed traditional Indian dance company Apsaras Arts Singapore. He ceaselessly supports and motivates artists to excel in their various traditional artforms. At the same time, he is making inroads in attracting younger Apsaras audiences with fresh narratives and contemporary staging to invigorate the Bharatanatyam dance form.

Under his artistic directorship since 2005, Apsaras Arts (which was established 1977) grew from being a respected dance academy with a focus on Bharatanatyam to becoming a renowned repertory dance company which tours internationally with boundary-breaking performances.

The avid educator in Aravinth also sees him advocating continuous education and upskilling craft and artistry in the next wave of dancers and musicians as well as in established artists, not forgetting his dedication in organising regional and international conferences on urgent issues and subjects in the Indian arts arena.

Even before Aravinth joined Apsaras Arts full time, he had been contributing to the company’s performances since 1999 in various capacities – as music composer, co-choreographer (with Apsaras founder the late Neila Sathyalingam), and dance and music instructor.

As artistic director, he has conceptualised and directed 13 fullfledged dance performances. He pays close attention to numerous details such as narrative, choreography and music composition, as well as other design fields of costuming, lighting, sound and set design. His is a multidisciplinary approach to performance-making.

As he explains, “I have trained in dance, vocal music and instrumental music, which allowed me to evolve as an artiste with a better understanding of the Indian performing arts. This is coupled with my interest in art, architecture and sculpture, and my study of history, culture and anthropology. Bharatanatyam is an art of storytelling. Given my training and my interests, I have been drawn to tell stories through dance.”

After building a sturdy foundation in music and dance in his birthplace Colombo, Sri Lanka, he trained for five years in Bharatanatyam and the Veena (an Indian chordophone musical instrument) in Chennai, India. At 20, he moved to Singapore where he continued to hone his skills in traditional dance and music at premier institutions such as Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore (TFA), from 1987 to 1993. TFA was where he learned about performing in, and staging, large scale performances. He later taught dance and music at the Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society, Singapore, and composed original scores for Bhaskar’s Arts Academy’s productions.

Aravinth was a working artist in the community in his new home Singapore as it was his strategy to learn the artistic and cultural lay of the land. Besides mentoring, composing and conducting for the Raffles Girls’ School Indian Orchestra (1995-2000) and founding the Kolam Ayer Indian Youth Orchestra (2000-2005), he also trained students in music and dance for National Day celebrations and Chingay processions.

These diverse experiences prepared the artist for a holistic understanding and appreciation of a multicultural approach in aesthetic expression while staying true to his roots in traditional Indian art forms.

It was therefore no surprise when Aravinth ventured into South-east Asian narratives and aesthetics forms in his own creations. Since 2010, he has been engaging with South-east Asian narratives and themes by adapting them to Indian dance forms such as Bharatanatyam , Kathak and Kathakali . The approach expanded and developed traditional artforms with new concepts and stories as well as broadened Apsaras’s younger audience base with a more global outlook.

The landmark production of ‘Angkor Wat: The Untold Story’ (2013) pushed artistic boundaries in various ways. Firstly, the Bharatanatyam performance presented an original love story inspired by the temple wall friezes of the religious Khmer complex of Angkor Wat.

‘Nirmanika – The Beauty of Architecture’ at Victoria Theatre, 2022.

Photo courtesy of Apsaras Arts

Photo courtesy of Apsaras Arts

Secondly, he experimented with cross-cultural performance by introducing South-east Asian dance vocabularies and music into Apsaras’s mainly Bharatnatyam repertoire. He had begun to examine Indian dance vocabulary and its influence on South-east Asian dance forms when doing research in ancient Khmer civilization and its art and culture.

The result was a spotlight on the dance forms of Bharatanatyam , Malay Silat , and Cambodian temple dance in various scenes throughout the performance. This cross-cultural strategy was also adhered to in the musical orchestration in Angkor Wat where it showcased Indian classical music, with Cambodian melodic accents and even Chinese drum rhythms. Acclaimed Indian dance scholar and critic, the late Dr Sunil Kothari, had written that ‘Angkor Wat’ was “an example of how various cultures come together to create wonderful work of diverse dance forms in a seamless manner.”2 This style of cross-cultural performance would then become Aravinth’s theatrical signature in successive and critically-acclaimed productions such as ‘Anjasa – Unravel the Buddhist Monuments of Asia’ (2016) and ‘Anjaneyam: Hanuman’s Ramayana’ (2017).

The multiple points of experimentation within a single production are only possible because Aravinth is a firm believer of collaboration artmaking. He has collaborated with artists and institutions near and far, from the renowned homegrown Malay dance group Era Dance Theatre to dancers from acclaimed Cambodian Royal Dance Ensemble. He collaborates regularly with internationally known sound engineers, musicians, composers and lighting designers from India and often invites notable dancers from all over India to boost his productions. “Collaborating with a good team of talented people has helped me to improve myself over the years, and working with creative minds has allowed me to see different perspectives,” he stresses.3

Another of Aravinth’s significant contributions to Bharatnatyam is the way he reconfigures the solo dance convention to showcase ensemble dances. Characterisation was key in performances such as ‘Angkor Wat: The Untold Story’; ‘Anjasa’ (2016), and ‘Anjaneyam’ (2017), but the genius of Aravinth, together with Apsaras resident choreographer Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, was how he began to present Bharatanatyam sequences using ensemble dancers in recounting particular scenes, or even acting like a Greek chorus which passed commentary and echoed emotions.

The ensemble vision pertains to the artistic director’s vision of growth and sustainability for Apsaras Arts as well as its students and artists, so that the company could grow from being a learning academy to becoming a touring premier company with a sizeable repertoire of performances.

Photo courtesy of Apsaras Arts

Aravinth, who was also a former FinTech entrepreneur, iterates, “There are institutions all over the world teaching dance, even in Singapore, which has academies older than us. The question is after 10 to 15 years of learning, what happens to all these students of dance? Not everyone can carve out a career as a soloist, as there are only so many opportunities out there. I want to create ensembles beyond the dance drama tradition as I believe ensembles are the way forward.”4

Another way forward for Aravinth is to tell specific stories, whether inspired by the classics or those in contemporary settings. These stories focusing on a protagonist overcoming adversity heralds the present-day narrative that appeal to younger audiences beyond moral teachings.

The first example is ‘Agathi: The Plight of the Refugee’ (2017), where Aravinth tapped into his experience as a 17-year-old refugee in wartorn Sri Lanka so as to provide a dramaturgical structure to the performance. Other refugees’ voices peppered the performance via poetry from renowned Tamil poets as well as from the verse written by children of refugees published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency.

The second example is ‘Parama Padam: Life’s Game of Snakes & Ladders’ (2019), which was conceptualised by the company’s resident choreographer Mohanapriyan Thavarajah and directed by Aravinth, offered a choreographic take on an appropriated boardgame. It shed light on the origins of the modern (British) boardgame Snakes and Ladders that was actually created by the followers of the Vaishnavite faith with the duo purposes of entertainment and teaching moral values of human life. ‘Parama Padam’ took the audience through the everyman’s life about triumphs and tribulations while examining the existential question about the right thing to do.

Aravinth’s diverse and progressive approaches to staging traditional performing arts are steeped in his commitment to ongoing learning and training in the field. He admits to a voracious appetite for knowledge: “Reading a lot of books, travelling and watching dance and theatre, listening to good music by different artists allows my imagination to evolve.”5

One of Aravinth’s passion projects away from the stage is the annual regional convention-symposium called the Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC). Held for 11 years thus far, Apsaras Arts’s IPAC brings together practitioners of traditional forms so that they can exchange, share, discuss, and learn developments in the large arena of Indian performing arts.

Aravinth sees IPAC to be “for everybody in the ecosystem. There will be something for students who aspire; for professionals (choreographers, musicians, performing artists or composers) who

‘The Heroines of Raja Ravi Varma’ at Victoria Theatre, 2010.

‘Agathi - The Plight of the Refugee’ at Esplanade Theatre Studio for Raga Series, 2017.

1 Interview. Conducted 2 November 2022.

2 https://narthaki.com/info/gtsk/gtsk89.html. Accessed 1 November 2022.

3 Interview. Conducted 2 November 2022.

4 https://www.indicasoftpower.com/india-must-focus-onsoutheast-asiathey-can-clearly-appreciate-our-culturearavinth-kumarasamy/. Accessed 1 November 2022.

5 Interview. Conducted 2 November 2022.

6. https://www.theindiansun.com.au/2022/09/07/melbourneto-witness-a-carnival-of-carnatic-music-bharatnatyam/. Accessed on 2 November 2022.

7 https://www.nhb.gov.sg/what-we-do/our-work/communityengagement/the-stewards-of-intangible-cultural-heritageaward. Accessed on 3 November 2022.

are practicing; for connoisseurs; and anyone who wants to know more. It has got all these tiers.”6

As in Aravinth’s artistic pursuits, the commitment to community is vital in his continuous effort to strengthen the artistic network in the name of betterment. This was evident during challenging times in the wake of COVID-19 and worldwide lockdowns. Aravinth made the decision to present the convention in a hybridised format by offering online seminars, discussion panels and lecture demonstrations. In fact, in 2020, Apsaras had already reached out to online audiences with events such as a ticketed streaming performance of ‘Anjaneyam’ and even presented dance films ‘SITA’ and ‘AMARA’ which incorporated CGI technology.

In 2020, Apsaras Arts was the recipient of The Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award, conferred by the National Heritage Board. The award recognises individuals or groups “who are dedicated to the promotion and transmission of their practices, and have made outstanding contributions in their field.”7

This award is in no small part a recognition of Aravinth’s contribution. Acknowledging the duty of upholding culture and its aesthetics, he understands the present urgency is to ensure that the traditional arts stay relevant in a contemporary world.

As he sees it, the way to maintain currency for the traditional arts is to keep innovating while serving the community at large, whether it is through unfailing development and training in the arts or constant artistic education and outreach to the audience.

As for the future of traditional Indian performing arts in Singapore, Aravinth is hopeful: “The younger generation of Indian artistes are smart and talented. I think that the future of Indian arts is in good hands. However, I do wish these youngsters will be more patient to watch more, read more and listen more, to evolve their craft which takes a lot of time and hard work. Most importantly not to have the fear of failing – as failures are the pillars of success!”

words of appreciation

My gratitude to National Arts Council for this recognition, and to all those who nominated me and to the many who supported the nomination.

I am grateful to my parents Mr N Kumarasamy and Mrs Swarnakanthi Kumarasamy for bringing me into the magical world of dance and music at a very young age. It was my mother who was with me in much of my artistic journey as a mentor, a researcher, and a dramaturge. I am indebted to my family – daughter Madhumitha and wife Pavithra – for the many sacrifices they made in supporting my career in the arts.

I am humbled to have been trained by several renowned gurus from Sri Lanka and India. My gratitude to S Sathyalingam and Neila Sathyalingam, for their mentorship, encouragement, and their belief in my ability to sail their ship forward, allowing me to chart voyages and arrive at new horizons.

I am blessed with an amazing team at Apsaras Arts – Vijaya Nadesan, Seema Hari Kumar, Mohanapriyan Thavarajah and Sankari Elavalahan – who are the supporting pillars of all that we create, and for their interminable belief in my mission. My gratitude to the creative young genius Mohanapriyan, our resident choreographer, principal dancer and costume designer, for coming on this journey with me over the past decade. As a team we have climbed great heights. My heartfelt gratitude to our board led by Ambassador K Kesavapany, and to Mrs Padmini Kesavapany, for their unconditional love and support.

I am indebted to the dancers, musicians, composers, choreographers, designers, marketers and technical teams, who have transformed my vision to reality. I am humbled to have had maestro composer Dr Rajkumar Bharathi and maverick Sai Sharavanam who have collaborated with me over two decades. I dedicate this award to each and everyone who have enabled my mission in the arts.

Lim How Ngean is a performance-maker, dramaturg and dance researcher who has been actively involved in the performing arts for over 30 years.

‘Aalam – The Banyan Tree of Bharatnatyam’ at Esplanade Theatre Studio for Kalaa Utsavam, 2009.

Photo courtesy of Apsaras Arts

Kok Heng Leun

Kok Heng Leun (b. 1966) is an exemplary theatre artist who has contributed widely as director, playwright, dramaturg, educator, and artistic director of multidisciplinary community arts projects. He is committed to socially engaged frameworks which generate platforms for participatory and co-creative processes, often developed in collaboration with marginalised communities. These projects show art as a poetic medium of expression, critical reflection and aesthetic exploration in everyday life.

Heng Leun graduated in 1990 with a BSc majoring in Mathematics from the National University of Singapore, where a passion for theatre was fuelled by his involvement in Mandarin language theatre. That year he co-founded Drama Box, a leading Singapore theatre company, where he served as Artistic Director from 1998 to 2022. Under his forward-looking leadership, the company has evolved from a focus on Chinese-language theatre to developing multilingual, multidisciplinary, site-responsive and durational initiatives. Collaborating with artists and stakeholders from sectors including heritage, health and policy-making, he innovates new approaches to dialogic performance, spearheading seminal projects such as ‘Project Mending Sky’ (2008, 2009, 2012), ‘IPS Prism’ (2012), and ‘Both Sides, Now’ (2013-present).

He also builds opportunities for actor training and theatre education, which are integral to the enrichment and growth for practitioners. He encourages deep relationships with community and context, an appreciation of history, and respect for difference. Critical productions that embody these motivations include ‘Drift’ (2007), ‘Trick or Threat!’ (2007), ‘It Won’t Be Too Long’ trilogy (‘The Lesson’, ‘The Cemetery: Dawn’, ‘The Cemetery: Dusk’) (2015), ‘Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts’ (2019), and ‘ubin’ (2022).

Through his practice and pedagogy, Heng Leun has inspired fellow artists and students, locally and abroad, to continually review the role of the arts in society. Renowned internationally for his ability to spearhead contextually grounded processes that are inclusive and adaptive, he is frequently invited to direct, dramaturg and teach in varied spaces. Key projects include ‘Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep’ (Asia TOPA, Australia, 2020), ‘Nüwa’ (Shanghai Puppet Theatre, China, 2018), and ‘Xiao Di Bao’ (Centre for Applied Theatre, Taiwan, 2011).

As Nominated Member of Parliament (2016-2018), Heng Leun championed the importance of the arts sector in contemporary urban society, addressing issues such as social justice, cultural equity and gender parity. During his term as Artistic Director, Drama Box won the Advocate Organisation of the Year award at the 2016 Singapore Advocacy Awards. Heng Leun has also received the Young Artist Award (2000) and Cultural Fellowship (2014) given by the National Arts Council, Singapore.

Kok Heng Leun

Heng Leun rehearsing with the performers of ‘Tanah.Air 水•土: A Play in Two Parts’, 2019. Photo courtesy of Zinkie Aw for Drama Box

cultural medallion 2022

Sparking a genuine conversation

by Corrie Tan

When Kok Heng Leun engages you in conversation, he turns his entire body towards you. He leans forward, nodding, eyes wide. He mirrors your surprise, your delight, your frustration, your fear. You feel yourself coming into focus. But his deep attention isn’t a scalpel; nor does it demand more than what is given. Rather, it’s a shared experience of sculpting mutual engagement. His curiosity is disarming. You find yourself offering up responses that expand the borders of what a conversation can be. You find a bit more of yourself.

This is what Heng Leun does. His artistic practice is undergirded by what it means to engender conversation — on an intimate scale and on an (inter)national scale. His work is animated by a genuine, infectious curiosity, a deep empathy for marginal and overlooked communities and spaces, and a commitment to making performance relevant and accessible.

As director, dramaturg, facilitator and educator, Heng Leun has centred communities and how we might care for one another and the spaces they inhabit — whether these are the soil we tread on, the neighbourhoods we traverse, or spaces for civic and civil discourse. How might people on opposing sides of a debate engage each other with compassion and respect? How might we rethink the power dynamics between the “oppressor” and the “oppressed”? His work reiterates a sensitivity to the human and more-than-human beings that make the world we live in, and how we might continue to sustain and repair these relationships.

Heng Leun studied Mathematics at the National University of Singapore and was about to pursue a teaching career. Then he attended a talk by the late giant of Singapore contemporary theatre, Kuo Pao Kun, and found himself drawn into a completely different universe. After a stint at the former Ministry of Community Development in 1990, he cut his teeth volunteering as a stagehand and crew member at The Substation. 2 He spent a year as programme executive at the independent arts space. These years of arts administration equipped Heng Leun with the tools to become an intermediary adept at engaging with artists, bureaucrats, politicians and the public, and the vocabularies each group requires.

He then joined theatre company The Necessary Stage, known for its incisive sociopolitical commentary. There, he learnt about the participatory art form, forum theatre, now a methodological cornerstone of his political and community engagement. He has often returned to work with The Necessary Stage, including codirecting a trilogy of hard-hitting plays — ‘Manifesto’ (2016), ‘Underclass’ (2018) and ‘Opposition’ (2022) — which take on the intertwined themes of artistic autonomy, inequality and dignity.

In 1998, Heng Leun became the artistic director of Drama Box, a post he maintained until early 2022. His work with the company is perhaps his most well-known. In its early years, Drama Box focused on a Chinese-language audience, but Heng Leun and the team quickly realised that the diversity of their audience demanded a diversity of linguistic and cultural approaches. While their Chinese-language foundation remains, it is woven through with the multilinguality of Singapore’s population. Heng Leun’s legacy includes the company’s commitment to community-building, meticulously researched social issues, and a great tenderness for the publics and ecologies it connects with.

Heng Leun’s work addresses the space of performance on several levels: the dialogic space of performance, where audiences engage each other in conversation and debate; and which propels them into the space for civic participation that extends beyond the stage. Forum theatre founder Augusto Boal envisaged a performance space in which the public’s role could be redefined, discarding their role as a passive spectator and becoming an active ‘spect-actor’.” Audiences are encouraged to intervene in a performance and consider how characters make different decisions, or engage with power dynamics in a way that might alter an undesirable outcome.

Watching Heng Leun facilitate is like watching a masterclass in the dramaturgy of public conversation. Down-to-earth, humorous and patient, he invites audience members to consider their own positionalities, reflect on their biases, and assess what they might have done differently. Heng Leun has facilitated in conventional theatre spaces, outdoors, and even on radio, where listeners would call in with their responses. His forum theatre work has

‘ubin’, 2022. Photo courtesy of Arts House Limited

since been used to train community and grassroots leaders. Heng Leun believes that well-structured participatory processes allow “people [to] be both responsible, as well as very imaginative”— and bring us closer to a mature society that can weather the strain of dissension without having its social fabric ripped apart. 4

Heng Leun and his collaborators are transforming these forum theatre and dialogic principles into methodologies tailored to each community and site. This can be seen in the ‘It Won’t Be

Too Long’ trilogy: ‘The Lesson’, ‘The Cemetery: Dawn’ and ‘The Cemetery: Dusk’. In 2015, Drama Box staged the first iteration of ‘The Lesson’ in their portable GoLi theatres. The premise: an MRT station will be constructed in a fictional housing estate. Audience members must reach a majority vote on which local site must make way for this station, ranging from a halfway house to a columbarium. They go through rounds of voting and facilitated debate, considering various dimensions of land contestation and how these policy decisions affect their lives. ‘The Lesson’ fleshes out decision-making and advocacy processes for a Singaporean audience who may never have felt the agency to change their outcomes.5 Having witnessed many iterations of ‘The Lesson’, I have always been surprised by the possibilities and permutations of the work, and how its creators hone its expansive methodology.6

This has continued with ‘The Class Room’ (2019), which borrows from real-life state policymaking around inequality and poverty. Participants collectively figure out which social plan (with challenging conditions attached) might suit a group of low-income families.7 Watching an audience of teens and adults problem-solving together, I marvelled at Heng Leun’s hands-off approach to the participants’ abrasions and struggles, allowing them to work through their conflicts.

In Heng Leun’s work, everyday practices of navigating the city and its spaces can be both a deeply political act and a joyfully surprising one. Heng Leun cites Michel de Certeau’s ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’ (1980), thinking through the tactics available to the average citizenry to reclaim their political autonomy. Another conceptual influence is political geographer Edward Soja’s “thirdspace,” which considers how people live in and experience their physical and built environment. Many of Heng Leun’s large-scale community projects have taken up residence in that intersection between public space and the imaginative space. The performance and art installations are woven into the everyday rhythms and desire paths of residents, perhaps most prominently in ‘Both Sides, Now’ (2013-present) which tackles taboo conversations around end-of-life care. Most of these productions are free of charge, and demonstrate how art can be both relevant and accessible. These works spend years in a single location, rather than a few pricey evenings in a formal theatre space. They invite the public into a work, and offer them a place to stay.

A final performance space Heng Leun has devoted his energies to is ecological space ‘The Cemetery: Dawn and Dusk’ (2015) is a diptych that remains one of the most powerful and moving productions I have ever experienced. ‘Dawn’ took place at daybreak in Bukit Brown Cemetery. We woke up at 4am and made our way to the cemetery in darkness. As the sun came up, we witnessed dance/movement artists perform — adjusting to and interacting with the serendipitous and near-magical choreographies of the natural world. The audience was given the day to sit with this atmospheric experience, and at night we filed into a black box space to witness ‘Dusk’, a verbatim piece put together from the interviews, speeches, press releases and news reports about the contentions over the cemetery. The performance articulates land contestation through movement, music and the elements, but also through testimonies of all those invested in the site — be they the state, individuals or heritage groups. To me, ‘It Won’t Be Too Long’ is an exemplar of what it means to work with a contested environment, and to offer audiences an experience of both education and awe. 8 Heng Leun continues this dedication to the overlooked histories of land. ‘Tanah•Air 水 • 土: A Play In Two Parts’ (2019) turned its gaze to the dispossession of indigenous Malays and Orang Seletar. Most recently, his work ‘ubin’ (2022) foregrounded the narratives of islanders living away from the Singaporean mainland, and how we might reimagine and re-wild our relationships with bodies of land and water.

One refrain in these works is to contemplate how we can act as stewards of the land and sea we tread on and move through, not unlike the sustainable and sacred relationships indigenous people have established with their natural environment. This stewardship is, to me, a key aspect of Heng Leun’s cultural leadership. It considers how leadership is meant to be renewed — and that a large part of leading is also letting go. Heng Leun’s tenure as Nominated Member of Parliament for the Arts (20162018) allowed him to champion the importance of the arts in civic life. He rendered visible the challenges faced by the arts industry, but also addressed wider concerns around building an inclusive and empathetic society. His attention to continuity, whether as NMP or as former artistic director of Drama Box, speaks to his dedication to the harder work of sustaining infrastructures and relationships, not just for the right-now. Heng Leun’s work as a cultural leader has always been about empowering others to continue, challenge and improve on the work that he has done.

‘Underclass’ by Drama Box and The Necessary Stage, 2018. Photo courtesy of Tucky’s Photography

Heng Leun (second from right), with fellow alumni from NUS’s Chinese Society Drama Group, having decided to form Drama Box, 1990.

Photo courtesy of Drama Box

Corrie Tan is a theatre and performance studies researcher, dramaturg, educator and critic from Singapore.

‘The Cemetery: Dawn, part of the trilogy It Won’t Be Too Long’, presented at Singapore International Festival of the Arts, 2015.

Photo courtesy of The Pond Photography

1 Chow, Clara. 2006. “Stage flight: the Monday Interview with Kok Heng Leun.” The Straits Times 6 November 2006.

2 Backlogues 2022. Ep 8: “We Need This Burden” featuring Kok Heng Leun and hosted by Serene Chen and Charlene Shepherdson, 6 June. https://www. backlogues.sg/episodes/8, accessed 16 September 2022.

3 Boal, Augusto. 2002. ‘Games for Actors and Non-Actors’, translated by Adrian Jackson. London and New York: Routledge.

4 Tan, Corrie. 2015. “Telling tales your way: Spectators can turn actors and change plots in social-themed shows held in inflatable theatres.” The Straits Times, 23 June, pp. C4-5.

5 Tan, Corrie. 2022. “The Lesson: Critical dialogue in the public sphere,” in Changing Places: Drama Box and the Politics of Space edited by Charlene Rajendran and Richard Gough, pp. 46-63. Aberystwyth, Wales: Centre for Performance Research.

6 Ke, Weiliang. 2020. “From GoLi to Zoom: “The Lesson – An Online Experiment” by Drama Box,” ArtsEquator 7 October. https://artsequator. com/the-lesson-online-drama-box/, accessed 27 September 2022.

7 Tan, Corrie. 2022. “The Lesson: Critical dialogue in the public sphere,” p. 59.

8 Said, Nabilah, Corrie Tan and Dia Hakim. 2022. “Podcast 105: SIFA 2022,” ArtsEquator, 1 July. https://artsequator.com/podcast-sifa-2022/ accessed 27 September 2022.

This award is dedicated to the late Madam Chen Poh Chang.

Thank you President Halimah, Minister Edwin Tong, National Arts Council, and the Cultural Medallion Specialist Panel, for acknowledging and supporting socially engaged artistic practices which have become synonymous with Drama Box.

Socially engaged practice is about creating an open space for dialogue and acts of repair, intervention and imagination. In this deeply reflective and collaborative venture, I am thankful to:

• Kuo Pao Kun, Goh Lay Kuan, Danny Yung, Paulo Freire, and the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal, for your teaching;

• The Necessary Stage (especially Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma) and The Substation, places where I unlearn and dream;

• Ngiam Su-Lin and friends in ArtsWok Collaborative for 10 years of ‘Both Sides, Now’;

• Col laborators such as Wan Ching, Big, Danny Yeo, Chee Wai, Jean Ng, Otto Fong, Jean Tay, How Wee, Psyche Chui, Hella Chan, Woan Wen, The Observatory, Jeffrey Yue, Jed Lim, Art Factory, Wendy Chua, Shirley Soh, anGie seah, Alecia Neo, Jasmine Ng, Adib Kosnan, Moli Mohter, Genevieve Peck, Max Tan, Zhiying, Corrie Tan, Gua Khee, Ching Lee, Singapore Heritage Society, and many more;

• The production team, with special mention to Dan Fong: you are the ones who ensure all ideas on paper become reality;

• Li Xie, a wonderful comrade who laid important foundations for our practice;

• My Drama Box family: pioneer members, board of directors, colleagues past and present, and the ARTivators. Thank you Hui Ling, Xuemei, Ailing, Josephine, Amanda, Lay Pheng, Siaw Hui, Han Chung, Jo Lim, Yi Kai, and a special mention to Jia Ying;

• P rof Quah Sy Ren for nominating me; and together with Dr Charlene Rajendran, you have contributed to my growth as a practitioner through honest and meaningful dialogues.

My work is never complete without the community and the audience who have participated to create, voice, animate, vote and intervene to make changes: you are an inspiration and a part of this practice. Thank you.

Lastly, to my family: my late father, my mum, my brother, Hong, Wenyi and 小马. Thank you for being there, always.

young artist award

The Young Artist Award represents Singapore’s highest award for young arts practitioners, aged 35 and below, whose artistic achievements and commitments have distinguished them among their peers. It encourages young practitioners to continue pursuing excellence in the arts and to look towards inspiring others.

Since it was established in 1992, the Young Artist Award has been conferred on 173 artists in the fields of film, literary arts, performing arts and visual arts. Each recipient of the Young Artist Award is eligible for a grant of up to $20,000 that supports their future artistic pursuits and development.

The Young Artist Award is presented by the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth

Ho Rui An

Rit Xu

Jerrold Chong

Guo Ningru

Guo Ningru

Guo Ningru (b. 1987) is a sound designer with more than a decade of experience designing sound for both local and regional productions.

Her interest in music and theatre took root in secondary school and led her to pursue a degree in Technical Theatre Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts, specialising in Sound Design. In 2016, upon receiving the National Arts Scholarship from the National Arts Council, Singapore, she furthered her education pursuing an MFA in Sound Design at the renowned Sound Design programme at University of California Irvine (UCI) where she graduated in 2019.

Ningru believes strongly that art not only has an impact on lives but can also inspire social change. She sees her work as an extension of that possibility and continues to explore ways to elevate the human experience through sound design. Her MFA Thesis, ‘Going Immersive: The Case for Spatial Audio Systems in Theatre Sound Design’, specifically identified and discussed the current technologies available for sound designers to implement spatial audio designs which aids storytelling and helps achieve hyperrealism through the aural experience.

Ningru’s body of work explores the use of multidirectional audio and time-based localisation, recreating a three-dimensional aural space which presents audiences and listeners with hyperrealism, or the opposite – to create an expressionist larger-than-life world of sound. Some examples of such techniques were seen in her designs for UCI’s ‘Pajama Game’ (2019), T.H.E Dance Company’s ‘PheNoumenon’ (2019) and Singapore Repertory Theatre’s ‘Fly High’ (2020).

In the T.H.E dance production of ‘Infinitely Closer’ (2022), she implemented a 360° d&b Soundscape system to envelope the listener from all directions. The result was not just a heightened aural experience, it also helped to drive the narrative of the dance performance. The work served as the opening performance at Esplanade’s latest venue – Singtel Waterfront Theatre, paving the way for many more ground-breaking designs in the space.

Ningru is committed to nurturing the budding sound designers, taking every opportunity she can to serve as a resource and mentor to the next generation.

Behind her tech table at ‘Miss Julie’ at Singapore Repertory Theatre, 2022.

Photo courtesy of Singapore Repertory Theatre

young artist award 2022

a conversation with

Guo Ningru

Tell us about your earliest memories encountering the arts. Who or what were your key influences in sound design?

In secondary school, I loved English Literature classes. I also played the piano. Being in the choir, we would put up musicals every year. I was intrigued not just by the music but also the creation process of musical theatre. I loved how the choreography, text and design elements came together so magically with the music. Upon finishing my A levels, I decided to pursue a degree in Technical Theatre for my higher education. My love for music and a keen understanding of physics and programming then led me to choose Sound Design as my specialisation.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in your artistic journey and what motivated you to continue in spite of these challenges?

In a small country and busy city like Singapore, it can be difficult to continuously create fresh work. We need new challenges, a change of

scenery, new people and places, to inspire us. I have to constantly remind myself to not just do what is easy or comfortable, but also ask myself what I bring to each project. What can I try in every project to think out of the box, and push my own boundaries, and drive my personal growth?

Please share what a typical day in your life as a sound designer is like.

It is based on which phase of production I’m in. There is the preproduction conceptualisation phase, the rehearsal/creation phase, and the technical rehearsals/performance period. During conceptualisation, the director and designers have meetings to discuss the look and feel of the show, bounce ideas off each other, and come up with a design plan. During rehearsals, I would create and try out the content of the show.

Eventually the entire show’s content is crafted before we go into the load-in, technical rehearsals, and performance period. These are long days putting together all the design elements, leading to the opening night.

What is your personal philosophy in life, and how does it translate into your artistic practice?

The work we do has to inspire positive change, and tell important stories. Art has no purpose if it’s not felt and understood by its audience. Neither does it serve any purpose in society if it’s art for its own sake. The music I write, or the systems I design, must help to tell the story, convey emotions, and touch the hearts of the audience.

What do you want the audience to experience through your work?

In a well-designed system design, the audience would be immersed in the story without being distracted by the sounds; to feel and be part of the story, and be moved by the compositions and sound design content I create.

What advice would you give the younger generation who would like to pursue a career in your field?

Guo Ningru 25

What are your hopes and vision for Singapore’s sound design scene?

I hope that theatre sound design will become more recognised when compared to its visual design counterparts (lighting design, scenic design, projection design, and more). Very often only the very obvious sound content will be mentioned in reviews and critiques, while the technical sound design is barely understood by the audience or reviewers.

I hope that local theatre awards will mature and acquire more depth in this area so as to give due recognisation fairly and accordingly –the way the Tony Awards in the US now understands the differences between Sound Design for a Play, and Sound Design for a Musical. It is also my hope that more young sound designers pursue this invisible craft.

How does receiving the Young Artist Award change things for you? Tell us more about how you would like to further grow and contribute to the arts scene?

The award is not only an affirmation for the work I do, but it also gives recognition to my collaborators. I hope the award will lead to a wider range of sound design projects, and become a springboard for more international and local collaborations. I hope to provide better mentorship to the younger generation and help them start their own journeys as sound designers.

words of appreciation

This award is a great honour of the craft that I put my heart into for so many years. I am grateful to the family and friends who have been with me through this journey:

My husband Brandon, you are my cornerstone, my bedrock, my anchor. Thank you for being with me through all these years, and thank you for being you.

Mummy, Xingru, Ma, and our darling little Carmelle, you all have been the greatest support through my busyness.

My dearest friends and battle-mates Elim, Melissa, Jing, James, Genevieve, Rong Zhao for always running alongside me. Thank you for all the good times and friendship.

Thank you to my mentors Vinnie, Jeffrey Yue, Mike Hooker, Jeff Polunas, BC Keller for your guidance, friendship, and helping me achieve the things I can today.

Thank you Gaurav, Heng Leun, Jian Hong, Swee Boon, Tracie, Juliet, Darron, Carolene, Tusitala and d&b for supporting me and believing in me.

Thank you National Arts Council, Singapore for the affirmation with the award and thank you for the support and believing in me through the years.

Lastly, thank you to all my collaborators, friends and colleagues in theatre, music and the arts scene for shaping me and my craft.

Behind her tech table at ‘Mrs Packard’ with D-Mitri and Spacemap at University of California, 2019. Photo courtesy of Guo Ningru

young artist award 2022

Ho Rui An

Ho Rui An (b. 1990) is an artist and writer working in the intersections of contemporary art, cinema, performance and theory. His work often takes the form of long-term, research-based projects examining systems of governance in a global age.

His passion for the arts began in secondary school where he cultivated his sensibility for the moving image through the Art Elective Programme. Following his studies in art and anthropology across schools in London and New York, he returned to Singapore and has since developed a practice well regarded locally and internationally for its compelling and rigorous engagement with history, geopolitics, economics and visual culture.

His projects have been shown at numerous biennales and major institutions, including the Gwangju Biennale; Jakarta Biennale; Kochi-Muziris Biennale; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Singapore Art Museum; and Para Site, Hong Kong. In 2021, his first major institutional solo exhibition opened at Kunsthalle Wien. In the same year, he was a finalist for the Future Generation Art Prize, one of the largest global contemporary art prizes for young artists. In 2018, he was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program.

Installation view of Screen ‘Green at Public Spirits’, organised by Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, 2017.

Photo courtesy of Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle

As a performer, he has presented work at festivals such as Theatertreffen, Berlin; SPIELART Festival, Munich; and TPAM –Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama. His work has also circulated within film networks, most prominently at the 65th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany, where he won the International Film Critics’ Prize (FIPRESCI Prize). He is also a prolific writer who has authored many books and essays, including a forthcoming monograph published by Spector Books, Leipzig.

Approaching his work as a form of public pedagogy, he has taught at several educational institutions across Asia and Europe and frequently organises workshops and dialogues to broaden the public discourse around contemporary art in Singapore and beyond.

Tell us about your earliest memories encountering the arts. Who or what were your key influences in the visual arts?

I remember enjoying making images since I was a child. My family didn’t have an artistic background, so I’m thankful that they encouraged me to pursue my interests, even though it did set me on a trajectory that is still quite unfamiliar to them. As I entered my 20s, my most formative influences were from the moving image, and I eventually wrote my undergraduate dissertation on the Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The writings of the film historian May Adadol Ingawanij and the anthropologist Rosalind C. Morris, among others, were also important in opening me towards new ways of thinking with images.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when creating new works?

As with most long-term research-based practices, the challenge is always securing enough resources to support the development of the work. Most of my projects involve archival and on-site research across different locations around the world that typically takes two to three years before any kind of work is produced, so institutional support is really necessary for me to sustain my practice. However, the speed of production in contemporary art sometimes makes it difficult to find the right institutions that are willing to invest in such a demanding process. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was extremely challenging to continue working on my projects but something positive that came out of that situation was that it prompted many of us within the cultural field to reflect on the need to slow down.

What motivated you to continue in spite of these challenges?

I find that once a project gets going, I’ll get so absorbed into the process that I am compelled to see it to its completion despite the circumstances. Sometimes, it just means taking more time or a different approach. It’s almost like there’s a responsibility that I feel not so much to the different institutions and people who have supported the work as to the work itself.

Please share what a typical day in your life as a visual artist is like?

It really depends on how far in the process I am with the projects I’m working on at any given time. When I’m researching, I tend to take my time to gather materials by reading, watching films, doing fieldwork and talking to different people. When I start to shift into production mode, it could be months and months of writing, filming and editing. There is also a tendency in my projects for the research, production and presentation of the work to happen simultaneously. For instance, very often when I travel to present a completed project, I would also use the time to also do research for ongoing projects.

What do you want the audience to experience through your work?

My aspiration for my work is that it can open up new ways of looking at a particular subject. For me, I don’t really expect my audience to agree with all the arguments that I present in my work. It’s more important that the work serves as a provocation for them to question their own positions and reflect upon how those positions were given form to begin with.

‘Performance of The Economy Enters the People’ at Singapore Art Museum, 2022. Photo courtesy of Singapore Art Museum

Installation view of ‘Asia the Unmiraculous’ (2018–20) at ‘The Ends of a Long Boom’, organised by Kunsthalle Wien, 2021.

What advice would you give the younger generation who would like to pursue a career in your field?

I find it difficult to give advice that’s not targeted at anyone in particular as everyone is born into different circumstances in life that determines how easily they can pursue a career in the arts, if that even presents itself as an option. So I would say that the best advice I can give is to never take the advice of any one person too seriously.

What are your hopes and vision for Singapore’s visual arts scene?

My hope is for an art world that nurtures a diversity of practices that enable us to imagine and build a collective life that is worth living. My vision is for a kind of art that envisions futures that are not merely better than our present predicament, but also more evenly distributed.

How does receiving the Young Artist Award change things for you? Tell us more about how you would like to further grow and contribute to the arts scene?

I’ve always said that although not every work of mine mentions Singapore, it is always my point of departure, sometimes despite my intentions. Given this, it means the world to me to have my practice recognised in the country with this honour. I’ll continue to pursue projects that expand our understanding of the world through Singapore (and of Singapore through the world) and hopefully inspire the next generation of artists and thinkers to continue the struggle for a better world.

words of appreciation

My achievements today would not be possible without:

My family, for the love and support that has kept me going throughout the years;

Daniel Kok, Heman Chong, Ho Tzu Nyen, Lee Weng Choy, Michael Lee, Noorlinah Mohamed, Ong Keng Sen and Tang Fu Kuen for giving form to the trajectory of my practice since the early years;

Anna Lovecchio, Eugene Tan, Joshua Lim, June Yap, Khim Ong, Magdalena Magiera, Melanie Pocock, Op Sudasna, Supamas Phahulo and Ute Meta Bauer for providing me the opportunities for my practice to grow into what it is today;

Ang Siew Ching, Henry Tan, Kathleen Ditzig, Kenneth Tay, Orawan Arunrak, Tan Biyun, Yap Seok Hui, Zai Tang, Zian Chen and Zou Zhao for the many years of dialogue, collaboration and friendship;

All the institutions that have commissioned, produced, supported and presented my work;

My teachers who gave me an education in art and in life;

My co-workers in the cultural field who have laboured with me across my projects;

Ho Rui An 33

Jerrold Chong

Jerrold Chong (b. 1991) is a writer, director and animation filmmaker. He is the co-founder of local independent animation studio, Finding Pictures, as well as the Programme Director for Cartoons Underground, South-east Asia’s largest independent animation festival.

His animated works are often surreal, at times absurdist, tales that explore human connection, time and memory through the mediums of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation. His films tell human stories that blur the lines between the real and unreal, introducing worlds and characters that are unnerving, foreign and enigmatic, while investigating darker and more mature themes like xenophobia, consumerism and social inequality.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)’s prestigious Character Animation programme where he honed his artistic voice. His first film ‘Nascent’ (2014) won the Best Animation Award at the 6th Singapore Short Film Awards, while his subsequent films ‘Ways of Seeing’ (2015) and ‘Eclipse’ (2016) both premiered at Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) before travelling to numerous international film festivals. Upon his return home, he was commissioned by Singapore Writers Festival to adapt a local text to screen as part of its Utter programme in 2017, the result of which is ‘What Has to Be’. An adaptation of S. Rajaratnam’s short story of the same name, it is a black-and-white graphite animated film about two parents grieving the tragic death of their firstborn as they await the arrival of their second. It won Best Animation at National Youth Film Awards (NYFA) Open Category and the Craft Superstructure Award for the Best Film at CRAFT International Animation Festival.

His stop-motion, cut-out animated film ‘Piece of Meat’ (2019) premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and screened at festivals such as Busan International Film Festival, Annecy International Animated Film Festival and SGIFF. He wrote and co-directed ‘The Brown Dog’ (2020), a commissioned film as part of the 15 Shorts initiative. In 2021, together with his team at Finding Pictures, he co-directed the National Day Theme Song music video ‘The Road Ahead’, which topped YouTube’s Top 10 Music Video List that year and has garnered 4.3 million views on the platform thus far.

As a writer/director, he has participated in film labs including SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab in 2016, Annecy MIFA Animation Du Monde in 2019 and Docs by the Sea Storytelling Lab in 2022. Most recently, Jerrold was awarded at the Youth Inspiration Award at National Youth Film Awards, which recognised his contributions as an arts educator and a mentor in the animation film community.

Stills from ‘Ways of Seeing’, 2015.

Photo courtesy of Jerrold Chong

young artist award 2022

Tell us about your earliest memories encountering the arts. Who or what were your key influences in animation?

When I was a student, my teachers introduced me to films such as Koji Yamamura’s ‘Mt. Head’, Michaël Dudok de Wit’s ‘Father and Daughter’, and Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’. They all left a deep imprint on me.

I was born into a generation when Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ wowed the world. ‘Toy Story’ was also the first film my parents took us to see in the cinema. There was magic to the medium that captured my imagination. Thereafter, I became obsessed with the making-of videos of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and ‘Corpse Bride’. It was fascinating to get a peek into the artistry that went into those films.

Attending the Art Elective Programme (AEP) in secondary school opened my eyes not just to animation, but also to sculpture, painting, illustration, and even experimental video art.

Animation drew upon the combined skills and concepts from these artforms, and combines storytelling and filmmaking. Over the years, I have discovered independent, experimental animation by various filmmakers with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB); the Quay Brothers; and Czech filmmaker and animator Jan Švankmajer.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when creating new works?

With each new work, I’m discovering something new about myself as an artist and a filmmaker and what are the important stories I want to tell. Animation is a long, painstaking process and it can be difficult to maintain the passion. Then again, there’s a unique beauty we animators have with time. It gives you the space to reflect and have surprising moments of creative discovery.

What motivated you to continue in spite of these challenges?

There’s an unforgettable feeling when I’m watching my film for the first time in a cinema, with an audience and finding out their reactions! Working with artists, animators, set designers, sound designers, musicians, is very exciting, as they offer so many new perspectives. I cherish the creative connection.

Please share what a typical day in your life as an animation artist is like.

A lot of work starts from initial sketches and communicating ideas to potential collaborators. I also spend time writing scripts and working on pitches and treatments. When it comes to the production stage, time is dedicated to animating. Animation is an aspect I really enjoy as it’s very meditative. Whether I’m doing 2D hand-drawn animation or moving puppets frame by frame, I feel immersed within the world of my characters.

What do you want the audience to experience through your works?

I hope the audience feels a genuine emotional connection with the characters, to be in their shoes and to experience the world they inhabit. I like to include visual motifs, and I hope the audience will want to watch the film again, pick up on these clues and find a space to think and form their own interpretations.

a conversation with Jerrold Chong

Behind the scenes of ‘Eclipse’, 2016. Photo courtesy of Jerrold Chong

Behind the scenes of ‘Ways of Seeing’, 2015.

Photo courtesy of Jerrold Chong

What advice would you give the younger generation who would like to pursue a career in your field?

Be bold, be fearless of making mistakes, and have confidence in your inner voice.

Keep learning and be open to trying new things.

Find and build a community of like-minded people around you. Don’t be afraid to work with people who are better than you!

What are your hopes and vision for Singapore’s animation scene?

I wish for the local animation scene to become more diverse. There are many unique and talented storytellers out there, and the more opportunities for their voices to be heard, the better!

I also hope for space for independent and experimental animation to be nurtured and funded alongside the more commercial side of the animation industry. In the US and Europe, there is a beautiful trend of independent artists and directors working together with larger commercial studios such as Netflix, Sun Creatures, and Tonko House. That has resulted in fresh, innovative visual styles and storytelling approaches coming into features and series work that receive critical acclaim while getting seen by audiences.

My bigger dream would be to direct a homegrown animated feature film and/or series that can travel and succeed around the world.

How does receiving the Young Artist Award change things for you? Tell us more about how you would like to further grow and contribute to the arts scene.

I am humbled by this award. It serves as motivation to continue on this journey. Animation is a difficult process, and there are often moments of vulnerability and self-doubt. The award definitely helps gain more confidence in myself as an artist and my work.

It is my first year as the Programme Director for Cartoons Underground so I hope to use the platform to continue championing local independent animation and support emerging filmmakers.

Lastly, I hope that the award also opens up new opportunities for working with artists from different artforms, as I enjoy collaboration across disciplines and find joy in meeting new people and gaining new perspectives.

words of appreciation

I would like to convey my gratitude to the following:

To Eric Khoo, for his kind nomination and for being a huge pillar of support and inspiration,

To Si En, Puiyee, Tingli, Wei Keong, Jevon, Raymus and Chris for taking your precious time to write such generous recommendations,

To the National Arts Council, Singapore, for this award,

To my co-founders at Finding Pictures, Mark, Andre, Jia and Yihua, for taking this gigantic leap of faith,

To many filmmakers, artists and collaborators – Junxiang, Junfeng, Wei Keong, Harry and Henry Zhuang, Yanyun, Jevon, Tingli, Victor, Rebekah, Vicky – whose works have inspired me to go further,

To SGIFF, Objectifs, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, the Substation, Asian Film Archive, LASALLE and *SCAPE, which have supported and screened my films,

To my teachers, mentors and classmates at California Institute of the Arts and my AEP teachers, namely Mr Tan Siang Yu, Mr Daniel Kok, Ms Jacelyn Kee, and Mr Almeo Tan, for believing in me,

To my family, especially Mum and Dad who are always there for me,

To my wonderful wife, Jia Lee, for your creative energy, trust, companionship, and love in everything we do.

Rit Xu

Rit Xu (b. 1989) is an internationally recognised flautist, music educator, and one of Singapore’s most versatile talents who has distinguished himself through his lyrical, thoughtful and emotionally driven performances on the flute. Widely known for his dexterity, he excels in both jazz and contemporary classical music with elegance and breath-taking virtuosity. As a bandleader and composer, Rit is a leading global voice on the flute in jazz and whose musical vision reflects his improvisational and compositional mastery, melded with a deep commitment to his Singaporean heritage.

Rit was exposed at an early age to a variety of music through his musical parents. Rit had fond memories of his eclectic musical upbringing and was quick to absorb the different sounds and musical feelings that it ignited in him. In 2015, Rit graduated with an honours degree in flute performance from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) of the National University of Singapore. After winning the Jazz Association (Singapore) (JASS) overseas scholarship, he attained a postgraduate degree in jazz studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, New York .

Rit Xu performing at ‘The Rising Duo’ Concert organised by Singapore Chinese Orchestra, 2021. Photo courtesy of Singapore Chinese Orchestra

In 2014, Rit won the USA National Flute Association (NFA) Jazz Artist Competition, making him the first Singaporean (and Asian) to win a prominent solo jazz competition in the United States. Rit and his band (Rit Xu Group) have also represented Singapore at major international music festivals since 2019, such as the Vientiane International Jazz Festival, Singapore International Festival of Arts, Taiwan International Flute Festival and the Papandayan Jazz Festival (Indonesia). The band independently released their first EP ‘This Too Shall Pass’ in 2019, followed by a full-length album ‘Scenes and Stories’ in 2021.

As a concerto soloist, Rit has performed with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra as well as the Busan Maru Festival Orchestra (South Korea). Rit has also collaborated and performed with international artists such as Gil Goldstein, Alex Sipiagin, Billy Cobham, Randy Brecker, Hubert Laws, Antonio Hart, Jeremy Monteiro and Chok Kerong.

Rit serves on the faculty at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore Raffles Music College as well as ensemble-in-residence at YSTCM. Rit is also active in mentoring numerous young and aspiring musicians in the community through several music programmes such as the Lion City Youth Jazz Festival and the Singapore Street Festival. He is currently Assistant Music Director of JASS.

young artist award 2022

Tell us about your earliest memories encountering the arts. Who or what were your key influences in music?

My late father was a professional musician. He gave me a head start by exposing me to all types of Western-based music. My mother is an amateur but a really serious Cantonese opera singer, so traditional music is no stranger to me too. Because of my early exposure and eclectic musical background, I developed quite an elevated sense of musical understanding and a deep appreciation from a young age.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in your artistic journey and what motivated you to continue in spite of these challenges?

I was fortunate that I spent my formative years being focused on the craft of music itself, although for a long period of time, the inner workings of making music a career were quite elusive to me. In this aspect, I feel very blessed to be mentored by some of Singapore’s most

prominent and revered veteran musicians. I would not be where I am today without the kindness and generosity from those who came before.

During the pandemic I was using the downtime to build deeper connections with colleagues as well as my social media followers, be it through teaching or just pure conversations. I used to think that I was an introvert, but living through the pandemic taught me that we needed a mixture of both (introversion and extroversion) in order to function as normal human beings. No man is an island, entire of itself.

Please share what a typical day in your life as a flautist/ composer is like.

Practising the flute is my daily ritual, but there is always inertia in the beginning. It is what Steven Pressfield in ‘The War of Art’ called the resistance, our inner adversary. I enjoy practising, although getting into it sometimes takes a bit of time, but once I gain momentum, I am totally absorbed. I read a lot of music-related pedagogy books, for self-improvement as well as offering more ideas and solutions for my flute students. Some days I will be spending most of my time at the piano, either working on some harmonic ideas or refining potential material into complete pieces. In between all those activities, I make time for family, loved ones and relationships that are important.

What is your personal philosophy in life, and how does it translate into your artistic practice?

Curiosity. It’s important to know what came before; to be wellinformed — as best as we can — and grounded in the tradition of the music as well as that of the instrument that one is playing.

Imagination. I have always enjoyed playing music written by great composers past and present, but I also feel the need to create an alternative musical environment that is meaningful to me. Over time it began to take shape in the form of creating original compositions which have certain recurring elements: rhythmically flexible, harmonically inventive but, more importantly, a sense of melodic direction.

Daringness. At the highest level of improvisational excellence this is the crux of the matter: to be absorbed in the moment, listening and reacting to musical impulses coming from within you or from other musicians, and daring to take some risks.

What do you want the audience to experience through your works?

My music is a mixture of contemporary sounds steeped in a lifelong pursuit of music from my heritage and around the globe, with jazz

a conversation with Rit Xu

Rit Xu Organ Trio live at Maduro, 2022. Photo courtesy of Kishern Durai Rajah

Rit Xu delivering a masterclass at National Taiwan University, 2021.

Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Flute Festival 2021

as the binding ethos. I want my love for improvisation and focus on melody, groove, propulsion and group dynamics to take centre stage, and to redefine what the flute can achieve in a contemporary music setting. In the grander scheme of things I hope to “sing” stories about life and our shared humanity to my audience – through the flute.

What advice would you give the younger generation who would like to pursue a career in your field?

Devote yourself to your chosen instrument. Spend as much time as you can practising, and practise smart. Work closely with an experienced teacher on that, and actively seek feedback on your playing from your teacher and from other experienced musicians. Find every opportunity you can to perform for friends and family, and at social events.

Get more in touch with chamber music. Put together your woodwind group, string quartet or brass ensemble, and play some music together. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to develop ensemble-listening skills especially from an early stage. Attend masterclasses and observe how these masters approach the same pieces.

My approach to music has always been to study, study, study. When it’s time to play, be true to yourself and listen to what every musical situation really needs, and how best you can contribute. For me, nothing begins until one starts to listen.

What are your hopes and vision for Singapore’s music scene?

I look forward to the day where the sound and spirit of jazz in Singapore takes on a unique identity of its own, one which every discerning Singaporean will be proud of, and that it becomes a cultural phenomenon which overseas visitors will want to experience while here.

How does receiving the Young Artist Award change things for you? Tell us more about how you would like to further grow and contribute to the arts scene.

I feel very blessed and honoured to be given national recognition for the work I do. I hope to continue my work as a performer, composer and pedagogue, and to create projects for the betterment of music and our community. I am also interested to explore and engage in cross-pollination with other artistic disciplines, such as when the spontaneous spirit of jazz meets multiculturalism in cosmopolitan Singapore.

words of appreciation

Thank you National Arts Council, Singapore for believing in what I do. I am deeply heartened by your recognition of my work in raising the profile of jazz music from Singapore and bringing it into the community - and to the world.

Thank you so much to my family and loved ones for your neverending support in my creative endeavours. Dad, this award is for you.

Thank you Ms Annie Pek, Uncle Louis Soliano, Mr Tama Goh, Mr Joshua Wan and Mr Benedict Tan for your generous and kind words of support.

Thank you Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts for providing my artistic foundation.

Thank you Jazz Association (Singapore) for giving me an opportunity to widen my artistic development overseas.

Thank you Prof Jeremy Monteiro for all these years of guidance and mentorship.

Thank you to my friends and colleagues, my bandmates in Rit Xu Group and Lorong Boys. I am grateful for all these years of making music together and I look forward to more.

My heartfelt gratitude to the late Mr Iskandar Ismail. Thank you for teaching me not only to be a good musician, but also a human being.

1979

Dance Mdm Madhavi Krishnan

Literary Arts Prof Edwin Nadason Thumboo

Music Dr Choo Hoey

Music Mr David Lim Kim San

Theatre Mr Bani Bin Buang Visual Arts Mr Wee Beng Chong

1981

Dance Mdm Goh Soo Khim

Literary Arts Dr Wong Meng Voon

Music Mr Ahmad Bin Ja'afar Theatre Mdm Joanna Wu Quee Heng Visual Arts Mr Lee Hock Moh Visual Arts Mr Ng Eng Teng

1986

Dance Mr Goh Choo San Literary Arts Prof Wong Yoon Wah Music Mr Paul Abisheganaden Theatre Mr N. Palanivelu

Theatre Mr Nadiputra (Almahdi Al-Haj Ibrahim)

Visual Arts Mr Pan Shou Visual Arts Mr Teo Eng Seng

1987

Dance Mdm Som Bte Mohd Said Literary Arts Mr Hj Muhammad Ariff bin Ahmad

Music Mr Teng Mah Seng

1982

Literary Arts Dr Goh Poh Seng

Music Mr Leong Yoon Pin

Photography Mr David Tay Poey Cher

Theatre Mr Lin Chen

Visual Arts Mdm Georgette Chen Li Ying

1983

Literary Arts Dr Arthur Yap Chioh Hiong

Music Ms Vivien Goh

Photography Mr Ang Chwee Chai

Theatre Mr Christopher Allen 1984

Music Mr Kam Kee Yong

Photography Mr Yip Cheong Fun Theatre Mr S. Varathan

Visual Arts Mr Thomas Yeo

1985

Literary Arts Dr Lee Tzu Pheng

Photography Mr Tan Lip Seng Theatre Mr Low Ing Sing

Visual Arts Mr Tay Chee Toh

Photography Mr Lee Lim Theatre Dr Max Le Blond Visual Arts Dr Tan Swie Hian 1988

Dance Ms Lim Fei Shen Literary Arts Mr N Abdul Rahman (Singai Mukilan)

Music Mr Alexander S. Abisheganaden

Photography Mr Chua Soo Bin Theatre Mr Tay Bin Wee Visual Arts Mr Iskandar Jalil 1989

Dance Mrs Neila Sathyalingam Photography Mr Foo Tee Jun Theatre Mr Kuo Pao Kun

Visual Arts Mr Goh Beng Kwan 1990

Dance Mrs Santha Bhaskar

Literary Arts Mr Chew Kok Chang Music Mr Lim Yau

Photography Mr Wu Peng Seng Theatre Mr Han Lao Da

Visual Arts Mr Anthony Poon Kin Soon Visual Arts Mr Ong Kim Seng

1993 Music Dr Tay Teow Kiat 1995 Dance Mdm Goh Lay Kuan Visual Arts Ms Han Sai Por 1996 Literary Arts Ms Lew Poo Chan (Dan Ying) Music Mr Phoon Yew Tien 1997

Literary Arts Ms Ho Minfong Theatre Ms Lou Mee Wah 1998 Literary Arts Mr Rama Kannabiran 1999 Literary Arts Mr Abdul Ghani Bin Abdul Hamid Visual Arts Mr Chua Ek Kay 2000 Visual Arts Prof Tan Siah Kwee 2001 Music Mr Yan Hui Chang Visual Arts Mr Tan Kian Por 2002 Music Prof Jeremy Monteiro 2003

2005

Film Mr Jack Neo Chee Keong

Literary Arts Mr M. Balakrishnan (MA.Ilangkannan)

Music Mr Dick Lee Visual Arts Ms Chng Seok Tin Visual Arts Mr Lee Wen 2006 Music Ms Lynnette Seah Mei Tsing Visual Arts Mr Tan Choh Tee

From 2013, recipients of the Cultural Medallion will no longer be categorised according to art forms

2013

1992

Dance Mr Ying E Ding Music Mr Choo Hwee Lim Theatre Mdm Phan Wait Hong Visual Arts Mr Wang Sui Pick

Literary Arts Mr Yeng Pway Ngon Theatre Mr Ong Keng Sen Visual Arts Mr Lim Tze Peng 2004 Photography Mr Teo Bee Yen

2007 Film Mr Eric Khoo Kim Hai Literary Arts Mr Isa Kamari

2008 Literary Arts Mr Chia Hwee Pheng Literary Arts Mr P. Krishnan Music Mr Iskandar Mirza Ismail 2009 Dance Ms Angela Liong Pui-Yin Literary Arts Mdm Tham Yew Chin (You Jin)

Music Mr Lan Shui Visual Arts Mr Ang Ah Tee

2010

Literary Arts Mr Suratman Markasan Music Dr Liang Wern Fook Visual Arts Ms Amanda Heng

2011 Music Dr Kelly Tang Music Mr Yusnor Ef Theatre Ms Halimah Bte Jaafar (Atin Amat) Visual Arts Mr Lim Yew Kuan

2012

Literary Arts Mr J. M. Sali Music Ms Jennifer Tham Theatre Mr Thirunalan Sasitharan Visual Arts Mr Ho Ho Ying Visual Arts Mr Milenko Prvacki

Mr Ivan Heng Mr Mohamed Latiff Mohamed Mr Tsung Yeh 2014 Mr Alvin Tan Mr Chong Fah Cheong Mr KTM Iqbal 2015 Mr Chua Mia Tee Mr Haresh Sharma Mr Lim Hung Chang (Lin Gao) Dr Margaret Leng Tan 2016 Mdm Asiah Aman (Nona Asiah) Mr Koh Mun Hong 2017 Mr Djamal Tukimin Mr Law Wai Lun 2018 Mr Louis Soliano Ms Low Mei Yoke 2019 Mr Eric James Watson 2020 Mr Sarkasi Said Dr Vincent Leow 2021 Mr Chia Joo Ming Ms Rahimah Rahim

1992

Dance Mr Jamaludin Jalil

Literary Arts Dr Liang Wern Fook

Music Ms Jennifer Tham Music Mr Shane Thio

Photography Mr Lee Tiah Khee

Theatre Mr Lim Jen Erh Theatre Mr Ong Keng Sen Visual Arts Dr S.Chandrasekaran

Recipients

1998

Dance Mr Paul C. Ocampo Dance Mr Thamizhvanan Narayanasamy Veshnu Literary Arts Dr Gabriel Wu Yeow Chong Music Dr Joyce Koh Bee Tuan Music Ms Lee Huei Min Theatre Mr Alvin Tan Cheong Kheng

2004

Dance Dr Danny Tan Koon Meng

Literary Arts Dr Tan Chee Lay Music Mr Chan Yoong Han Music Mr Ling Hock Siang Visual Arts Ms Tang Ling Nah

1999

1993

Dance Mr Osman Bin Abdul Hamid

Literary Arts Mr Chia Joo Ming

Literary Arts Mr Philip Anthony Jeyaretnam Music Mr Ng Seng Hong

Photography Mr Bey Hua Heng Theatre Mr Lut Ali Theatre Mr William Teo Kah Kheng Visual Arts Mr Henri Chen KeZhan

Literary Arts Mr Henry Low Swee Kim Music Mr Aravinth Kumarasamy Music Mr Chua Lik Wuk Theatre Ms Ang Gey Pin Visual Arts Dr Chng Nai Wee

2005

Dance Mr Aaron Khek Ah Hock

Literary Arts Mr Alvin Pang Khee Meng Literary Arts Dr Cyril Wong Yit Mun Music Ms Katryna Tan Huey Wern Theatre Ms Li Xie (Lim Poh Poh) Visual Arts Mr Heman Chong Visual Arts Mr Michael Lee Hong Hwee

2000 Dance Mr Jeffrey Tan Joo Kuan Dance Mr Lim Chin Huat

1995

Dance Mr Mohamed Noor Bin Sarman

Dance Ms Nirmala Seshadri

Literary Arts Mr Simon Tay Seong Chee

Music Mr Ghanavenothan Retnam

Photography Mr Lim Seng Tiong Visual Arts Mr Baet Yeok Kuan

Literary Arts Mr Felix Cheong Seng Fei Music Ms Kam Ning Theatre Mr Kok Heng Leun Theatre Ms Lee Sze Yau Visual Arts Ms Hong Sek Chern

2006 Film Mr Kelvin Tong Music Mr Lim Yan Music Mr Toh Ban Sheng

Theatre Ms Beatrice Chia-Richmond Theatre Mr Chong Tze Chien Theatre Mr Yo Shao Ann Visual Arts Mr Francis Ng Teck Yong Visual Arts Mr Yeo Chee Kiong

2010

Film Ms Sun Koh

Literary Arts Mr Sonny Liew Literary Arts Mr Toh Hsien Min Visual Arts Mr Choy Ka Fai Visual Arts Mr Robert Zhao Ren Hui

From 2013, recipients of the Young Artist Award will no longer be categorised according to art forms

1996

Dance Ms Meenakshy Bhaskar

Literary Arts Mr Boey Kim Cheng

Literary Arts Ms Ovidia Yu Music Ms Siow Lee Chin Theatre Mr Ivan Heng 1997

Dance Mr Ker Ban Hing

Film Mr Eric Khoo Kim Hai

Literary Arts Ms Tan Mei Ching

Music Ms Lim Jing Jing

Theatre Mr Haresh Sharma Visual Arts Dr Lim Poh Teck

2001 Film Mr Cheah Chee Kong

Literary Arts Mr Alfian Bin Sa'at Music Ms Yee Ee-Ping Theatre Mr Goh Boon Teck Visual Arts Mr Chua Say Hua Visual Arts Mr Raymond Lau Poo Seng

2007

Dance Mr Kuik Swee Boon

2011

Literary Arts Mr Troy Chin Chien Wen Music Mr Joshua Tan Kang Ming Music Mr Nawaz Mirajkar Theatre Ms Lim Woan Wen Theatre Mr Peter Sau Jia Liang Visual Arts Mr Ang Song Ming

2013 Mr Bani Haykal Mr Chua Yew Kok Ms Grace Tan Ms Koh Hui Ling Mr M. Zaki Razak Ms Ruth Ling Mr Zul Othman (ZERO)

2018 Ms Faith Ng Mr Hilmi Johandi Ms Lim Ting Li Mr Sufri Juwahir Mr Zulkifli Amin

2019 Ms Emily Koh Mr Gabriel Chan Mr He Shuming

Mr Tan Wei Keong Ms Weixin Quek Chong

2012 Film Mr Liao Jiekai Film Mr Looi Wan Ping (Lei Yuan Bin)

Literary Arts Mr O Thiam Chin Dance Mr Zhuo Zihao Music Mr Darren Ng Tzer Huei Theatre Mr Brian Gothong Tan Theatre Ms Zizi Azah Bte Abdul Majid Visual Arts Ms Genevieve Chua Visual Arts Mr Tan Wee Lit

2014 Mr Chen Zhangyi Mr Ian Loy Mr Jow Zhi Wei Mr Lee Mun Wai Ms Siti Khalijah Zainal

2015 Mr Chun Kai Feng Mr Chun Kai Qun Ms Diana Soh Li Ling Mr James Tan Khoon Song Ms Kirsten Tan Mr Loo Zihan Mr Riduan Zalani

2020 Mr Irfan Kasban Ms Nicole Midori Woodford Ms Sushma Soma Dr Yanyun Chen 2021 Mr Charlie Lim Ms Chitra Poornima Sathish Ms Han Xuemei Mr Norhaizad Adam Mr Yeo Siew Hua Ms Zen Teh Shi Wei

2002 Dance Ms Tammy Ling Wong Film Mr Royston Tan Tsze Kiam

Literary Arts Mr Daren Shiau Vee Lung Music Mr Quek Ling Kiong Visual Arts Mr Tay Bak Chiang

Literary Arts Mr Ting Kheng Siong Music Mr Philip Tan Chin Wen Theatre Ms Natalie Hennedige Visual Arts Ms Tan Kai Syng 2008 Dance Mr Daniel Kok Yik Leng Dance Ms Xia Haiying Theatre Ms Aidli Mosbit Theatre Ms Cai Bi Xia Visual Arts Mr Jason Wee

2003

Literary Arts Ms Tan Hwee Hwee

Music Dr Zechariah Goh Toh Chai

Photography Mr Ken Seet Thiam Wui Visual Arts Ms Noni Kaur

2009

Film Mr Anthony Chen Zheyi Film Mr Boo Junfeng Film Mr Han Yew Kwang Visual Arts Ms Donna Ong Visual Arts Mr Ho Tzu Nyen

2016 Ms Alecia Neo Mr Ezzam Rahman Mr Liu Xiaoyi Mr Marc Nair Ms Pooja Nansi

2017 Mr Joshua Ip Mr Kahchun Wong Mr Kray Chen Ms Yarra Ileto

dance

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Dr Uma Rajan 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Dr David Zeitner

Ms Low Mei Yoke

Ms Melissa Quek

music

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Mr Eric James Watson 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Ms Christel Hon Prof Jeremy Monteiro Mr Joshua Wan

Ms Lynnette Seah Dr Ng Seng Hong

Dr Tay Teow Kiat

Dr Uma Rajan Mrs Wong Lai Foon

film

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Mr Joachim Ng 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Mr Gary Goh

Ms Emily Hoe

Mr He Shuming

Ms Jacqueline Tan

Mr Tan Wei Keong

literary arts

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Assoc Prof Chitra Sankaran 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Mr Chow Teck Seng

Mr Daren Shiau

Ms K Kanagalatha

Prof Koh Tai Ann

Ms Lee Huay Leng

Ms Pooja Nansi

Assoc Prof Tan Chee Lay

Mr William Phuan

theatre

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Ms Yvonne Tham 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Mr Chong Tze Chien

Dr Jeffery Tan

Ms Jobina Tan Ms Michele Lim

visual arts

Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award

Mr Low Sze Wee 1

Mr Low Eng Teong 2

Dr Bridget Tracy Tan Ms Emi Eu

Ms Khim Ong Mr Milenko Prvacki

Mr Ong Kim Seng

Mr Robert Zhao Mr Seng Yu Jin Ms Tang Ling Nah

1 Chairperson of art-form specialist panel

2 Co-chairperson of art-form specialist panel

The National Arts Council wishes to thank President Halimah Yacob for presenting the Cultural Medallion

Edwin Tong Minister for Culture, Community and Youth for presenting the Young Artist Award

The Specialist Panels in the selection of the recipients

organised by supported by

Edited by YEOW KAI CHAI

© 2022 National Arts Council

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from The National Arts Council.