Field Studies
Uncover the latest developments and key issues shaping the vibrant terrain of arts-based community development, including topics centred around the intersection of arts and community work, through a series of thought-provoking essays, explainers, and multimedia presentations.
In this essay, Thomas Kong shares about his work in social curating and archiving projects. He charts how he and his collaborators discovered this concept and through community art and heritage project Curating Whampoa, developed it further. Deftly weaving art theory with experience, he reflects on the meaning of archives, and how the process of compiling and sharing them is a deeply social and participative process.
Pre-Covid-19, socially engaged artist and interdisciplinary practitioner Fié Neo was journeying across America and Europe, where she started and contributed to projects driven by important causes. Back in Singapore now, Fié has many reflections on what she has learnt on her travels: both the beauty and the hard parts of working in, and with communities and wider systems. Get to know Fié, her work, and reflections in this interview.
How does artist Salty Xi Jie Ng work with people, and create spaces where they are free to express themselves? In her feature piece, Salty shares about her projects that were co-created with diverse groups of people from her time in the USA and Singapore. Read her fascinating insights on the magic that is created when people bring their true selves to a collaborative art-making space.
M1 Peer Pleasure's "What If" stood for many open-ended questions, which grew with the onset of Covid-19. Read our new Community Inspirations piece, composed of the voices of the cast, designers, production manager, and directors. This is a collection of our diverse team’s personal experiences, challenges, and learnings in creating this originally devised, digital production about the perspectives of our cast with disabilities.
How has community-engaged art been kept alive during this period of Covid-19? After a call we put out in July to ask arts practitioners about their experience, this article explores how their work has been affected and evolved, how space and digitalisation have played a role in this, and what new insights they have gained from this experience.
This paper highlights the cultural approaches, accompanying tools, processes and art forms to community development.
