2004-02-17

Over the past decade it would seem that the arts have become significant to the Singaporean state. This paper investigates the language which has been developed by government agencies and employed by government ministers concerning the arts and culture since 1957. It argues that the underlying intentions of the state towards the arts are to be found in documentation which existed well before the formation of supposedly new arts policies and most significantly within the written record of ministries not traditionally associated with the arts. The paper questions the claims that there is a renaissance of real artistic innovation in Singapore and considers the motives which may lie behind the creation of the newly-phrased arts and cultured infrastructure.