With the world’s arts and cultural sector emerging from the worst of the pandemic, and now adapting to the idea of living with COVID-19, arts communities everywhere have been stretched by both new challenges and lessons learned. Looking back on the past two years, Paul Tan ref lects on the aspects of
the arts that endure even as artists, audiences, and the communities that support art-making
confront the future.
In many ways, the pandemic made clearer the trends which had already started, in particular, the push toward digitalisation. Much has already been written about the explosion in digital consumption of the arts during the strictest of the Circuit Breaker, as well as how the arts community was compelled to quickly figure out how to use the online medium, and how the government stepped up funding to enable the arts community to digitalise their programmes for greater outreach, in anticipation of the brewing health crisis.
Another trend that accelerated was the ability of artists to talk and transact directly with their
patrons and potential fans. Whether it was live streaming services for musicians, subscription
sites like Patreon, or the use of blockchain technology and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) for visual arts, there was certainly a growth of awareness and adoption of new tech-enabled distribution platforms.
But the pandemic also exposed some weaknesses such as the precarity of jobs in the sector. In pre-COVID times, the gig nature of the arts economy meant f lexibility, freedom
and working for one’s passion, but the pandemic proved a sobering reminder about practical realities: maintaining a buffer in one’s personal finances, the need for health insurance, the importance of being adaptable and willing to try new things. While governments around
the world rolled out many support schemes for affected arts sectors, the international arts community also rallied like-minded partners in the sector to self-organise initiatives and
48 cultural connections volume 7 take care of one another. Indeed, the last two
years were a trial by fire for arts communities everywhere. We are fortunate that in Singapore, our community showed a steely resilience and forward-looking optimism.
New Trends Amid Enduring Perspectives
But we also should resist the temptation of privileging everything that is new. While we
reflect on some of the latest trends, we realise there is much that endures with regard to the
sector. For instance, one can easily contend that these new aspects listed here are actually modalities of presentation or the evolution of the ecosystem, and that nothing at the core of arts creation or its appreciation has fundamentally changed.
To elaborate, there is truth in the argument that, for millennia, humanity has had a propensity for creative expression across different cultures. Think about the Lascaux cave paintings or stylised terracotta figures from ancient Asian civilisations. Whether modern global citizens think the music they listen to on their daily commute to work or the digital imagery on their computer games qualifies as art or not, these are creative expressions naturally woven into our daily existence. The value of the arts, and
the recognition that they need to be nourished and funded, I believe, has not changed.
I believe all humans have some innate capacity to value beauty. I would add that increased
exposure to the arts will build that capacity and, of course, it is helpful to have some domain
knowledge to help one better understand the context of an artistic creation and the formal
standards with which a work is assessed.
But domain knowledge should not be a pre- requisite. In fact, the notion that one must have
specialist knowledge to unlock the value of art has created an unhelpful, elitist perception of
the arts.
The potential of the arts to be a space safe within which one may explore tougher topics
like end-of-life or societal inequalities has not changed either. Whether during pre-COVID
times or today, this potential must be tapped, though it needs to be done responsibly and in a balanced way. Throughout history, the arts, encompassing the literary, visual, decorative, and performing arts across a multitude of genres and functions, have been an important vehicle for critical thought and social change.
Paul Tan
Former Deputy Chief Executive at the National Arts Council
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