Cultural Connections – Volume 10 (2025)
Celebrating SG60: Deepening Roots, New Momentum
Last updated 24 November 2025
As Singapore celebrates 60 years of nation-building, the tenth issue of Cultural Connections adopts a twin focus: looking back on how the foundations of our arts and culture have developed and deepened, while also contemplating new trajectories and energies in an increasingly challenging world. We hear from voices that are both established and emerging, harnessing both accumulated wisdom and experience, as well as innovation and transformative potential.
The issue will balance both continuity and change, the old and the new, fundamentals and new directions, as we contemplate the past, present and possible futures of Singapore’s arts and culture.
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Foreword and Editor-in-Chief's Note
Rosa Daniel, Dean, Culture Academy and Dr Aaron Maniam, Editor-in-Chief [PDF, 74 KB]
The Museum on the Wet Rice Field
Kwok Kian Chow, Former Senior Curator, Director and Senior Adviser, Singapore Art Museum and National Gallery Singapore [PDF, 182 KB]
Celebrating SG60: Literary Imagination as Cultural Infrastructure
Pooja Nansi, Poet, Educator, Performer; Festival Director of Singapore Writers Festival from 2019 – 2023 and Young Artist Award recipient (2016) [PDF, 95 KB]
In Search of the Singapore Soul
Meira Chand, Novelist and 2023 Cultural Medallion recipient [PDF, 101 KB]
A Sense of Place, a Sense of History: Rethinking the Question of “Roots” In and Beyond Singapore
Professor Kwok Kian Woon, Vice-Chancellor, University of the Arts and Emeritus Professor, Nanyang Technological University [PDF, 127 KB]
Making Art From Emerging Long Histories of Singapore
Kwa Chong Guan, Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor and Visiting Fellow, Archaeological Unit of the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies [PDF, 161 KB]
In Their Own Words: Polarities (in, of and for) Performance
Dr Samuel Wong, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Teng Company, Mohd Yaziz Bin Mohd Hassan, Co-founder, Nadi Singapura and Meenakshy Bhaskar, Artistic Director, Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, Singapore [PDF, 147 KB]
In Their Own Words: The Necessity of Struggle? Continuity and Change in Singapore Theatre
Subramanian Ganesh, Founder, AGAM Theatre Lab, Nelson Chia, Co-founder and Artistic Director, Nine Years Theatre Ltd., Chong Tze Chien Playwright/Director, The Finger Players Ltd., Young Artist Award 2006 and Ms Shaza Ishak, Artistic Director, Teater Ekamatra Ltd. [PDF, 178 KB]
From Product to Process: Community Heritage-Making in Singapore
Dr Hamzah Muzaini, Associate Professor, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore [PDF, 281 KB]
Classical Music in Singapore: Possibilities for a Golden Age, and How to Realise Them
Goh Yew Lin, Chairman, Singapore Symphonia Company, Founding Chairman, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and Chief Executive Officer, GK Goh Holdings [PDF, 101 KB]
Bridging the Private and Public: A Journey of Patronage and Purpose
Rachel Teo, Co-founder, Private Museum [PDF, 101 KB]
The Global Imperative to Articulate, Evaluate, and Implement Arts and Culture as a Health Resource
Professor Nisha Sajnani, Founding Co-Director, Jameel Arts and Health Lab, Professor and Director, Drama Therapy Program, New York University [PDF, 206 KB]
Creativity as a Matter of Urgency
Lindsey McInerney, Founder and CEO, Black Sun Labs and CEO, Sixth Wall [PDF, 97 KB]