Speech by Second Minister S Iswaran at the Opening Night of Singapore: Inside Out, London

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening,

I am happy to join all of you at this opening at Singapore: Inside Out in London. This is an important year for Singapore. It is a special year - it is Singapore’s 50th year of independence. Our Golden jubilee celebrations are taking place throughout the year and the Singapore: Inside Out is one important aspect of it.

The Singapore Tourism Board has worked very closely with our creative talent in Singapore, as you see many of them and their works here, in order to bring the repertoire of capabilities and talent that we have in the field of the arts to the rest of the world. But I must say that having gone around looking at the exhibition and various artworks on display; you may as well have called it Singapore: Outside In. For many Singaporeans, it can be a journey of discovery as well. We opened this showcase in Beijing months ago, now it has come to London, it will go to New York thereafter and it will eventually come back to Singapore. It will be a very important occasion for Singaporeans to discover our own talent.

So why we are organising the Singapore: Inside Out? References to Singapore are more common in the business and economic parts of most publications and online media, than in the arts and culture. People are more accustomed to thinking of Singapore as a business and financial hub or as a place that is very efficient.

But we have, equally in Singapore, a thriving and growing art scene. This is in many ways a key and integral part to our heart, our soul and our identity - for what Singapore is and what Singapore is becoming. So this is an excellent way to bring them together. After speaking to some of the artists who are involved in the showcase, I realised that this is the first time that they are collaborating with one another, which is another great way in which this project has helped to take us forward in the area of the arts.

I thought this venue (Old Truman Brewery) is quite fitting. I had the opportunity to walk around the Shoreditch area earlier in the week and the fact that the arts scene here is so vibrant, it is fitting that we have chosen to put our own exhibition of the arts in Singapore here.  In addition, a lot of artists involved in Singapore: Inside Out are also in many ways collaborating with their counterparts in London and the UK, for instance, Randy has collaborated with local artists on various installations here. We have many others who are also making waves internationally.

I think this is a great opportunity to deepen our conversation and dialogue in terms of the arts, culture and what it means to us and how we can work together to take it further.

I hope everyone has a pleasant evening and importantly, share this with your friends and colleagues and ask them to come down to be a part of Singapore: Inside Out.