Founded in 1990 by the late Kuo Pao Kun, The Substation is Singapore’s first independent contemporary arts centre. The Substation is centrally located in the city’s civic district. Their venues include a black box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio,Random Room and two multi-function classrooms. They present and co-present a wide range of artists and programmes, from traditionally trained dancers to local rock bands; established visual artists to young poets; publications to international short film festivals; experimental theatre to seminal conferences on Singapore arts and culture.
Over the years, The Substation has worked with some of Singapore’s most critically acclaimed artists, writers and intellectuals; currently we are working closely with our Associate Artists. Just as importantly, younger and emerging artists are constantly approaching us to use our venues, and to get our support. We are always open to new proposals and ideas, and would like to hear from you.
The Substation’s mission is to support research and innovation in the arts by:
•nurturing and challenging Singapore artists
•providing an open space for artistic experimentation
•promoting interaction between diverse artists and audiences
•facilitating critical dialogue in the arts
•fostering regional and international arts networks
From the start, The Substation has been committed to nurturing ‘local voices’ in Singapore arts and culture, and supporting diversity and depth in the arts. It is also a multi-cultural arts space with a commitment to raising awareness of Singapore’s
cultural memories.
Today, The Substation is no longer the ‘only’ venue in town, as the Esplanade, the Arts House, Sculpture Square, the Drama Centre, have been built (with similar-sized small theatres). Arts groups have also developed their own small spaces and developed the capacity to organize their own festivals and events.
In parallel with these developments, there is increasing global interest in “Asian” contemporary arts.
Yet, The Substation’s role as envisioned by Kuo Pao Kun remains crucial for Singapore arts and culture: as an incubator of new artistic work, artistic practices, and artists; as a much-needed gathering point for the arts community, the public, communities and people from different language streams and cultures; as a place where young artists and arts groups can have their start; as a space for critical discussion; and most importantly, as a place where artists can ‘fail’, and are given time and space to develop the critical rigor needed to create art of any significance.
