It’s been 8 years since we first set out on this meaningful journey creatively developing communities. To mark this occasion, we've put together a podcast for our new series Community Inspirations, in which we bring to you tidbits of insight about our field, in various formats. 

Join us for this inaugural podcast episode of our Community Inspirations in which Charlene Rajendran and Justin Lee, our Board Members, join our Co-Founder and Executive Director Ngiam Su-Lin have a conversation about the past, reflections on the present and their vision for future of arts-based community development.

How did arts-based community development come to be an important part of both the fields of arts and policy in Singapore? Why do artists play an important role in our landscape, both physical and abstract? How is interdisciplinarity a myth, and how do we dismantle it through intermediary work? This, and other interesting questions, are explored...

Here are some time-stamps to guide your listening:

0:00 – 1:35 Intro

2:04 – 8:48 How do Su-Lin, Justin and Charlene feel ArtsWok has transformed since it was founded?

8:48 – 14:22 How has (community) arts in Singapore also evolved alongside the work of ArtsWok?

14:22 – 20:53 How does our work as an intermediary facilitate the exchange of knowledge between different fields?

20:53 – 29:24 Given our Board’s different backgrounds, how have they been able to discover different kinds of knowledge in working with ArtsWok?

29:24 – 34:50 What are our hopes for the future of ArtsWok?

34:51 – 35:55 Ending credits

ArtsWok Reflects

We are an arts-based community development organisation that recognises the creativity and agency within individuals and communities to generate change.

We believe in collaborating to imagine and develop thriving communities in a sustainable society. Since 2012, we have done this through the creative producing of innovative projects that demonstrate the power of the arts for change, the capability development of growing practitioners in our field, and researching and advocating for arts-based community development.

As intermediaries, facilitators and creative producers crossing sectors, we connect people, ideas and resources; bringing artmaking, community building and civic participation together in a meaningful way.

ArtsWok Collaborative