Singapore’s arts and culture scene picks up pace

The arts and culture scene has been picking up pace, with many more events being held in Singapore than before, figures released by the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA) on Monday showed.

Singapore played host last year to some 33,884 arts activities, an increase of 16 percent from 2009 and a more than twofold leap from 2003.

This equates to more than 92 arts events being held each day in the year 2010, partly driven by an extension in the length of art exhibition days to 26,266 last year from 21,479 in 2009.

Thanks to an increase in travelling exhibitions and heritage outreach programmes in community centres, shopping malls and libraries, attendance at non-ticketed heritage events such as the Singapore HeritageFest hit 8.79 million last year, an increase by 1.1 million from 2009.

More people are also visiting museums in Singapore. The total number of museum-goers went up by close to 1 million in 2010 to an estimated 7.609 million from 2009.

Singaporeans are also reading more. The National Library Board reported that some 33.2 million book loans in 2010, its highest ever figure, up five percent from 31.5 million loans in 2009.

MICA highlighted that the recent opening of two new public libraries in Serangoon and Clementi illustrated the significant community role that our libraries continue to play in Singaporeans' learning pursuits.

Furthermore, economic data showed that the arts and culture sector had performed well in 2009 in spite of the recession that year, with growth in the Employment and Nominal Value-Added of the sector hitting 9 percent year-on-year.

See the numbers in greater detail here.