Site Visits
From an offshore island to the residential heartlands of Singapore, our site visits bring you directly to the neighbourhoods and locales where community art projects have taken root.
Hear from local arts organisations such as Drama Box, 3Pumpkins, ART:DIS and ArtsWok Collaborative, as they share about their creative initiatives and how they work with diverse groups, including youths, seniors, people with disabilities, and the residents of rental flats.
You will have the chance to encounter a broad scope of Singapore’s community arts practices in context, within the physical spaces and social settings they engage.
Project 12
by Drama Box
12 June 2025
9am – 12pm
Based in Pulau Ubin, Project 12 is an eco-social arts initiative exploring sustainable living on the island. Led by Kok Heng Leun, founding artist of Drama Box, the team has been immersed in research and groundwork since October 2022. As a community in the making, Project 12 brings together residents, stakeholders and artists in a multifaceted initiative that includes artist residencies, arts-based community-building activities, eco arts practices, an audio tour with visual art installations and more. This visit offers a unique opportunity to discover how Project 12 reimagines art making in response to the climate crisis.
About the Organisation
Founded in 1990, Drama Box is a socially engaged theatre company from Singapore, best known for creating works that inspire dialogue, reflection and change. By creating different ways for the audience to experience and participate in the work (and in life), Drama Box illuminates diverse voices in our society. Through its efforts to bring the arts into everyday spaces, the company also inspires reflection on our connection to the environment.
Art in the Commons: Cassia
by Drama Box
12 June 2025
2.30 – 4pm / 4.30 – 6pm
Started in 2022, Art in the Commons: Cassia is an ongoing exploration of community-building through the arts. Situated in a public housing block, the programme strengthens social connections between residents, many of whom are seniors living alone. Visit the neighbourhood and hear about the team’s efforts, from mapping out the community’s needs and concerns, to designing initiatives that promote mutual support. One highlight is the Boleh Bank, a community asset bank inspired by the Tokuino Bank from Japan. With boleh meaning “can” or “possible” in Malay, it encourages residents to identify their unique skills and help one another.
Art in the Commons: Cassia is organised by Singapore Art Museum, in partnership with Drama Box
About the Organisation
Founded in 1990, Drama Box is a socially engaged theatre company from Singapore, best known for creating works that inspire dialogue, reflection and change. By creating different ways for the audience to experience and participate in the work (and in life), Drama Box illuminates diverse voices in our society. Through its efforts to bring the arts into everyday spaces, the company also inspires reflection on our connection to the environment.
Tak Takut Kids Club
by 3Pumpkins
12 June 2025
2.30 – 4pm / 4.30 – 6pm
Nestled in a rental flat estate, Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC) is a community development project that offers a safe, nurturing space for children from vulnerable backgrounds, helping them build the social-emotional intelligence, essential life skills and leadership qualities they need to thrive. Known as the “Good Gang in the Neighbourhood”, TTKC inspires children to be brave and confident, reflecting the aspiration behind the name tak takut—“not afraid”. Learn more about TTKC’s evolution from a social experiment started in a small shop beside a laundromat, to a community ecosystem that has empowered over 500 children.
About the Organisation
Founded in 2019 by Lin Shiyun, 3Pumpkins is a community arts and development charity committed to facilitating strong human connections within and across communities. Their work sits at the intersection of art, community, education and social work. 3Pumpkins’s flagship project, TTKC, welcomes children and youth aged 7–14, supporting them to reach their fullest potential.
A Dialogue with
ArtsWok Collaborative
12 June 2025
2.30 – 4pm / 4.30 – 6pm
Over the past 11 years, ArtsWok Collaborative has been encouraging end-of-life conversations around what it means to live well and leave well, under their flagship programme Both Sides, Now. In this site visit, Executive Director Ngiam Su-Lin will share about the journey of Both Sides, Now, and how ArtsWok engages place-based and cultural communities through arts practices and creative approaches. She will also touch on ArtsWok’s efforts to further arts-based community development in Singapore, before opening the floor for dialogue with and among participants.
About the Organisation
ArtsWok Collaborative is an arts-based community development organisation that recognises the creativity and agency within individuals and communities to generate change. As intermediaries, facilitators and creative producers, ArtsWok connects people, ideas and resources across sectors. Since 2013, ArtsWok has been producing innovative programmes, developing practitioner capabilities, as well as building networks and conducting research to advocate for arts-based community development.
ART:DIS - Developing Disability Arts Practice in Singapore
12 June 2025
2.30 – 4pm / 4.30 – 6pm
What happens when participants in community arts education programmes aspire to professional practice? How do the dynamics of art engagement change as the focus shifts from social impact to artistic excellence? This site visit at ART:DIS explores frameworks that bridge community access programmes with professional development, highlighting the complex partnerships and ecosystem advocacy involved. ART:DIS will discuss the challenges of navigating barriers within the cultural sector, as well as fostering genuine growth and inclusion in the arts, through the lens of their disability-informed work.
About the Organisation
Formerly known as Very Special Arts Singapore, ART:DIS is a non-profit organisation established in 1993, championing education and livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in and through the arts. With three centres in the community, ART:DIS organises multi-disciplinary art programmes that enable individuals to discover their artistic interests, express themselves and be part of a community. They provide parallel professional development pathways, including training, mentorships and industry attachments, that further support PwDs to build professional careers in the arts.