Artists from 10 nations gather for good causes

The Arts for Good Forum, an international collaboration between the Singapore International Foundation and Nalandaway Foundation, brought together a dynamic group of educators, arts practitioners and programmers. An interactive panel discussion was conducted on ‘Empowering Youth through the Arts’ to an audience of nearly 100 members of the public at the Stella Maris College. Individuals working with the arts and youth exchanged ideas and shared best practices to create positive social change in diverse communities.

The forum marks the end of the four-day Chennai exchange programme of the Arts for Good Fellowship organised by SIF. Over the four days, 30 SIF fellows of 10 nationalities not only gained insights into the arts scene in Chennai but also carried out several arts-based collaborative projects. One of these projects saw SIF Arts for Good Fellows from Singapore, India, and UK collaborate to create a mural with over 100 students in a high school in Thiruvanmiyur. Portraying dreams, hope, faith, and creativity, the mural was completed over two days.

“In a world that is increasingly threatened by growing nationalism, it is imperative for artists to play the role of peacemakers, connectors and negotiators. The Singapore International Foundation’s efforts to bring together a diverse group of practitioners, programmers, educators, researchers, and policymakers through the Arts for Good Fellowship programme is helping to build an ‘Arts for Good’ ecosystem that is much needed at present, shared Sriram Ayer, SIF Arts for Good (Fellow) and CEO & Founder of the award-winning NGO, Nalandaway Foundation while moderating the panel discussion.

Openness amongst the students to communicating and learning came into focus in a collaborative project involving a Tamil folk song with Malay dance movements for the students of a weekly Art Lab lessons conducted by the NalandaWay Foundation.