ARTS AND HEALTH SINGAPORE REPOSITORY
An Online Database Charting Arts and Health Development in Singapore.
Cultural and Art Venues, Access and Wellbeing.
National Gallery Singapore
Silent Tour | Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.
This programme provides a platform for a reflective and introspective experience while interacting with the displayed artworks in the exhibition. The tour focused on encouraging its participants to engage in mindfulness as they slow down and pay close attention to artworks and the environment in relation to them.
Dialect Tour
By offering tours in various Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien, the dialect tour aims to increase accessibility and encourage museum-going amongst the older generation in Singapore. This gallery-tour is catered to multi-generation families and meaningfully engage them in lively conversations about art in everyday lives and foster togetherness through interactive activities designed to be enjoyed by all ages.
National Museum of Singapore
Quiet Mornings Initiative
Since December 2018, the museum has designated the several days in each month as Quiet Mornings. This initiative had catered to groups of individuals such as children with special needs, seniors and their caregivers. Quiet Mornings had given them an opportunity to tour the museum in a quiet environment before visiting hours and guided gallery tours for seniors were also provided by museum staff for special exhibitions.
Singapore Art Museum
SAM Touch Collection
This is an initiative by the Singapore Art Museum to extend contemporary art experience to audiences of all backgrounds and abilities. The collection is a series of artwork adaptations that are specifically developed to be portable and engaging for the visually impaired community. The collection is based on artworks by Singapore artists that are related to the historical, cultural and social aspects of Singapore. Each adaptation is also accompanied by supplementary resources and materials such as audio guides and reproduction of finer artwork details to enhance interaction and understanding.
Kopi, Teh, Contemporary Art
The programme started out as an experimental project with students from Nanyang Girls High School as guides to help seniors from Admiralty and Sembawang relate to the artworks in the exhibition. It aims to be the intermediary between seniors and artworks as a means to help change perspectives of contemporary arts and museums. Currently, SAM is in partnership with RSVP, an organisation for senior volunteers to provide training programmes for senior volunteers to become peer guides for senior participants. This programme is delivered in seven languages, including dialects, so as to cater to participants from diverse backgrounds.
Project Happiness
Making use of the narrative quality of contemporary art, Project Happiness aims to encourage sharing of experiences by students in Secondary Schools in Singapore. This project is done in collaboration with the Singapore Association for Mental Health to reach out to students through the arts and promote mental wellbeing.
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Sing Out Loud
This programme promotes the use of arts for active ageing among seniors. Each session is facilitated by artists, therapists and social workers and tailored to suit the needs of seniors with different levels of physical mobility. Seniors would undergo eight vocal training sessions over a period of two to four months in which they would learn about voice projection and essential techniques for singing. The programme is designed through continuous cross-sharing with organisations in the United Kingdom and Alzheimer’s Disease Association in Singapore before adapting it suit the cultural context of Singapore.
Songwriting For Hope
Using songwriting as a form of artistic expression, the project reaches out to vulnerable youth and enables them to share personal stories, while learning how to make music. Through a partnership with Singapore General Hospital, the project hopes to empower youths and allow them to discover the value in the life experiences which would turn into their hope for the future.
Theatre for Dreams
Theatre for Dreams is a drama and movement programme which engages youths in residential care, Singapore Boys’ Home. Facilitated by a drama educator and applied drama practitioner, Oniatta Effendi, the use of drama empowers participants to reflect and share about their difficult feelings and thoughts within the safe space. At the end of the programme, a private showcase was performed for the families and it provided an opportunity for parents and youths to establish a more positive relationship.
This is My Song
This is a programme that is facilitated by an applied theatre practitioner for individuals affected by cancer. Participants reminisce through songs and select those that resonated to certain points in their life. In 2019, the pilot programme was completed in a hospice with a small group of participants. At the end-of-programme showcase, the shared stories and songs were played for the family members which promoted emotional connections with participants and their loved ones. Going ahead, the Esplanade is also working with the Singapore Cancer Society to carry out this programme.
Dance for Joy
Conceptualised as a family programme, Dance for Joy is a creative movement programme for young people with autism. The programme is centred on encouraging family members such as siblings, caregivers and parents to participate together with their loved ones with special needs.
Intergenerational Footwork
Intergenerational Footwork is a programme aimed to reach out to troubled youths and seniors in the community. Through dance, it hopes to provide them with an opportunity for deeper engagement and keep active while the two generations participate in the activity together. Initially, the programme was created only for the youths and over the years was brought to the senior groups because of the known benefit that dance is able to enhance their physical and psychological well-being. Currently, the Esplanade had already made two runs of intergenerational footwork, bringing together students from Bowen and Kent Ridge Secondary Schools and seniors from Lions Befrienders Senior Activity Centre (Ghim Moh) and Thong Keng Seniors Activity Centre (Queenstown), to encourage intergenerational bonding within the community through the fun of Hip Hop.
Peranakan Museum
Culture, Kopi and Kueh
In partnership with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), the Peranakan Museum ran two cycles of this six-week pilot programme to engage 30 residents and five staff members from Ling Kwang Home for Senior Citizens. The residents and staff members were involved in facilitated conversations inspired by artefacts in the Peranakan Museum and participated in various art-making activities while sharing their personal stories with each other. The pilot programme had provided many learning points that provide a guide for future designing of programmes for seniors visiting the museums and heritage institutions.
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Be My Robo-Date
This programme is part of the National Heritage Board’s initiative to provide access for individuals who are unable to physically visit the heritage institutions. The remote-controlled mobile monitor is paired with a tour guide to provide an interactive experience as the tour guide helps to answer questions the visitor may have about the exhibits. This initiative helps to reach out to the under-served communities, giving them an opportunity to visit places in which they previously did not have the chance to.