Guest Speaker Series #1On 24th of March, I attended a talk organised by the department on the topic “Internship and Volunteer Programme” in conjunction with the upcoming Singapore Biennale in 2011. The talk was delivered by Mr Tan Chee Sean, who is the manager for programmes at the Singapore Biennale. Before the talk, I only had the basic understanding of what the biennale is all about. And with this talk, though it might seem like a desperate “movement” for the organising team of Singapore Biennale 2011 to get volunteers, I learnt a bit more but it was just like scratching on the surface. Even after so much, I still walked out of the room not learning anything.
I did not find the talk beneficial because it catered more to the Visual Arts counterpart. For someone who is not really interested in Visual Arts, it seems like I am attending a talk for the sake of attendance and the need to produce a report. However, with the thriving arts scene in Singapore, I guess the objectives of organising the biennale would be slightly beneficial as the art scene in Singapore ranges from performing arts and visual arts. One of the objectives for organising the biennale is to position Singapore prominently in the world map - Climbing up the reputable ladder of being an arts hub for artists to showcase their works. This can be applied into the “rules” of promoting performing arts.
Being exposed to the basic running of visual arts allowed me to understand further. For example, why National Museum is chosen to showcase some of the artists’ work is because of the high quality it possesses and the need to require museum-quality space. I suppose that kind of artwork would cost more if compared to artworks such as outdoor installations because the protection the work piece needs.
Being introduced to the different departments that constitutes to the entire organising team was quite redundant as we (speaking on behalf of all the other Year 3s) have already gotten it drilled into our heads.
When Mr Tan Chee Sean introduced the different roles that is available through the volunteer programme, only then, I further realised that it is to create awareness for students to sign up for the various positions that is offered. He mentioned “We are currently short of volunteers and we need more”. I am speechless considering the fact that what I thought I would learn turned into a desperate recruitment drive. Felt a little disappointed though.
Ciao!