Disbursement of $55 Million to Arts Sector since Its Announcement in March 2020
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the disbursement and policy implementation of the $55 million Arts and Culture Resilience Package (ACRP) as raised by Ms Carrie Tan. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai reported that the package has supported over 1,200 digitalisation projects and generated 10,000 work opportunities, including 4,000 for freelancers. Disbursement is managed through the ACRP Operating Grant, the Capability Development Scheme for the Arts, and the Digitalisation Fund, which includes grants for digital presentations and museum exhibitions. Additionally, Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai noted that practitioners received up to four months of rental waivers and an 80% venue hire subsidy to manage overheads during Phase Two. These initiatives are designed to safeguard the arts ecosystem, retain talent, and ensure the sector is positioned for post-COVID recovery through upskilling and digital transformation.
Transcript
60 Ms Carrie Tan asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) how much of the $55 million announced in March 2020 has been disbursed to the arts sector; (b) through which policies have they been disbursed; and (c) what is the plan and timeline to disburse the rest of the monies.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: The $55 million Arts and Culture Resilience Package (ACRP) seeks to safeguard livelihoods, retain important capabilities and talent in the arts and culture ecosystem, and help position the sector for the post-COVID recovery. This has been done through several grant schemes and other initiatives, which to date have generated over 10,000 work and training opportunities (of which almost 4,000 were for freelancers) and supported close to 1,200 digitalisation projects and programmes by local artists and organisations. The grants and initiatives include the:
ACRP Operating Grant to support arts and culture organisations, and those in closely-related sectors, which hold key capabilities in our ecosystem. This Grant is expected to benefit over 300 organisations, and we hope recipient organisations will provide work opportunities for their freelancers.
Capability Development Scheme for the Arts (CDSA) for arts and culture organisations and practitioners to upskill and prepare for a post-COVID-19 recovery.
Digitalisation Fund (DF) to support arts and culture groups and practitioners, cultural institutions, and cultural festival organisers to go digital with their arts and culture content, through the following three components:
Digital Presentation Grant for the Arts (DPG) to support ground-up efforts by artists and arts groups to present their work in digital form.
Commissioned work and partnerships to support larger-scale digitalisation of key festivals and events.
Digitalisation of our museum exhibitions and collections so that Singaporeans and international visitors alike can experience and learn about our heritage without leaving their homes.
Rental waivers for eligible tenants on government-owned properties of up to four months to help arts and culture organisations and practitioners defray costs.
Venue hire subsidy of currently 80%, at eligible venues for activities permitted to resume in Phase Two to help arts and culture organisations and practitioners manage overheads.