Reimagining Singapore

Chee-Hoo Lum is an associate professor of music education with the Visual and Performing Academic Group at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the coordinator of the NIE Centre for Arts Research in Education (CARE). CARE is also a member of the UNESCO UNITWIN: Arts Education Research for Cultural Diversity and Sustainable Development. Chee-Hoo's research interests include issues towards identity, cultural diversity and multiculturalism, technology and globalization in music education; children's musical cultures; creativity and improvisation; and elementary music methods. He is currently on the editorial board of Research Studies in Music Education (RSME) and International Journal of Music in Early Childhood (IJMEC). He is a board member of Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (APSMER) and was on the board of International Society for Music Education (ISME) from 2016 to 2018. He has previously been on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME), the co-editor of International Journal of Music Education (IJME) from 2014 to 2020 and an associate editor with the International Journal of Education and the Arts (IJEA). Chee-Hoo has published four edited books: (1) Contextualized Practices in Arts Education: An International Dialogue on Singapore; 2) Musical Childhoods of Asia and The Pacific); 3) Arts Education and Cultural Diversity: Policies, Research, Practices and Critical Perspectives; 4) The Artground Ecology: Engaging Children in Arts and Play Experiences, three co-authored academic books: 1) Teaching Living Legends: Professional development and lessons for the twenty-first century music educator; 2) Semionauts of Tradition: Music, Culture and Identity in Singapore; 3) World Music Pedagogy: School-Community Intersections, school textbooks, academic book chapters, referred journal articles and made numerous conference presentations at local and international settings. He has also successfully garnered a number of grant funding research projects (Tier 1 and Tier 2) through NIE OER, NIE AcRF, the National Arts Council and Mendaki of Singapore.

Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray is an artist and co-author (along with Chee-Hoo Lum) of the book Semionauts of Tradition: Music, Culture and Identity in Contemporary Singapore.  She has been conducting research on the arts for the National Institute of Education, Singapore, since 2016. In 2021, she curated Dialogues with the Unseen, an exhibition featuring experimental and documentary films by artists from Southeast Asia, at Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in New York City. Before researching the arts, Juliette worked in international development. She has conducted anthropological research in Indonesia, Brazil, Cuba and Argentina; and she has taught English in India and Nepal. 

Twardzik Ching Chor Leng is currently a senior lecturer at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and served as a member in the NIE Permanent Collection Committee from 2013 to 2018. As a contemporary artist and art educator, Chor Leng believes in developing local talent and resources in the arts. As such, she has served at the National Arts Council (NAC) Scholarship Committee, Lasalle College of the Arts Faculty of Fine Arts Industry Advisory Board, Ministry of Education (MOE) Art Syllabus Development Committee, and MOE Special Education Branch's Curriculum Advisory Group, and was recently invited to give a keynote address at the SZTU (Shenzhen Technology University, China) International Exhibition and Art Forum 2020. As a curator, she has overseen many exhibitions including international exhibitions such as Secrets in Life and Death (2017), an exhibition of paintings and prints by renowned Cheyenne and Arapaho artist Edgar Heap of Birds. She has served as a judge and curator in

This book approaches the subject of contemporary art by exploring the social embeddedness and identities of Singaporean artists. Linking artistic processes and production to both personal worlds and wider issues, the book examines how artists negotiate their relationships between self and society and between artistic freedom and social responsibility. It is based on original research into the discourses and artistic practices of local artists, with a special focus on emerging artists and artists whose work and perspectives engage with questions of identity. Reimagining contemporary Singapore and their place within it, artists are asserting their multiple and heterogeneous self-identities and contesting hegemonic norms and notions, as they negotiate and adapt to the world around them. This book is relevant to students and researchers in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, art, sociology of art, arts education, and race and ethnicity studies.

Chapter 1 - Identity Negotiation in Context: Three Artists and Their Works

Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray (Afterwords by nor and Farizi Noorfauzi)

Chapter 2 - Voicing the Nation through Visual Arts Education: Pedagogical Cues from Singapore Contemporary Artists

Chee-Hoo Lum (Afterword by Cecily Cheo)

Chapter 3 - Ritual Forage: Finding the Self in Mystical Realms

Twardzik Ching Chor Leng (Afterwords by Amanda Heng and Seng Yu Jin)

Chapter 4 - Soundscapes of Our Lives: Lessons from Singapore Contemporary Artists

Chee-Hoo Lum (Afterword by Natalie Alexandra Tse)

Chapter 5 - Social Practice Art in Singapore: Creative Approaches Towards Participation and Social Amelioration

Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray (Afterwords by Salty Xi Jie Ng and Alecia Neo

Chapter 6 - Negotiating Truths, Reality and Puns

Twardzik Ching Chor Leng (Afterword by Louis Ho)

Chapter 7 - Land and Environmental Art: Reflecting on Creative Processes of Singapore Contemporary Artists

Chee-Hoo Lum (Afterword by Zen Teh Shi Wei)

Chapter 8 - Giving Voice to Queer Feelings: Creative Choices of Singapore Contemporary Artists

Chee-Hoo Lum (Afterword by Regina de Rozario)

Chapter 9 - Hopes for Our Contemporary Art Scene: How to Improve Singapore's Arts Ecosystem, According to Artists

Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray (Afterwords by Priyageetha Dia, Dawn-joy Leong, Loo Zihan, anGie seah)