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Australia-Singapore Digital Residencies

Jamie Lewis, The Little Old Cooking Club That Could, Singapore. Courtesy of the artist.

About the opportunity

The Australia Council for the Arts and the National Arts Council Singapore will jointly deliver the third iteration of a program of four digital residencies between Australia and Singapore, two for each country. 

This micro-grant is an opportunity to seed research, projects or exchanges and collaborative processes between artists and/or creative practitioners from the two countries, with the potential to spark new connections or deepen existing relationships which may result in co-creation of new work. 

Australian applicants will determine their own digital residency structure/format with the agreement of a proposed Singaporean independent/institutional partner. This opportunity is not tied to specific creative or cultural outputs. The focus of this digital residency is concept development, research, collaboration and exchange. The only requirement is to provide a final report upon completion that outlines the learnings you have experienced throughout the residency and any potential future opportunities you hope to explore. 

First Nations and Global diaspora-driven engagement is a priority of the International Engagement Strategy 2021-25 in amplifying our creative relationships in the Asia Pacific.  

A list of previous successful applicants and projects through this program can be found below.   

The Australia Council will fund two successful proposals from Australian applicants (AUD $5,000 per proposal) to undertake a digital residency with their chosen Singaporean artist/group/host. 

Separately, the National Arts Council Singapore will fund two successful proposals from Singaporean applicants (SGD $5,000 per proposal) to undertake a digital residency with their chosen Australian artist/group/host through an open call early next year. 

Successful applicants will manage their own time, budget and resources throughout the digital residency, including rental of studio/rehearsal spaces, equipment, administration and technical support etc. in consultation with the chosen host partner/artist/organisation. 

Applicants are discouraged from submitting proposals for the same project to both Councils in order to combine the funds. There will only be one successful application per project idea.  

Additional support needs, including any accessibility support, interpreting and childcare will be provided on a case-by-case basis.  

We encourage you to speak to us about any specific access needs or support you may require, to ensure you can equitably participate in this program. 

The Australia Council invites applications from the performing arts, visual arts, literature, community arts and cultural development, multi-art form and emerging and experimental practice.  

The lead applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident with a proposed Singaporean counterpart. If you would like the Australia Council to broker relationships, please get in touch well before the application closing date. 

Applicants will have produced an independent body of work that demonstrates creative risk and experimentation in artistic practice and discourse. Applicants will also be able to demonstrate commitment to their local arts scene with strong relationships to their respective communities. 

Please respond to the open-text field in the application form with your artistic proposal of no more than 1000 words. Your response should consider the following: 

Applications will be assessed based on the strength of artistic proposal, and should articulate the intent of the digital residency, and the area of research the artists wish to explore.  

Proposals should reflect the mutually beneficial partnership between the Australian and Singaporean artists, groups and/or organisations with the clear intention of reciprocity.   

Applicants at any stage of their career are strongly encouraged to apply.  

Applicants are also encouraged to submit a video submission with an introduction of yourself, your artistic practice and your typical approach to collaborative processes (no longer than 5 minutes) in the support material field. You do not need to submit a budget or support letters for this program.  

Australia Council and National Arts Council staff will jointly consider applications according to the selection criteria above. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid-December 2021. 

For Australian applicants: 

Australian applications must be submitted via the Australia Council’s online Application Management System (AMS). You will need to create an account to access the AMS, instructions for how to do this can be found on the landing page. Please note: You must be registered in our Application Management System in order to apply for a grant. Registrations take up to two business days to process.  

Applications for International Engagement funding do not count as an application to the Australia Council Grants Program.  

If you are applying as an organisation, please specify the staff member(s) who will participate in this activity as part of your application. If this changes, please notify us as early as possible as this may affect the status of your application.  

The Australia Council encourages applications from applicants who identify as First Nations, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD), people with deafness and/or disability, and people living in regional and remote areas. 

 

For Singapore applicants: 

The National Arts Council will be releasing application instructions in due course. Please check the National Arts Council’s website (https://www.nac.gov.sg/) for more information. Please do not use the MCCY Grants portal for this application. 

2020-21 

Karma Dance Inc. (Australia) and Moonshadow Stories (Singapore) 

Karma Dance (Govind Pillai and Raina Peterson) is collaborating with Moonshadow Stories (Kamini Ramachandran) in partnership with Footscray Community Arts Centre (FCAC). They had conversations, shared ideas, and experimented with bringing their respective art-making practices of experimental Indian dance and storytelling to complement and extend each other in a new collaboration exploring an obscure, macabre Punjabi folk tale ‘Bopoluchi’. The folk tale tells of a marginalised young woman’s adventures as she hopes for a better life. 

Pia Johnson (Australia) and Alicia Neo (Singapore) 

The residency between Pia Johnson and Alicia Neo is shaped through research and workshops, and brings together their shared interest in exploring notions of identity, belonging, care and the search for self. The residency researched and investigated how experiences of diaspora, transcultural identity and wellbeing can be experienced through digital distance. Building on individual projects – Neo’s Care Index and Johnson’s series of works in family photography – the research dialogue will further extend each artist’s context and build potential within current and future investigations. 

2019-20  

Samara Hersch (Australia) and The Theatre Practice (Singapore) 

Samara Hersch and bi-lingual experimental theatre and producing house The Theatre Practice hosted digital workshops with eight teenagers from Singapore to engage in individual and collective exercises to open up thematics around ‘the body’ and ‘adult and child’ relations. Through mind-mapping (using the online platform Coggle), the group were able to open up shared insecurities, dreams and questions. Through the workshop, the young participants formulated personal questions that they would like to ask someone older than them, who they will most likely never meet, and practiced skills in hosting conversation and generating discussion (as opposed to interviewing). These exercises enhanced a sense of trust and curiosity in the group, making it a safe space to share fears and hopes, and build confidence to ask important questions. 

The workshops led to an online adaptation of Samara’s critically acclaimed work Body of Knowledge with an ensemble of young Singaporean artists for PATCH! 2021. 

Rebecca Jensen (Australia) and ZUL (Singapore) 

This artistic exchange between Australian dancer and choreographer Rebecca Jensen and award-winning Singaporean sculptor and sound artist Zulkifle Mahmod (ZUL), aimed to build strong foundations for creative collaboration. ZUL designed and created a custom wearable synthesiser for Rebecca Jensen to work with, which was sent to Australia by post. The spinal ‘synth’ includes light sensitive tweeters, variable oscillators and was built using cable ties to be played on or off the body. Its design follows the artists’ interests in their experiences of their bodies throughout lockdown, cerebrospinal fluid, the juxtaposition and interconnection between inorganic and organic materials, and the integration of found and everyday household items into imaginative, dystopian imagery. With the spinal synth, Rebecca Jensen conducted a series of choreographic/compositional experiments and research. 

Through conversations and attending the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM), the duo have further connected through P7:1SMA and Dance Nucleus.