Singapore launches Culture Academy

Singapore's Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on Tuesday launched the Culture Academy to strengthen capability development and thought leadership in arts and heritage sectors.

The newly launched Culture Academy has its origins in the former National Heritage Board (NHB) Academy set up in 2010, which focused primarily on capability development for the museum sector in Singapore.

Recognizing the need to enhance the skills in wider arts and culture arena, the scope of NHB Academy has been expanded to Culture Academy, which aims to groom the current and next generation of arts and heritage professionals and administrators in Singapore.

The reach of Culture Academy has been broadened to encompass the training and development of arts and heritage professionals such as arts and culture educators, arts groups, heritage non- governmental organizations, cultural policy makers, docents and members of the Museum Roundtable (MR).

Beyond training and developing arts and heritage professionals, Culture Academy will create opportunities to grow Singapore's cultural networks to gain greater recognition within ASEAN for its research and cultural exchanges.

The academy aims to further research collaborations in Southeast Asian culture, which includes art and history of the region, as well as policy making for the arts and culture, amongst other relevant topics.

Yeoh Chee Yan, Permanent Secretary for MCCY, said they hope that the academy will help make Singapore a place where cultural leaders meet, exchange ideas and in so doing grow a deeper understanding of Singapore culture and that of Southeast Asia. Endi