Students Bring the Arts to the Public
08 Jul 2013
The SYF Celebrations 2013 brought the arts to the masses. North Vista Secondary School brought the local art of batik painting to the streets, attracting interest from tourists around the Esplanade!
Today, the arts are no longer restricted to concert halls and exhibition galleries. It is happening everywhere and anyone can participate in and enjoy it. This is what our students conveyed recently in exciting mass activities that brought the arts to the public!
From 2 to 6 July this year, 5,000 students from 167 schools took to the streets to showcase their artistic talents as part of the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Celebrations 2013. Students went out to public places, such as the Esplanade, Ngee Ann City, Suntec City and public libraries, not just to perform but also to invite on-lookers to join in.
Through the SYF, students are encouraged to appreciate the relevance of the arts, pursue their passions and express themselves to a wider audience. For the first time, an open call was held to encourage schools to submit a whole range of performance entries via YouTube for selection, rather than limiting it to entries from the Arts Presentations in April. This clearly embraced the theme of “in•fusion”, which acknowledges the blend and variety of the arts today.
Reaching Out to the Public
To motivate and usher the crowds to the activities, student ambassadors were out in force. Brightly dressed students from Seng Kang Secondary School, for example, milled around the Esplanade to distribute collaterals and balloon sculptures, made on-the-spot for the public.
Students from Seng Kang Secondary School used balloon sculpturing to attract the public to various activities.
Students from Greendale Secondary School wanted to showcase how the arts can be relevant and easily available to the masses. To do this, they conducted an Instagram and Street Photography Master Class to teach younger pupils from various schools and members of the public how to use the photo-sharing application and apply basic concepts of photography. But more importantly, the student facilitators emphasised the importance of good photo composition and ideas, rather than technical know-how.
Over at the Esplanade, students from North Vista Secondary School demonstrated their batik painting expertise to engage visitors and tourists in the vicinity. They prepared materials for people to try their hand at the local art form, and attracted much interest and participation!
Building Confidence through Exposure
Opportunities to perform in public spaces also help students to build their confidence.
Young musical talents from Canberra Primary School wowed the audience with their voices and choreographed movements.
For instance, Canberra Primary School had their young musical talents perform publicly for the first time at the Library@Esplanade. Having been chosen during a whole-school casting, the young pupils had no prior experience in performing. In spite of this, they put up an energetic musical item with solo voices that wowed the audience and garnered much applause.
The vibrant SYF Celebrations 2013 pay tribute to the new blend of arts today and is a great learning opportunity for our youths. Visit the SYF Art Exhibition online from 3-30 July 2013 to view artworks and send in your comments to motivate our budding young talents!
