MA (ACE) student projects!
Cultural diplomacy, analytics, policy, and intelligence – these are just some of the aspects of arts and cultural entrepreneurship that students learn about.
In the Master of Arts (Arts and Cultural Entrepreneurship) programme, our students exercise creativity through video creation, presentations, and interactive experiences, enhancing their skills and sharing ideas on their path to leadership in the arts and creative industries.
Check out their works below - tell us which one inspired you the most!
ACE5411 Cultural Analytics and Informatics
This course provides students with both theoretical and practical knowledge of how culture and cultural objects can be quantitatively analysed and how their meanings are dynamically shaped by applications of new media and technologies. In this course, students work with a collection or a cultural site or community to digitise or enhance discoverability of the collection, site or community using immersive technologies such as 360imx, 3D photogrammetry, virtual reality or augmented reality.
Immersive Virtual Tour of Singapore's Worship Sites
Site: Thian Hock Keng Temple
Students: Cherilyn, Cui Yu, Xinmiao, Wang Yao, Zixuan
Sites of worship are essential parts of Singapore's multicultural heritage, but can be difficult or daunting to navigate or understand. This immersive project aims to address gaps associated with promoting cultural knowledge and understanding using Thian Hock Keng Temple as an example. Using a diverse array of cultural data in various forms such as videos, sounds, and pictures, the 360 tour provides visitors with contextual an immersive encounter of the architecture, rituals, practices and festivals at the temple.
Women in colonial Singapore: Insights from Shopping News
Collection: Shopping News
Students: Yubei, Wenxin, Zoe, Crystal
Shopping News is a special collection that ran from 1938 to 1941 in colonial Singapore. Digitised by NUS Libraries, the collection provides a glimpse into the roles, stereotypes and perspectives for women living during that time. As a digital collection however, it can be daunting to go through hundreds of pages of pdf files. This virtual storytelling project offers imaginative insights into the collection and provides an experiential learning experience on key themes facing women during this significant period.
ACEasy: Make your ACE life easy
Site: NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Students: Jiahui, Yuxin, Xiaoshan, Zhuiti
Students who are new to the NUS campus may find the campus difficult to navigate, and international students may experience anxiety being abroad alone. Conceived as a gift to future ACE students, the project provides an engaging wayfinder in the form of a 360 and AR experience to address pain points experienced by current ACE students.
ACE5410 Cultural Diplomacy and Intelligence
Culture is a key driver for diplomacy and intelligence. Students will develop the capacity to translate cultural intelligence into programmes and actions that promote the respect and understanding of diverse culture, and develop skills in pitching proposals and report writing with clear position on cultural diplomacy and intelligence supported by strong research.
Student groups were given the scenario that they were research consultancies specialising in cultural diplomacy, intercultural understanding and cultural intelligence, who were tasked with engaging an arts/cultural organisation to evaluate one of their programmes and make recommendations for how to improve their capacity to respond to cultural diversity.
Huayi - Chinese Festival of the Arts
Students: Cheng Hiu Wa Annie, Choo Jun Clive, Leung Lam, Mabel Lee Ching Rui
The 'research consultancy' worked to advance the interests of Esplanade Theatres on the Bay in the area of audience development for their cultural programme 'Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts'. Huayi is held annually at the Esplanade during the Lunar Year Period, and is the longest-running cultural festival in Singapore with a run of 21 years as of 2023. It celebrates Chinese arts and showcases outstanding Chinese artists of all genres, and aims to become an internationally-recongised festival that represents the Chinese diaspora.
Dose of Culture
Students: Cherilyn Woo, Diana Lim, Crystal Loy, Wang Zixuan
The ‘research consultancy’ worked to enhance the capabilities of the National Museum of Singapore to better respond to cultural diversity in the context of their #Doseofculture initiative. #Doseofculture is part of NMS’s digitalisation strategy which began during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on showcasing different cultural heritage and practices through recorded videos so as to provide opportunities for wider accessibility.
NM5218 Cultural Policy
This course critically examines the roles of media and cultural institutions, and students learn to articulate the debates surrounding cultural value, arts funding, and cultural policy. Students will evaluate specific instances of cultural policy development, and produce studies of cultural practices in order to re-think perceived notions of identity, representation and power. They learn to appreciate the relationship between critical analysis and policy orientation in cultural studies and be familiar with specific instances of cultural policy development at national and international levels.
Tree Soundscape
Student: Eileen Chai
This student used a tree analogy to illustrate the elements required for a sustainable arts and culture ecosystem. They highlighted the challenges faced by artists in Singapore and suggested solutions to bridge these gaps, emphasising the importance of cultivating art literacy via education, providing support via training, and providing different pathways via talent development.
Digitalisation of FYP collection for avatar clothing
Student: Cheng Hiu Wa Annie
This student crafted a detailed business plan to digitalise their FYP collection for avatar clothing in the metaverse, covering unique offerings, distribution channels, and revenue streams.
LGBTQ Content Regulation
Student: Choo Jun Clive
The student took a comprehensive approach by conducting a policy case analysis of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and its sustainability concerning the regulation of LGBTQ-related content in Singapore. Drawing from Foucault's concepts, they scrutinised the intricate web of power, discourse, and control embedded within these laws. This approach provided a fresh perspective on how media governance intertwines with the construction of social norms, emphasising the importance of understanding the broader implications of such regulations on freedom of expression and LGBTQ rights in the contemporary media landscape of Singapore.
ACE5402 Final Year Project
Students work on an individual or group project that blends industry experience with theoretical research. It situates the learning within an application framework by partnering students with a supervisor to develop a project related to arts and cultural entrepreneurship, which may be critical or practice-based. Students will engage critically in theoretical, social, legal, historical, and cultural contexts with reference to the arts and cultural industries, using available resources to tackle industry issues and reflect on the outcomes and process.
Always Around
Featured: Tung Yue Nang, Eileen Chai, Sea Breeze Books
Students: Duan Yichun and Li Sirui
A group of students collaborated to produce a 23-minute documentary focused on the accessibility of the arts in Singapore throughout one's life. The documentary features a range of interviewees from diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds, including a community painter, a violin teacher, and a bookstore owner.
Engaging Singapore HeritageFest's Audiences Through Programming
Client: National Heritage Board
Students: Fu Jinyuan, Huang Yuying
Two students collaborated with the National Heritage Board on a project as part of their final year project. Their mission was to engage audiences attending the Singapore HeritageFest through programming. By merging their vision with the cultural heritage of Singapore, they aimed to create an experience that would resonate with festivalgoers, celebrating the nation's history and traditions.
Unravel: Firebomb
Client: Australia Broadcasting Corporation
Student: Crispian Chan
This student formed a partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to create a podcast addressing the issue of Asian hate in Australia. Through this collaborative effort, he sought to illuminate the experiences and perspectives of Asian communities, sparking an essential dialogue about racism and discrimination within the country.
In a deeply personal season of Unravel True Crime, he takes the lead and investigates the aftermath of his family's restaurant fire. He joins hands with ABC reporter Alex Mann and embarks on a nationwide journey to uncover the truth. Together, they raise thought-provoking questions about the reasons for such events in Australia and whether society might be overlooking warning signs of future incidents.
ACE5409 Applied Arts Research and Practice
In this course, students will learn about approaches to arts-based research and arts evaluation, from both theoretical and practical perspectives. They learn about arts-based research as a reflexive, collaborative and creative form of knowledge production. They learn about the diverse practical applications of arts research and engage in an in-depth manner with a particular arts research case study. They apply and experiment with interdisciplinary approaches to arts evaluation. By the end of semester, students will develop their own arts research proposal, addressing a particular creative or cultural problem.
“Ready, Cassette, Go!”
Students: Jessica Chuan Yi Xin
Our student Jessica Chuan, who is also the programme organiser, observes, identifies and analyses the entire up-cycling workshop titled ‘Ready, Cassette, Go!’. “Ready, Cassette, Go!” workshop is organised by Singapore social enterprise rehyphen who specialises in collecting discarded cassette tapes from the local community, and then weaves them into pieces of MusicCloth®. Rehyphen then transforms them into MusicCloth® art pieces and products as an effort to reduce and eliminate plastic waste, while giving the product a new life. The final goal is to use music as an important tool to pass climate change messages to the general public in a non-formal manner. At the same time, rehyphen encourages the public to see waste with fresh perspective and get curious about how things are made."
Wan Qing Festival of Spring 2024
Student: Shen Zheyao
This video shows the experience of participating in the Spring Festival activities at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. This series of activities was organised by the National Heritage Board to celebrate the 2024 Spring Festival. As an important part of Singapore's community life, cultural and art activities not only enrich the life experience of citizens, but also play a positive role in promoting social inclusion and cultural protection. Deeply participating in these activities can also allow us to better understand how to use art to change people's lives and the world.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS) is committed to environmental sustainability.
This e-brochure is part of our sustained effort to reduce waste and foster a culture of care for the environment among the NUS and broader community.