ArtsEquator Lobang is a list of available open calls, job postings and other opportunities open to people from Singapore and Southeast Asia. “Lobang”, a Malay word for “hole”, is used in Singlish as a shorthand for an opportunity, valuable contact or a tip.
Scroll down or click for easier access.
Info & Resources | Open Calls | Jobs
Info & Resources
Note: Info on reliefs, grants and packages by the Singapore government can be found here.
[Singapore] COVID-19 Recovery Grant
Lower- to middle-income employees and self-employed persons (SEPs) who remain financially impacted by COVID-19 may receive up to $700 per month. Apply from now till 31 Dec 2021.
[Singapore] Sing Lit Station HALP Fund
The HALP Fund is a discretionary fund used by Sing Lit Station to support literary arts practitioners in the creation and presentation of their work in any form. It also aims to provide subsistence funds during tough times. The maximum quantum will be $500 per application. Applications will be held year-round until 31 March 2021 or until funds are fully disbursed, whichever comes first.
[Singapore] SAMPP COVID-19 Relief Fund
Singapore Association of Motion Picture Professionals are offering grants for filmmakers and others in the film industry.
[Singapore] SkillsFuture Top-Up
Adult Singaporeans aged 25 and above will receive a one-off $500 SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Eligible individuals can start using the additional credit from 1 October 2020. Singaporeans aged 40 to 60 will receive a special $500 SkillsFuture Credit top-up. This will be over and above the $500 SkillsFuture Credit top-up for Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above. Eligible individuals can start using the SkillsFuture Credit provided under this package from 1 October 2020, on about 200 career transition programmes offered by the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres.
[Singapore] Self-Employed Persons Training Support Scheme
All Self-Employed Persons will be entitled to between $7.50-$11 an hour of training allowance for SkillsFuture series courses and selected sector-specific training programmes. This will be administered by NTUC.
More info can be found here.
[Singapore] Singapore Unbound Relief Fund (SURF)
Singapore Unbound has decided to postpone this year’s writing fellowships to Southeast Asia and to commit the funds instead to aid Singaporean writers badly affected by the shutdowns. Creative writers, whether they are Singapore citizens living anywhere in the world or Permanent Residents of Singapore, may apply for a USD200/SGD280 grant from the Singapore Unbound Relief Fund with no strings attached. This fund is specifically intended to help those in dire need of immediate help. Donations to this fund are also welcome.
[Singapore] SG COVID-19 Creative/Cultural Professionals & Freelancers Support Group
A Facebook support group sharing tips, resources and information for creative and cultural workers.
Open Calls
List yourself: Producers SG Directory
The Producers SG Directory is an online database of independent arts producers and managers working in and across Singapore and the region.
This is a growing directory. Producers SG welcomes submissions from producers and arts managers from Singapore, the rest of Southeast Asia, as well as professionals who work regularly with artists and/or platforms in this region.
Call for applications: Mobility First! – ASEF Cultural Mobility Initiative
Mobility First! – ASEF Cultural Mobility Initiative is a mobility grants programme that supports the mutual cultural practice of those working in the arts.
In 2021, in response to the continuing restrictions on travel and physical gatherings due to Covid-19, Mobility First! will offer virtual collaboration grants to artists and arts managers from Asia and Europe to jointly create new works or texts. This initiative aims to create opportunities for international cultural exchange and professional connections at a time of very limited face-to-face encounters.
Cycle 1 Deadline: 28 February 2021
Cycle 2 of applications runs from 1-31 May
Call for applications: Mapletree—TENG Academy Scholarship
The Mapletree-TENG Academy Scholarship is an ongoing partnership between Mapletree Investments and The TENG Academy.
The scholarship covers a rigorous training scheme of regular assessments and individual lessons with professional instructors from TENG. In addition, scholars will also be involved in community outreach programmes where they will perform at homes, dialysis centres, hospitals and hospices.
By covering the full tuition fees of instrumental lessons, grading examinations and course materials for a period of 2 years, it aims to nurture a generation of Chinese musicians in Singapore who will contribute back to society with the skills that they have attained from this programme.
Deadline: 28 February 2021
Open Call: SAM Residencies 2021
SAM Residencies is now accepting applications for the 2021 cycle for three residencies – the Artist Residency (6 months); Community & Education Residency (1-3 months); and Curatorial & Research Residency (1-3 months). Selected residents will be hosted in Singapore between July 2021 and March 2023.
Open to both Singapore-based and international practitioners, across all discipline of the arts, the 2021 cycle focuses on processes and practices which engage with:
– Notions of “intimacy” and/or “infrastructures”
– Impact on technology on contemporary life – sociability of the internet; connectivity and capacity of networked platforms; agency and empowerment in civic technology; and digital participatory platforms
Deadline: 28 February 2021 (11.59pm GMT+8)
Submissions open: Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize
The Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize is for young Southeast Asian artists who create digital art – working with a medium of the future. The Prize is focused on awarding artists working with the digital image. There are two categories of submission: still images and moving images. The prize is open to residents of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam; who are aged 18 to 40 years old, as of 28 February 2021.
Deadline: 28 February 2021
Open Call: Conservation Research Writing Residency
Rimbun Dahan now offers short-term residencies, between 2 weeks and 3 months, for researchers in environmental conservation issues who need time and space to write up their research for publication.
Applications on a rolling basis from 1 March 2021.
Call for documentary film proposals: Minority Rights Group (South & SE Asia)
Minority Rights Group International (MRG) invites documentary filmmakers to tender for the production of a documentary film issues regarding freedom of religion or belief in the following countries: India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
MRG invites filmmakers to apply for a grant to produce a 8-to-10-minute documentary film. The filmmaker will bring his or her unique combination of journalistic news-gathering and cinematic eye to cover the issue sensitively and compellingly.
Deadline: 1 March 2021
Open Call: PANAS! Climate Change Stories in Malaysia
Science Media Centre (SMC) Malaysia, in collaboration with British High Commission Kuala Lumpur and EcoKnights, invites Malaysian journalists, writers and content creators to produce local Malaysian stories on climate change in the ‘PANAS! Climate Change Stories in Malaysia’ project. Open to Malaysian citizens based in Malaysia. You will be required to write a 200-word pitch.
Deadline for pitch submissions: 5 March 2021
Open Call: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2022: The Helpers
A global pandemic. The economy in free fall. Polarised politics. Law enforcers using brutality on peaceful protesters.
2020 has been a year fraught with upheaval and uncertainty—even one of abject despair and heartbreak for some amongst us who have lost who and what we love. We have had to unlearn routines we took for granted, adjust to new—distanced—modes of communing with others, and search for new anchors for our unmoored existences.
2020 has left us bereft, in a rage and desperate for aid—and for justice. But it has also been a year where many amongst us decided to rise up, fuelling our rage with love and duty. 2020 has been a year where we offered help generously: through families and friends, participation in grassroots organisations, mutual aid initiatives, impromptu emergency relief.
For Fringe 2022, we invite you to consider how, in spite of these despairing times, our collective universe of obligation can expand in defiance, to offer optimism, hope and healing. How can we propel a politics of care—one that focuses on compassion and the wellbeing of all, be they kin, community, citizens and our environment?
Deadline: 5 March 2021 (noon Sg time)
Open Call: Malay-Muslim volunteers for Both Sides, Now (Malay version)
Both Sides, Now is an arts-based community engagement project on end-of-life issues since 2013. The next edition, DARI KEDUA-DUA BELAH, SEKARANG is focused on engaging the Malay-Muslim community in exploring this conversation.
Drama Box & ArtsWok Collaborative are looking for Malay-Muslims from all walks of life and ages in Singapore to participate in our Community Engagement Workshops. A token of gratitude of $30.00 will be provided for each participant at the end of the session.
Deadline: 8 March 2021
Open Call: Global comic and cartoon competition
UN Women, together with the European Commission, Belgium, France, Mexico and in partnership with Cartooning for Peace, is organising a global Comic and Cartoon Competition under the Generation Equality campaign, which marks the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that set out how to remove the systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of a life-visionary agenda for the empowerment of women and girls.
Eligibility:
You are between 18 and 28 years old.
You believe in gender equality and realising women’s rights for an equal future.
You want to express your vision of a gender-equal generation in a drawing.
Deadline: 14 March 2021
Open Call: NAC Arts x Tech Lab 2021
The Arts x Tech Lab 2021 is the National Arts Council (NAC)’s inaugural innovation lab that will foster collaboration between the arts and technology sectors. The Lab has been designed to empower creatives, artists and technologists to engage in innovative experiments and collaborations. In addition, it aims to build capabilities, co-drive innovation and support changemakers from within the arts and technology sectors.
Together with Technology Partner Keio-NUS CUTE Center, the Lab is led by NAC-commissioned project management team in the wild and Mok Cui Yin.
Deadline: 15 March 2021
Open Call: ARTEFACT Artist Residencies with Dance Nucleus
DANCE NUCLEUS welcomes proposals for creative projects that will take place by March 2022. The ARTEFACT programme is open to professional artists working in independent dance and performance. The residency is intended to support the creative development of research based practices.
Deadline: 19 March 2021
Open call: Mural artists for Mint Museum of Toys
MINT Museum of Toys houses a world-class collection of vintage toys and collectable items, including vintage posters, confectionery tin boxes, advertising signs and more in an international award-winning contemporary building on 26 Seah Street.
To celebrate its reopening, the MINT Museum of Toys is organising an open call for mural artists/collectives in Singapore for a site specific project.
Using the theme Peek Into The Future as a point of departure, the proposed mural should illustrate the artist/collective’s interpretation of the possibilities of our future in the ever-evolving landscape of technological advancements and humanity’s place in a utopic future. The proposed work should be an imaginative and interactive mural painted on the feature wall of MINT Museum of Toys at 26 Seah Street with the dimensions of 3.2 meters height by 8.2 meters width.
Please submit your proposal and include:
– A brief write-up on your proposed mural
– A preliminary sketch of your proposed mural
– Artist/Collective Biography & Portfolio
– Budget Sheet
Interested applicants may submit your proposal with the subject header “Mural Proposal” to tanya@emint.com by 20 March 2021. Please email tanya@emint.com should you require more information about MINT Museum of Toys and/or this project.
Call for applications: NAC Arts Scholarship
The NAC Arts Scholarship aims to nurture outstanding individuals to contribute to the arts and cultural development in Singapore. As future leaders of the arts and culture sector, Scholars will be game changers to push artistic boundaries, and lead their peers to create positive impact for the Singapore community through the arts.
The NAC Arts Scholarship will be offered for full-time arts and arts-related degree programmes at reputable universities or arts institutions in Singapore or overseas. Outstanding arts practitioners/professional may be supported to deepen their knowledge and skills through postgraduate studies in the following priority areas:
– Arts Criticism and Writing
– Arts Management
– Arts Pedagogy
– Arts Research
– Arts and Technology
– Arts for Young Audiences
– Community Arts Practice
– Production, Technical and Stage Management
– Production Design
Deadline: 1 April 2021
Call for Submissions: An Anthology of Christian Poems from the Philippines and Singapore
The Christian faith has generated a rich literary tradition. Much of its spiritual writing has been in the form of religious poetry, which has become much loved. How do you, the contemporary writer, understand the Christian faith today? Who is God to you? What are your most pressing questions, and what have been your greatest struggles and triumphs? This anthology will be edited by Eric Tinsay Valles and Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé, scheduled for publication in late 2021.
Deadline: 4 April 2021
Open Call: Mahogany Journal’s third edition “Soundscapes”
Mahogany Journal has released its our third open call, “Soundscapes”, seeking out poetry and short stories that respond to South Asian songs. The selected music can be instrumental or lyrical (in English or any South Asian language), and should preferably be accessible via Spotify or YouTube. It can even be an album.
Writers must be South Asians from or based in Singapore.
Deadline: 11 April 2021
Open for applications: Objectifs Documentary Award 2021 (Open & Emerging categories)
The Objectifs Documentary Award champions Objectifs’ mission to broaden perspectives through image making, by supporting original voices in visual storytelling in Singapore and the wider region. The Award enables photographers to work on new or existing projects, encouraging them to tell stories about their native communities.
1) Open Category
The Open Category is awarded to 1 recipient from Southeast Asia. The recipient will work with curator Kamiliah Bahdar to curate and present a solo exhibition at Objectifs in March 2022, and SGD$2,500 to work on a new or existing body of work.
2) Emerging Category
The Emerging Category will be awarded to 2 recipients from Southeast Asia. Each recipient receives a 6 month-long mentorship with photographer Hannah Reyes Morales, an exhibition at Objectifs in March 2022, and SGD$1,000 to work on a new or existing body of work.
Deadline: 18 April 2021
Open for Submissions: The 2021 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize
Representing more of the globe than any other prize of its kind, the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is opening its doors for 2021 and welcoming work in fiction, poetry, and life writing from unpublished writers around the world.
Winners will receive £1,000 each, and all fifteen shortlisted writers will be offered mentoring and career guidance from partners The Literary Consultancy and The Good Literary Agency. Past winners and shortlistees have gone on to score deals with major international publishing houses such as Verso, Peepal Tree Press, and HarperCollins India and to be shortlisted for and win prizes including the TS Eliot Prize, Ambit Short Fiction, and Bocas Poetry Prize, among very many others.
Deadline: 31 May 2021
New Awards for the Best Undergraduate Critical Essays on Singapore Literature
Singapore Unbound, a NYC-based literary non-profit, has just announced three awards of USD250.00 each for the best three undergraduate critical essays on topics in Singapore literature. The purpose of these awards is to encourage the teaching and study of Singapore literature at college level and the cultivation of general appreciation for the character and achievements of Singapore literature.
Deadline: 12 July 2021
Call for pitches: so-far Issue 4: Platforms
so-far is a platform for both emerging and established writers which publishes long-form writing, deep dialogues, or experimental formats from letter-writing, speculative fiction, creative non-fiction, ekphrastic poetry, and more. It is calling for pitches for its next issue now.
Call for Submissions: The Tiger Moth Review
The Tiger Moth Review, a new and independent eco-conscious journal from Singapore, is calling for submissions of poetry, prose, art and photography that emphasises the connections between “human activity and the environment that produces it”, work that displays an “awareness of ecology and concerns over environmental disaster” (“Ecopoetics”, Poetry Foundation).
They are looking for work that is eco-conscious and critical, work that celebrates the beauty/ bounty of nature, work that is cognisant, curious and contemplative of the relationships between humanity, modernity, cultures and the environments in which we live in or imagine ourselves to inhabit.
Submissions for Issue 5 (Jan 20201) now open.
Jobs
National Heritage Board: Assistant Manager, Strategic Marketing and Communications (Digital), National Museum of Singapore
A cultural and architectural landmark in Singapore, the National Museum which is Singapore’s oldest museum presents innovative and inspiring exhibitions and programmes all year round. Join the people’s museum and help us tell stories about Singapore and the World through exhibitions that combine accessibility and scholarship.
Responsibilities include:
– Develop and execute digital marketing campaigns to enhance digital awareness and engagement of the museum and its offerings and help scale the museum towards mass-personalisation marketing.
– Conceptualise and develop content for the museum’s social platforms to interact well with the community online, including copywriting, image selection and editing.
– Manage media buying and creative agencies on delivering digital campaigns, and monitor effectiveness, finance management and develop contingency strategies when required.
– Manage digital marketing software and provide analytic reports on digital communications performance.
Deadline: 3 March 2021
ArtsWok Collaborative: Company Director
ArtsWok Collaborative is looking to expand its team. They’re looking for someone who has a passion for the arts, community building, civic engagement and social change work, with experience in a senior management and leadership position.
Deadline: 7 March 2021
Intercultural Theatre Institute: Research Assistant (contract, full-time or part-time)
Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) is looking for an individual with a keen interest in research, the performing arts and culture to assist on an upcoming research project “Actor Training & the Intercultural” which will run from (Jan 2021 to December 2023). In this role, you will provide support in the conduct of research to study, understand and analyse the ITI actor training process and pedagogy, and the significance of the intercultural context in which it happens.
STPI: Assistant Manager
Responsible for the overall content development of STPI’s exhibition and programming, with the end goal of fostering an exchange of ideas, nurturing an appreciation for contemporary works of art, and sustaining interest in STPI’s artists’ projects and the specially curated exhibitions of works produced in the workshop.
NTU CCA: Assistant Director, Research & Academic Programmes
NTU Centre for Contemporary Art is looking for someone to focus on research management and grant management.
Raw Moves: Dancer/Apprentice
-Trained Contemporary and/or Ballet dancer (dancers formally trained in other styles are also welcome to apply);
-Interested in interdisciplinary works;
-Receptive to work creatively and collectively;
Audition: Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Solo Work (3 mins) and Improvisation.
To apply, kindly email Curriculum Vitae and Headshot to rawmoves.main@gmail.com. Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. Applicant must be Singaporean Citizen or Permanent Resident. All travelling and accommodation expenses, if any, will be borne by participants.
Raw Moves: Marketing & Communications Executive (Part-time)
Raw Moves is looking for someone to publicise and promote RAW Moves’ performance platforms and programmes so as to increase awareness and visibility of RAW Moves.
Job Requirements:
-To publicise and promote RAW Moves’ performance platforms and programmes so as to increase awareness and visibility of RAW Moves.
-Strong knowledge in Adobe Creative Cloud – Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro or any relevant softwares.
To apply, kindly email Curriculum Vitae and Headshot to rawmoves.manager@gmail.com. Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. Applicant must be Singaporean Citizen or Permanent Resident.
Singapore Art Museum: Curator (Media & Technology)
Responsibilities include:
– Research and contribute to scholarship on present-day contemporary art globally, with a focus on practices in Singapore, Southeast Asia and Asia.
– Develop areas of research specialisation – in particular, on media and technology in art – to support institutional policies and goals on exhibition programming, collection development and publications.
– Curate exhibitions and artwork commissions, develop collaborative and cross-disciplinary projects.
– Undertake and develop exhibitions and projects including conceptualisation, negotiations with external institutions and artists, and co-ordination of general exhibition matters.
– Demonstrate thought leadership in the field through sharing of knowledge at conferences, talks and publications.
Other curatorial positions are also available in the link below:
National Gallery Singapore: Assistant Curator/Curator
The incumbent will contribute to the development and implementation of the Gallery’s exhibitions, acquisitions and related physical and digital programmes, particularly in the field of interdisciplinary practices such as performance and time-based media.
Responsibilities include:
– Lead project teams in development and execution of small-scale exhibitions.
– Conceive, plan and execute exhibitions and programmes including negotiations with lenders and collaborative institutions, as well as co-ordination of general exhibition matters.
– Work with other teams (Marketing, PD, IP, AEM) to provide content and support for exhibition related matters.
– Work with other teams in developing and executing programmes and tours for audience and stakeholder engagement.
SOTA: Teacher, Faculty of Visual Arts
Responsibilities include:
– Development and delivery of curriculum to a range of visual arts classes of different levels and technical proficiencies. The curriculum includes both studio practice and theory and history of art.
– Monitoring and evaluation of student progress, including providing useful and timely feedback to students and other stakeholders.
– Preparation and conduct of assessment of student learning
More roles available in the link below.
SOTA: Subject Head, Faculty of Visual Arts
The Subject Head of the Visual Arts faculty plays an important role in providing quality and rigorous art education by working closely with the Head in leading and developing the faculty towards nurturing students’ abilities in seeing and creating meaningful connections through a diversity of artistic processes and expressions.
Responsibilities include:
– Development and delivery of curriculum to a range of visual arts classes of different levels and technical proficiencies. The curriculum includes both studio practice and theory and history of art.
– Monitoring and evaluation of student progress, including providing useful and timely feedback to students and other stakeholders.
– Preparation and conduct of assessment of student learning.
ArtsEquator Lobang: Open Calls and Job Opportunities (Singapore/SEA) is presented by ArtsEquator.
Note: All information is correct at the time of publication. Please confirm directly with the organisers’ websites. ArtsEquator shall have no liability for the accuracy of the information and cannot be held liable for any third-party claims or losses of any damages.
If you have an open call or a job opportunity you’d like us to highlight, please email contact[at]artsequator.com.
About the author(s)
Nabilah Said is an award-winning playwright, editor and cultural commentator. She is also an artist who works with text across various artforms and formats. Her plays have been staged in Singapore and London, including ANGKAT, which won Best Original Script at the 2020 Life Theatre Awards. Nabilah is the former editor of ArtsEquator.