What is Culture? Singapore Artists Fight for Methodist Landmark

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Justin Zhuang

Illustrator Tan Zi Xi, better known as MessyMsxi, solo exhibition ‘Ten Years of Work for Every Minute on Stage’

A tattered sticker on a lamppost greets visitors who have climbed up the 143 steps to the top of Singapore’s Mount Sophia with this question: “What is our culture?” One answer may sit just beyond, at the former Methodist Girls’ School campus that now houses Old School, an art space that has been an important part of the city’s local art scene since it was established in 2007. Old School sits in a prime location, just off the shopping area of Orchard Road and Bras Brasah, the arts and culture district. It began in 2007, when five entrepreneurs turned the abandoned campus into work spaces for creative professionals. The initial two-year lease was extended twice over four years, and Old School became one of the city’s few independent arts and culture hubs, regularly hosting free events for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians and photographers. [link]