May 1, 2009
Welcome to the Common People blog!
“Greetings!”
To complement our main site, here we will showcase issues and trends relevant to our local landscape, and share with you our thoughts on our work and the evolving question of creativity in Singapore.
The word creativity is liberally applied in Singapore, and seems to be almost out of vogue. Which Singaporean hasn’t attended a workshop on “creative thinking”, or read in the papers for the umpteenth time about our government’s efforts to nurture a creative class?
Although creativity is typically thought of in relation to the realms of art and design, we expand our interest to people who constantly create and make things happen in Singapore, for Singaporeans. These people combine thoughtfulness, a sense of craftsmanship and sensitivity to their context to create stunning and relevant work.
Fascinated by the question of how creative people think and change the way things are done, we embarked on a series of video interviews. First, we got started during the Singapore Biennale and Showcase Singapore art fair in 2008, when we asked local and international artists, curators, and gallerists to shed light into their creative processes. Our curiosity took us to people and places as far-ranging as local musicians, owners of cutting-edge food and retail businesses, and other innovators in Singapore, whom you will get to meet in the first round of featured video interviews on our main site.
By bringing different ideas and practices into the same space, we want to inspire and cross-pollinate ideas that are relevant to our landscape and the tide of our times.
Alongside these, we have plans to feature a different class of people altogether, a host of everyday innovators on the fringes of society. Watch this space, and we’ll keep you posted.
Our sincere thanks go out to the generous people who have agreed to be interviewed and to everyone who has helped us in this endeavor.
We hope you like what you see on the site and come back for more insightful interviews. To keep in touch, subscribe to our RSS feed here, leave a comment on our site, or send us an email at hello@commonpeople.sg.
See you soon!
