2018 The Arts GP Infopack

1 RAFFLES INSTITUTION YEAR 6 GENERAL PAPER (2018) STUDENTS’ INFORMATION PACKAGE Unit: The Arts Enduring Understandings And Essential Questions 2 Past Year Examination Questions 3-4 For Further Reading 5 FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE Primer: What is Art? 1a. What is art? 6 1b. Ways of defining art 10 1c . 22 Responses to the Question ‘What is Art?’ 12 The Value of the Arts 2a. The Purpose of Art: A Brief History 15 2b. Infosheet on Different Functions of the Arts 17 LOCAL ARTS ISSUES Investing in the Arts 3a. The Role of the Arts in Making a Nation a Home 20 4a. Is Singapore an Arts Hub Yet? 25 4b. Why is State Funding Needed for our Arts Scene to Thrive 29 • Arts funding in Singapore (statistics) 33 5. The Full Measure of an Arts Education 35 • Enrolment in Arts studies in Singapore (statistics) 37 Artistic Licence vs Local Authority 6a. Strict Singapore divided by the Arrest of its own Banksy 38 6b. Gold Stairs Earn Praise But are Out of Step with Rules 40 OTHERS Music 7. Why It’s Time to Turn the Music Off 41 8. Songs of Black Lives Matter 43 Art and Ethics 10. Guggenheim Museum is Criticised for Pulling Artworks 45

2 Enduring Understanding(s): What will students understand as a result of this unit? 5 • EU1: Fundamentally, art is an expression of human creativity , and one of its greatest values lie in the intangible socio- psychological benefits it provides to the individual—both artist and audience. • EU2: Our artistic tendencies are expressed through various branches of creative activity – termed “the arts” – including visual (e.g. painting, sculpture, 10 architecture), performing (theatre, dance and music) and literary arts (poetry, drama and prose). • EU3: As well, the arts have the ability to capture the thoughts and emotions of a people, society and nation, be it in recollection of the past, showcasing the current societal mood and psyche, or expressing future hopes, thereby playing important 15 roles in history, national identity and culture. • EU4: There are often parameters placed upon the arts by entities (e.g. the State, religious authorities) due to perceptions that they pose a threat to establishment values and ideologies. Conversely they may be used by these same entities to entrench establish values and ideologies. (Poss articles e.g. ground-up ‘deviant’ 20 expressions of art in HDB void decks etc) • EU5: What is considered art can be highly subjective since it is informed by cultural conditioning, biases and contex