The projects offer a wide range of creative solutions to the current industry needs from social media marketing strategies developed to boost music festival participation to policy recommendations designed to support emerging arts managers in Singapore.

Dr Natalia Grincheva is a Programme Leader in Arts Management at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Digital Studio at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on innovative forms and global trends in contemporary museology, digital diplomacy and international cultural relations. She received many prestigious international academic awards, including Fulbright (2007–2009), Quebec Fund (2011–2013), Australian Endeavour (2012–2013) and SOROS research grant (2013–2014). In 2020 she was awarded Oxford Fellowship for her visiting research residency at the Digital Diplomacy Research Center at the University of Oxford. Apart from her most recent co-authored book, Geopolitics of Digital Heritage (Cambridge University Press: 2024), Dr Grincheva’s publication portfolio includes two monographs: Museum Diplomacy in the Digital Age (Routledge: 2020) and Global Trends in Museum Diplomacy (Routledge: 2019).

Rachel Yang is the co-founder and managing partner of Daylight Creative Therapies. A credentialed member of the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Art Therapies Association (ANZACATA) and an Associate member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), Rachel has sat on the committee board of the Art Therapists’ Association of Singapore (ATAS) 2019-2023 as the President and lectures part-time on the MA Art Therapy course in LASALLE College of the Arts, is a thesis supervisor and accredited clinical supervisor.
Her clinical experience includes working in shelters, palliative care organizations, and special needs schools and her private practice where her focus is on attachment disorders, grief and anxiety. Rachel uses a client-centered neurobiologically informed transdisciplinary approach to provide a holistic, evidence-based therapeutic service.

Kerrine Goh joined the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in March 2023. She has extensive project management experience, specialising in events management, international relations and cultural exchange projects. Prior to joining ASEF, Kerrine worked at the National Arts Council. From 2018 – 2020, she was also a Project Officer at ASEF, supporting Mobility First!, ASEF’s travel grant for artists and cultural professionals. Kerrine is currently in charge of culture360.ASEF.org, ASEF’s arts and culture portal since 2008.

Curie is a dynamic Marketing Manager at Voices of Singapore, holding a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) and a Master of Arts by Research in Communications & New Media from NUS. Notable achievements include a published research paper in DiGRA and two Top Presenter awards at the NUS CNM Graduate Conference. With a rich background at We Are Social China and Accela Communications, she has executed impactful social media campaigns and innovative PR initiatives. Beyond marketing, Curie is a part-time teaching assistant at NUS and an accomplished musician, holding a Minor in Music from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. She is an active performer in the local music scene and also serves as a resident accompanist at Voices of Singapore.

Irdawati Roslan is a Senior Manager, Education and Manpower Development at the National Arts Council. With over 10 years in the Council, she has extensive experience in sector development, account and project management, and has led initiatives like national awards and competitions. She currently oversees Continuing Education and Training (CET) and drives the Arts Resource Hub (ARH) co-working spaces for arts Self-Employed Persons (SEPs).The ARH supports arts SEPs and freelance practitioners in Singapore to unlock new opportunities and grow meaningful careers.

Jenny Yang is a Senior Manager, Education and Manpower Development at the National Arts Council (NAC). Since joining the Council in 2011, she has extensive experience in community engagement and participation as well as fostering partnerships and collaborations in the arts. She currently oversees the Arts Resource Hub (ARH) and drives the initiatives that support the arts Self-Employed Persons (SEPs). The ARH supports arts SEPs and freelance practitioners in Singapore to unlock new opportunities and grow meaningful careers.

The initiative was set up in 2019 after comprehensive consultations with more than 370 individuals from the arts community across disciplines and practices over the course of 2017 and 2018. It currently offers training and development programmes, digital learning resources and peer-to-peer sharing opportunities that are tailored for arts SEPs and helps to build SEP communities and networks. The ARH also provides physical spaces for arts SEP’s dedicated use that includes two co-working spaces at Goodman Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre as well as subsidised presentation and rehearsal spaces at 42 Waterloo Street. For more information on the ARH, visit https://go.gov.sg/arh
 

Afiqah Zainal is a Manager (Community Engagement) with the Education & Community Outreach division at the National Heritage Board (NHB). She is currently part of the team overseeing the Heritage Activation Nodes (HAN), one of NHB’s key initiatives under the Singapore Heritage Plan 2.0.

The HAN initiative provide opportunities for the community to participate in and co-develop projects aimed at celebrating the heritage of their neighbourhoods. Starting in 2024, a series of HANs will be launched in different precincts, and each HAN will see involvement from interested community members and groups in the development and implementation of projects that will increase the number of heritage touchpoints in the heartlands and celebrate the heritage of their neighbourhoods. For more information on HAN, visit https://go.gov.sg/nhb-han.

The second part of the event presents entrepreneurial arts startup pitches developed by Level 3 students in collaboration with the Asian Film Archive that will be pitched to an Expert Panel of three Creative Entrepreneurs in Singapore. The event aims to build a robust platform for community engagement through sharing students’ projects achievements and networking opportunities.

Dr Jonathan Gander is Head of School of Creative Industries at LASALLE, University of the Arts Singapore. His expertise is on strategies for the Creative and Cultural Industries. A book on the subject is available on Amazon Routledge. Jonathan holds a degree in Politics (Sheffield), an MBA (Westminster), and a PhD (King’s College, London). His research explores the strategies and business model innovations in the creative economy, particularly those aimed at developing sustainable production and consumption cycles. An experienced academic, he also provides strategizing workshops and keynotes for business leaders in the UK, Austria and Russia. Jonathan has held visiting professorships at Universities in Germany, Russia, Spain and China and worked at a number of Universities in the UK including University of the Arts, London, University of East Anglia and Kingston University. He is currently Head of School of Creative Industries at LASALLE, University of the Arts Singapore.
 

Karen Chan joined the Asian Film Archive (AFA) in 2006 and became Executive Director in 2014. Under her leadership, the AFA has innovatively created avenues for interdisciplinary cooperation, dialogue, and learning. She teaches about film literacy and preservation to expose new generations to Asian cinema heritage and to appreciate the urgency of preservation. Karen contributes to publications, most recently in “Keeping Memories: Cinema and Archiving in the Asia-Pacific” (2022). She presents at and sits on committees in universities, industry networks, and conferences.   Currently in her second term as President of SEAPAVAA (Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association), Karen is also the Chair of CCAAA (Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Association). Her past work experiences include the National Archives of Singapore, the National Arts Council, and the Natural History Museum in NYC, USA.

Dr Samuel Wong is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of The TENG Company, a non-profit charity that harnesses the power of Music for greater good. TENG is a Major Company under the National Arts Council and an Associate Member of the National Council of Social Service and is one of the most dynamic music companies in Singapore.
Samuel obtained his PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Sheffield in 2009 where he was awarded dual scholarships from the Harry Worthington Foundation and the Hokkien Huay Kuan for his doctoral studies in music.
Samuel’s work at TENG is characterised by the use of music research in applied settings and innovating within tradition. Samuel’s key initiatives include: Stories from an Island City (2016), revisiting Singapore’s forgotten lullabies and folksongs; TENG Gives Back (2018), live music performances in collaboration with music therapists that help to bring comfort to patients in clinical settings; The Mapletree-TENG Scholarship (2018), providing music scholarships and mentorship to talented children from underprivileged families; The Forefathers Project (2019), researching, documenting and reimagining Singapore’s dying traditional Chinese dialect musics; Music for Mindfulness (2023), evidenced-based music that uses binaural beat technology to alleviate stress and anxiety and SMRT Train Chimes (2023), the creation of train and station music to aid the visually handicapped with commuting.
Samuel was awarded The Outstanding Young Persons of Singapore Award (2009), The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore Foundation’s Culture Award (2009) and Singapore Institute of Management’s Teaching Excellence Award (2012) for his work in Music and Education. In 2021, Samuel was listed in Prestige Magazine’s “40 under 40” list of Singapore’s most successful, influential and innovative young people.
Samuel is also author of the books “Impressions of a Pipa Player” (2003), “QI: An Instrumental Guide to the Chinese Orchestra” (2005) and co-author of “The TENG Guide to the Chinese Orchestra” (2019). His books are used as reference texts for the ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level Music Examinations in Singapore.

Samuel has given keynote lectures in institutions such as The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, Yale-NUS, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Nanyang Technological University, ASEAN-COCI and the National Arts Council.
Samuel is a Council Member of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation and a Board Member with Along the Edge Ltd (HK).

Han is an entrepreneur and educator, specialising in the areas of tech innovation and startup methodologies. He is also an PMI-chartered Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM). He has been featured on mainstream media including The Business Times, SPH Radio ONE FM 91.3 and Mediacorp CNA938.
A multi award-winning serial entrepreneur, he currently runs Phay & Partners, and was previously the co-founder of AMY.ai - an AI driven voice & text chatbot in the F&B space. Before that, he was the Founder & CEO in ad-tech startup Lumin(ai)re. He is currently appointed Adjunct Lecturer at the Lasalle College of the Arts, and was previously also Adjunct Lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), teaching Creative Business and Entrepreneurship for the Arts respectively.
Han holds the SME100 Awards 2021, Leading Innovator in Automated Marketing Technology 2020 by the Singapore Business Awards, was named an Honouree in the Brands for Good 2019 Community - Empowering Local Markets category, the Pitch Champion at the Vikingcubator 2019 and the TOP100 in the Echelon Asia Summit 2019. He also holds a Certificate of Attainment in Social Innovation from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Institute for Entrepreneurship and a Certificate in Digital Marketing from Squared Online, a digital leadership programme co-developed with Google.
His educational background includes an Master of Arts (M.A.) with research interest in Creative AI from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Advertising from the Savannah College of Art & Design, USA. He is also an alumnus of Lasalle, having completed the Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) in Interactive Art in 2010.

Caspar Francis is a B2B & B2G entrepreneur. He is the CEO / Founder of RAWSPARK, and the CCO of Virtual Music Festival TAKE BACK THE NIGHTS. Through his creative leadership and experience, Rawspark’s has expanded to three countries in under 5 years, and has created some of the most unique, and radical brand and marketing campaigns for brands including UOB, National Gallery, OWNDAYS, The RSAF, Revolut and DBS Bank.