Singapore, a young cosmopolitan city situated at the confluence of the East and West is set to embrace the arts of the world. The arts scene in Singapore has grown rapidly over the last ten years, thriving today with more than 5,000 ticketed performances annually. It is a key platform for Asian talents and an important stop for world-class arts and entertainment performances. The local arts scene is also a vibrant hotbed for experimentation where traditional and the contemporary co-exist and fuse in fresh and exciting forms.

Singapore's arts calendar offers myriad events that appeal to people from all walks of life. Major events include the Singapore Arts Festival, Singapore Biennale, Singapore Writers Festival, and other events presented or organised by the National Arts Council, arts organisations and private companies. Recent infrastructure developments like The Arts House at the Old Parliament and the purpose-built Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay further contributed to the vibrancy of the arts scene. The Esplanade with its state-of-the-art staging facilities now enables Singapore to play host to some of the region's best known international artists, companies and mega world premieres. Its own arts events and festivals like the Hua Yi, Kalaa Utsavam (Indian festival of Arts) and Pesta Raya (Malay festival of arts) have added a new dimension to arts programming.

Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) promotes greater mutual understanding between Asia and Europe through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, a mandate that was entrusted to us by the participating governments of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The Foundation works in partnership with both governmental and civil society stakeholders. Since its establishment in February 1997, the Foundation has implemented over 500 projects, engaging over 15,000 direct participants, as well as reaching out to a much wider audience in Asia and Europe, and thanks to this wide range of activities, civil society concerns are also included as a vital component of deliberations of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).