‘Arts in the City’ is a series of arts performances and workshops proudly hosted by Mapletree Business City

SINGAPORE – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree” or “the Group”) is delighted to host an arts performance at Mapletree Business City (“MBC”) today as part of its ‘Arts in the City’ series. Held during lunchtime at MBC’s Open Plaza, the performance entitled Stop! Smell A Rose was complemented by a creative crafts corner. Both the performance and crafts corner are complimentary and open to the business community of MBC and the Alexandra Precinct.

Stop! Smell A Rose is presented by Paper Monkey Theatre Ltd, which uses life-size puppets made from recyclable materials to tell an engaging story that will motivate the audience to integrate environmentally-friendly efforts into their daily lives. To further reinforce the green message, the audience is encouraged to express their creativity by making their own complimentary handicraft keychain with recyclable materials at the crafts corner alongside the puppetry performance.
 
As a Mapletree flagship development, MBC combines work and play spaces by blending first-rate office and business park space with a comprehensive spread of recreation options. The two-million square feet Grade-A business hub is the centrepiece of the thriving Alexandra commercial area, housing a working population of over 10,000. The development being infused with eight art installations makes MBC an ideal platform for the ‘Arts in the City’ series.

As part of Mapletree’s Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) programme, the Group launched ‘Arts in the City’ in February 2013 to host regular arts performances and hands-on arts workshops at MBC, to encourage deeper community engagement with the arts. The inaugural performance by Chinese ensemble Ding Yi Music Company held earlier in February was followed by a workshop in April, allowing the participants to gain first-hand experience as a member of a Chinese orchestra.

Commenting on Mapletree’s efforts in this area, Group Chief of Corporate Services, Mr Ho Seng Chee said, “Supporting the arts and design is a key focus in Mapletree’s CSR. Our ‘Arts in the City’ series allow us to support local art groups by providing them a platform to showcase their art. We further view this as an effective means to engage our tenants and staff where we can all participate and share in unique cultural experiences for MBC as well as the larger the Alexandra Precinct where we have several developments.”

Accordingly, Mapletree will leverage its networks within Alexandra Precinct and even the nearby HarbourFront Precinct to introduce arts to the workplace by inviting its tenants and staff from both precincts to participate in ’Arts in the City’. Additionally, given the puppetry medium, the company has also reached out to the neighbouring pre-schools and childcare centres, the majority of who have parents working in either precinct, thus encouraging shared artistic experiences among families as well as to encourage an interest in the arts from an early age. 

‘Arts in the City’ is supported by the National Arts Council (“NAC”) through  ‘Arts@Work’, an initiative that is part of the Arts and Culture Strategic Review, to bring the arts to the workplace so that working adults have more opportunities for engagement. Ms Chua Ai Liang, Director, Arts & Communities, NAC commented, “By supporting Mapletree’s ‘Arts in the City’ series, the MBC community can enjoy meaningful arts experiences at their workplace and discover the possibilities offered by the arts. This will also enable our artists to bring their work to different communities.”

In tandem with other arts initiatives such as the commissioning of public art installations at its properties, Mapletree creates vibrancy in the communities it operates in. Besides hosting meaningful arts performances, ‘Arts in the City’ takes it a step further by introducing interactive workshops post-performance, to illustrate how key takeaways can be applied to the workplace and daily lives. The ‘Arts in the City’ series aims to add to the vibrancy of MBC as a business locality as well as create opportunities for shared artistic and cultural experiences for both Mapletree’s tenants and staff.

Other notable artistic drives held at MBC include ‘Design in the City’, an outdoor furniture design competition to commemorate MBC’s grand opening in March 2012 and the launch of coffee table book, Art in the City, showcasing MBC’s arts collection to the wider audience.