The local arts scene should be run as a free economy, says artistic director of TheatreWorks and festival director of Singapore International Festival of Arts.
In 2015, a National Arts Council publishing grant for cartoonist Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was withdrawn, due to its “sensitive” local political content. However, Liew managed to publish the book with the help of local publisher Epigram Books – a gamble that paid off this year when the graphic novel topped the nominations list in the 2017 Eisner Awards, considered the Oscars for graphic novels. It went on to bag three: Best Writer/Artist, Best Publication Design, and Best US Edition of International Material – Asia.