Performing queerness: Singapore’s ‘Global City for the Arts’ and the politics of invisibility

Abstract

Whilst the study of Singapore’s vision to become a global city is not in itself new, there has been scant examination of the heteronormative hegemony that continues to underpin its nationalist-contemporary art narrative. Taking a case-study approach, this paper re-assesses the relationship between the cultural and economics-driven desires of the nation-state in promoting ‘Singaporean-ness’ by taking into consideration the role and place of Singapore’s visual queer in mediating representations of nationality. By critiquing the instrumentalisation of contemporary art and visual culture as shaped by the ‘Global City for the Arts’ (GCA) plans, this article explores the contradictions in Singapore’s GCA aspiration in light of wider queer politics played out in socio-spatial and visual-cultural spheres, particularly where the suppression of non-normative subjectivities had involved the demolition of queer spaces, censorship of obscene objects and the proscription of performance art.