Sept 3 to 9 National Museum director Lee Chor Lin and respected arts manager Robert Liew were honoured by the Italian government, which conferred the Order Of The Star Of Italy upon them, the first Singaporeans to receive it in the field of culture. The shortlist for the Singapore Literature Prize was announced, the National Arts Council launched the Silver Arts platform for seniors, and the details for this year’s Singapore International Photography Festival in October were revealed. But the buzz is still on biennales. Changes for next year’s Singapore Biennale were announced: It’s moved to October, with 27 curators instead of one artistic director, and will be held all over the Bras Basah-Bugis district. Meanwhile, an open letter calling for the National Arts Council to reconsider its decision to pull out of next year’s Venice Biennale, which was signed by some 200 members of the arts community, was sent to Minister for Information, Communications And The Arts, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.