SINGAPORE — To mark the Republic’s 50th anniversary next year, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is celebrating the coming of age of the ­island’s creative scene by taking local contemporary creative talent overseas to share their craft, before returning home for a 10-day showcase.

Titled Singapore: Inside Out, the showcase, which will involve a special modular scaffolding structure, will make its way to Beijing (April), London (June) and New York (September) for five-day presentations in each city, before returning to the Republic in November next year.

At least 50 artists will be involved across the four cities and visitors will get to see and experience the work and live performances from creative disciplines spanning the fields of architecture, fashion, food, music, and performing and visual arts.

At a press conference held at ­kapok at National Design Centre today (Oct 30), Ms Melissa Ow, STB assistant chief executive, said Singapore’s creative scene has come a long way and is bursting with new energy and talent.

“As Singapore turns 50, it’s timely for us to celebrate the achievements of our talents and developments in our creative ecosystem,” she said. “We want to present the best of Singapore — not as people know it ... It’s not a selling of the Singapore economy; Singapore: Inside Out is a showcase of our artistic, creative contemporary culture to the world.”

She added: “This is the first time we’re presenting our creative talents in such an aggregated, consolidated manner and we hope it would encourage and motivate Singaporeans to take pride in Singapore as both a destination to an international audience and a home.”

The idea for Singapore: Inside Out took root last year, said Ms Ow, pointing to a global trend of travellers wanting to know the people behind a country’s products and experiences. “We asked ourselves how can we promote this contemporary culture, it’s not only our precincts or multi-ethnic culture any more. How can we change the perception of Singapore?” she said.

Local architect and artist Randy Chan, who was appointed the project’s creative director and will curate the programming, added: “We want to present a consolidated show, not present a single artist; so this will be a collaboration of different industries and creative disciplines.”

Promising an immersive visitor experience with a mix of intimate encounters and energetic performances, Mr Chan said there will also be a certain degree of customisation for each venue. “For example, in Beijing, we will consider the language factor and how the city has a big underground music scene,” he said.

Beijing, London and New York were chosen due to their status as “media capitals” with substantial key opinion leaders and creative practitioners, who could familiarise themselves with what Singapore has to offer creatively, said Ms Ow. She added that there is a good number of Singaporeans who work and reside in these cities.

The STB and Mr Chan are currently in the selection process for the artists and creative talent for the showcase and an announcement will be made early next year.