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ENCORE! THE EUROPEAN SEASON IN SINGAPORE

The European Union countries represented in Singapore, the Delegation of the European Commission, the four European cultural institutions – Goethe Institute, British Council, Italian Cultural Institute, Alliance Française – and the European Chamber of Commerce are proud to present Encore! The European Season in Singapore. Launched with the opening of the 18th European Union Film Festival, the Season spans over a period of eight months and encompasses several dozen events across every field of European arts and culture – music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, film and street performance.

They are held in the most prestigious venues such as the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, the National Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Art Museum, the Singapore Tyler Print Institute and, of course, the four European institutions. The core purpose of Encore! The European Season in Singapore is to make the events available, beyond their respective national constituencies, to a much broader Singaporean audience. Carried out with an ambitious marketing campaign, it aims to reach out to audiences that do not usually attend these events, while increasing the attendance of audiences already familiar with the European culture.

This initiative falls perfectly within the EU embassies’ mandate to tighten the bonds and the understanding between Singapore and their individual countries. Culture and the arts are ideal tools for this, insofar as they are a way to reach out, beyond governments and institutions, to the people. And there is certainly no more compelling and effective way to do so than to showcase here what European has to offer, in all its diversity and richness.

Encore! The European Season in Singapore is the first European Cultural Season ever organized anywhere in the world. And given the potential of such a tool to bring our people closer together, it is only proper for it to become a yearly event and an ever-stronger bond between Europe and Singapore.