ArtsXChange
20 & 21 December 2008
The Little Arts Academy

Just four months ago, 11-year-olds Emiri and Takaharu had never left their native Japan.

But over the weekend of 20th December 2008, together with four others from western Tokyo, Emiri and Takaharu found themselves over 5,300 kilometres from home in Singapore, presenting  traditional Japanese toys, songs and landmarks through the classic storytelling technique of kamishibai (paper dramas) made digital and created their own toy robots. Food was also on the menu, with the children engaged in making popiah with their newly made Singapore friends.

The Japanese children were in Singapore as part of The Business Times Budding Artists Fund’s (BT BAF) first International Children's Art Exchange programme that was held at the newly opened The Little Arts Academy which serves to provide a dedicated curriculum and arts education centre for BT BAF beneficiaries.

Launched in May 2005, BT BAF, an initiative of The Old Parliament House Limited, a not-for-profit arts organisation incorporated by the National Arts Council, was founded in the belief that no child with strong interest and artistic potential should be deprived of the opportunity to develop his or her talents because of his or her family's financial background. The fund aims to enable children between the ages of five to 12 distanced by socio-economic circumstances to pursue their aspirations and talent in the arts. To date, BT BAF has reached out to over 3,000 children in Singapore through various activities ranging from arts camp to arts exposure and training programmes. 

The exchange was an initiative of BT BAF with its Japanese chapter, the NPO Budding Artists Fund Japan (BAFJ), a charity based in Tokyo adopting the BT BAF name, structure and curriculum. NPO BAFJ was founded in 2006 a result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between The Old Parliament House Limited, and its Japanese partner, Craftarts Co. It is the first of two charities in Asia following the BT BAF model, the other being MY BAF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Through its regional chapters, BT BAF aims to create cross-cultural exchange platforms for children from Singapore to meet and share experiences with their counterparts from other countries in the region.

Emiri and Takaharu's group were beneficiaries of NPO BAFJ from Shakujii Gakuen, a home for abandoned, abused and underprivileged children.

Said Mr Johnson Kee of the Secretariat to the Business Times Budding Artists Fund: “International exchange is becoming increasingly important if not necessary in this interconnected world of the 21st century. Since its launch, BT BAF has focused on reaching out to children in Singapore. The next step would be to enable children from Singapore to know more about the world around him or her and about children from other countries and cultures. We want children from Singapore and their counterparts from another country to know that no child is alone in the world, that always there is someone else in another part of the world who is also sharing his or her ups and downs, sorrows and joys,” adds Mr Kee.

For 2009, BT BAF will be launching its chapter in Bangkok, BAF Bangkok in June. Watch this space!