JP Nathan

JP Nathan

Director of Programming of the Esplanade
Singapore is a country working to promote arts and culture as a national agenda under its “Renaissance City” program, which positions the arts at the centre of national strategy that entails the establishment the state’s brand image and building economic competitiveness. The Report of the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts , published in 1987, prompted the serious development of a scheme to support the arts, including the establishment of the National Arts Council under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
As part of these programs, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay opened its doors to the public in October 2002. Built on six hectares of land on Marina Bay near the center of the city, it is one of the largest theatre complexes in the Southeast Asian region. The complex hosted 1,915 performances (637 ticketed /1,278 non-ticketed) and had over 7 million visitors in Fiscal 2005/6, with an audience of about 1.4 million. This is equivalent to 30% of the market share of the arts industry audience in Singapore.