Alan Oei to hold weekly public meetings to discuss about The Substation’s new direction

Many things have been said of Alan Oei and his unpopulist decisions to steer grizzled arts centre The Substation into a new era.

As such, the new artistic director of The Substation wants to clear the air about his vision for the beloved premises in a series of public meetings to discuss the centre’s new direction.

In a post on The Substation’s Facebook page, Oei acknowledges the “confusion and anxiety” over the issue in a lengthy statement addressing the influx of online criticism against the major changes he proposed.

Over the last few weeks, Oei’s intention to transform the establishment into a respectable “research and development space”. Part of his new plan involves abolishing The Substation’s long-held role of being a cheap venue space for artists — and that’s not sitting well with the local music scene. A petition was shared around on social media calling for a proper performance venue for local artists in the wake of the news that The Substation will no longer play that role.

Oei also closed the centre’s iconic Moving Images film programme, which ruffled the feathers of film buffs and filmmakers.

In the Facebook post, the new chief stated that he would be interested to find out how The Substation can be a “cultural space not only for artists, but also everyone who cares about Singapore.”

“All of this is to say, yes there have been, and there will be many more changes. But you know what? We don’t have all the answers, and many of these answers will emerge not in a flash, but over a long period of time in consultation with you.”

The open-door meetings will be held from Feb 26 onwards, and will continue every Friday till Mar 31, where a townhall session will be held to invite all concerns to be engaged in a dialogue.