The Goethe-Institut Singapore has established a unique space for culture in Singapore. 136 GOETHE LAB is a space that highlights the importance of open and cost-free spaces for culture in our dense urban environment, and welcomes artists and cultural practitioners to collaborate, through its annual open calls.
Purpose-built space for culture
Once library and reading room, the souterrain space in the historic shophouse on the corner of Neil Road and Bukit Pasoh was newly transformed in 2021. At about 100sqm (1076sqft), equipped with professional sound and lighting, and with a separate access point on Bukit Pasoh Road, it lends itself to multiple functions and uses, be it workshops, performances and installations.
A space for process-driven projects & long term conversations
Rather than a traditional gallery space, 136 GOETHE LAB is a space for the development of experimental, interdisciplinary and process-driven projects. We hope for the lab to evolve into a public space where innovative, contemporary, and pertinent conversations can take place. The space is offered to our collaborators free of cost with production funds, and for a period of up to 8 weeks maximum, depending on the format of the project.
Through a permanent programme of open calls, it is our idea to provide a platform which allows openness and meaningful engagements, with the intention that these engagements will shape the constitution and meaning of the space. We provide our programme framework, our institutional expertise, our support and our resources, while we explore ways of shared ownership, collaborative modes of working and opportunities that allow new ideas and practices to unfold for a space of innovation and experimentation.
In this sense, the Goethe-Institut Singapore means and hopes for this project space to be the start of an ongoing and long term conversation and engagement with the public, the cultural scene, and the collaborators who come through the space.
The Goethe-Institut Singapore intends for 136 GOETHE LAB to be a public space reflecting, and catering to the local cultural scene, but also welcoming international participation and collaboration. Therefore, its programme will consist predominantly of projects developed through open calls, which will be held twice a year in February and July. We invite the public, and the arts and culture communities of Singapore to apply to these open calls. All are welcome.
The open call format reflects an open-ended, process-oriented, and transparent approach in terms of programming for the space. In this way, what the space becomes and for whom it provides shall be as much defined by its users and visitors, artists and cultural practitioners, as by the Goethe-Institut Singapore.
136 GOETHE LAB Open Call is an annual open call inviting all Singapore-based cultural practitioners, individual or collectives, to develop and present a project at the Goethe-Institut Singapore’s project space, 136 GOETHE LAB.
The engagement of the public and the arts scene is as important as our own programming to create a meaningful space. Please reach out to us if you are interested in collaborative projects, innovative contemporary practices and international exchange in the arts.
