2016-17
Venka Purusshothaman
Venka Purushothaman is Vice-President and Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. He is a leading expert in arts higher education and cultural and creative industries in Asia. His current research interest is on research and pedagogies in art school environments. Dr Purushothaman joins us a Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub.
His accomplished record in academic leadership is evidenced through his rise through the ranks from lecturer to Dean to Provost at LASALLE. Since 2008, Venka has been Vice-President (Academic) & Provost responsible for the quality of practice-led arts education; steering the development of industry-sensitive programmes and student-centred curriculum; and the profile of the College globally in contemporary art practice. His pedagogic philosophy is to ensure that contemporary Asia is given appropriate place and voice in arts curriculum thereby representing the voice of a new generation of artists.
As an arts and cultural manager, he has worked with various not-for-profit and for profit arts organisations including the Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay and the National Arts Council; and on arts events such as WOMAD Singapore. Venka is highly regarded for his research and insights in the cultural and creative industries in Asia with special emphasis on visual and performing arts management, festival cultures and cultural policy in Asia. He has researched and written extensively on the visual arts, performing arts and arts management.
His seminal book, Making Visible the Invisible: Three Decades of the Singapore Arts Festival (2007) remains the most comprehensive study of the festival and cultural policy in Singapore, while Narratives: Notes on a Cultural Journey, Cultural Medallion Recipients, 1979-2002 (2002) kick started the documentation and study of artistic leaders in Singapore. His artist monographs include: Dance Me through the Dark: The Photography of Tan Ngiap Heng (2008); and Salleh Japar: Gurindam dan Igauan. (2004).
Visiting Research Fellow
