Testament of an Artiste

“Testament of an Artiste” to Preserve Voices of Senior Tamil Artistes in Singapore

The Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) launched Testament of an Artiste, a 10-part Tamil video interview series featuring senior Tamil artistes whose lives and creative work have shaped Singapore’s Tamil arts landscape, on 21 February 2026, at The Pod, National Library Board building.

The series was produced by the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture, with support from the National Arts Council, the National Library Board, and Mr Jothi Manickam.

Testament of an Artiste documents and celebrates the voices, lived experiences, and creative journeys of ten senior Tamil artistes in Singapore, shown in the poster on left. Each episode features an in-depth interview with a single artiste, capturing personal histories, artistic philosophies, pivotal turning points, struggles, triumphs, and reflections on legacy. Collectively, the ten episodes form a rare and intimate visual and oral archive of artistic life across decades.

The series situates senior Tamil artistes within Singapore’s cultural memory, recognising that their contributions extend beyond performance into lived experiences of migration, identity formation, cultural negotiation, and artistic resilience. In responding to the urgency of documenting these stories — particularly as many senior artistes face advancing age and enjoy limited prior documentation — the project stands as both tribute and archive, preserving narratives that deepen public understanding of Tamil arts as an integral part of Singapore’s multicultural heritage.