NAC Cultural Fellowship

An advanced arts development programme for artistic leaders

First held in 2014, the Fellowship counts artistic practitioners Kok Heng Leun, Natalie Hennedige, Noor Effendy Ibrahim, and Quek Ling Kiong among its alumni. It now returns to support the next wave of artistic leaders in Singapore. 

What to expect

Developed and delivered in collaboration with Long Play Lab (LPL) ↗ (opens in new tab), this 6-month programme is intentionally designed for a small and select cohort of Artistic Directors and Associate Artists with a strong professional track record. Fellows can look forward to:

• Individual development sessions by Long Play Lab’s co-founders Ivan Ludlow and Topi Lehtipuu: Individual leadership assessment and individual coaching;

• Studio conversations with leading practitioners including Mark Ball (Artistic Director of London's Southbank Centre and former Creative Director of the Manchester International Festival) and Dominique Hervieu (Leading French Choreographer and Co-Director of Montpellier's Agora – Cité Internationale de la Danse);

• Group plenary sessions for peer cohort learning and exchanges; and

• Optional individual international learning visits* tailored to your artistic practice and development goals.

Programme dates 

The Fellowship runs from October 2026 to March 2027, comprising three in-person plenary sessions of 2–3 days each, interspersed with peer action learning sets and individual coaching and studio conversations scheduled flexibly around Fellows' availability. Participants should be available for the first in-person session held from 26 to 27 October 2026.

Application cycle

Interested applicants should submit their application by 7 August 2026, 5pm (Singapore Time). Incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered.

For a complete application, please ensure the following supporting documents are included in your submission:

Curriculum Vitae (CV) of applicant

Your CV should cover the following:

• Professional background and artistic career – an overview of your artistic practice, professional experience, and key milestones in your career to date

• Highlighting your commissioned works and international engagements and presence.

Personal Statement (between 300 to 500 words)

Your personal statement should give insights on the following:

• Describe your artistic practice and the leadership role you currently hold or are growing into. What is the artistic idea or vision that drives your work?

• What is the most significant creative leadership challenge you are navigating right now and what has it revealed about where you need to grow?

• List up to 3 examples for each category below and briefly explain why you chose them. Consider how each choice would inspire your professional growth and help you bring your work to an international audience.

  1. Destination – Which international destination(s) would you most like to visit?

  2. Institution – Which international institution(s) would you most like to engage with or learn from?

  3. Persons – Which international figure(s) would you most like to meet?

• What do you hope to leave the programme with, and how do you see it shaping your artistic practice and impact over the next 3 to 5 years?

All applicants will be notified of the selection outcome by September 2026. Shortlisted applicants may be contacted for a follow-up interview as part of the selection process.

If you have any further queries, please contact Naomi Kaneko at naomi_kaneko@nac.gov.sg

*The overseas learning visit is an optional and enriching component of the programme available for all participants. While we look forward to making this experience possible, NAC reserves the right to modify, postpone, or cancel the visit should prevailing circumstances — including geopolitical developments, safety, health, or operational considerations — make it inadvisable or unfeasible to proceed.

Eligibility criteria

Headlining speakers

Mark Ball (Artistic Director of London's Southbank Centre)

Mark Ball is one of the UK's most influential cultural leaders. As Creative Director of the Manchester International Festival (MIF), he shaped the artistic identity and opening programme of the organisation's permanent home Factory International, the most significant new cultural building opening in the UK this century.   He now leads London's Southbank Centre as Artistic Director, Europe's largest arts centre, spanning music, dance, theatre, literature and visual art. He brings deep experience steering a major cultural institution—balancing artistic ambition and organisational reality—and a humane, people-centred approach to leadership that puts artists and teams at the heart of the work. Add to that a sharp instinct for building audiences, and studio conversations with Mark offer Fellows a rare chance to learn directly from someone who has realised bold artistic vision at the very largest scale.

Dominique Hervieu (Leading French choreographer and Co-Director of Montpellier's Agora – Cité Internationale de la Danse)

Dominique Hervieu is one of France's most influential figures in dance. A choreographer and dancer who first gained recognition through the celebrated Montalvo-Hervieu partnership, known for blending dance with film and multimedia, she went on to lead several of France's major cultural institutions — including the Théâtre National de Chaillot, the Maison de la Danse, and the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon. More recently, she served as Director of Culture for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and now leads programming at the Agora – Cité Internationale de la Danse in Montpellier. What sets her apart is a lifelong commitment to bringing dance to the widest possible audiences — through free public performances, and "Nomad Houses" in hospitals, prisons, and libraries. Studio conversations with Dominique offer Fellows a rare chance to learn how to connect ambitious art with the broadest public, lead major institutions, and work across art forms, all at the largest scale.

Programme facilitators from Long Play Lab

Ivan Ludlow (Co-Founder and Principal, Long Play Lab)

Ivan Ludlow is an artistic director, advisor, and performer whose practice bridges artistic creation and strategic leadership. As a vocal soloist, he has appeared in world premieres at the Salzburg Festival, Opéra de Paris, Zurich Opera, and the Beijing Festival. This first-hand experience as a performing artist informs his work helping artistic directors and artists navigate the tension between creative ambition and organisational reality.

Ivan specialises in programming strategy, building creative capacity within organisations, and cultural policy on institution, city and state levels. He has designed an artist incubator for the National Arts Council Singapore, served as Artistic Director for music festivals in Portugal and the UK, and has been in charge of the development of new cultural institutions across Asia and the Middle East — including a Youth Orchestra project in Abu Dhabi and the Umiam Music City initiative in India. His expertise lies in helping artists and artistic directors articulate their creative vision, develop distinctive programming identities, and build the collaborative relationships that allow ambitious work to flourish.

Topi Lehtipuu (Co-Founder and Principal, Long Play Lab)

Topi Lehtipuu brings executive cultural leadership experience to Long Play Lab, having served as CEO and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Festival — where he commissioned new works for most of the artistic disciplines for various media, and led the transformation of a two-festival organisation into a ten-festival umbrella serving 1.5 million audiences annually. He subsequently served as Director of Strategy for a major immersive theatre project in London, with executive responsibility for marketing, communications, sponsorship, and legal affairs.

Topi specialises in artistic development pathways, organisational strategy, governance, stakeholder relationships, and the enterprise skills that allow artistic vision to scale sustainably. He advises governments and institutions on cultural strategy and cultural exports — including the Meghalaya Government (India) on cultural ecosystem development — and has served on jury for the Falling Walls Foundation Berlin and the advisory board of the Sibelius Academy. A two-time Grammy-nominated opera singer, Topi understands the artist's perspective from the inside, bringing both creative credibility and strategic rigour to his work with fellows navigating complex leadership challenges.

Long Play Lab (LPL) is an international strategic cultural strategy and leadership development consultancy specialising in creative sector capacity-building, arts leadership, strategic planning, and organisational development.