The cultural ties between Italy and Singapore have progressively strengthened over time, thanks in part to the City-State’s growing ambition to establish itself as a cosmopolitan and cutting-edge hub on the international artistic scene. Today, these ties represent an essential component of the broader framework of bilateral cooperation between our two countries.
Italian fashion, cinema, visual arts, photography, design, and cuisine have now become an integral part of Singapore’s vibrant cultural landscape. In the absence of an Italian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of Italy in Singapore plays a direct and proactive role in promoting Italian culture throughout the country.
In recent years, the Embassy has significantly intensified its cultural activities and collaborations with local cultural institutions, both public and private, participating actively in all major cultural events in the City-State.
In the field of cinema, the Embassy has been organizing the Italian Film Festival for nearly twenty-four years, in collaboration with local cinemas and the Singapore Film Society. The festival represents an important opportunity to present to the Singaporean public the latest Italian film productions, alongside timeless classics of our tradition. Furthermore, in 2025, for the first time, Italy participated in the Singapore International Film Festival, with the Embassy’s support, featuring two Italian films (La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino and Waking Hours by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini) and the attendance of director Federico Cammarata.
In the literary field, the Embassy ensures a consistent Italian presence at the Singapore Writers Festival, the leading international literary event in Southeast Asia. In 2024, authors Paolo Giordano and Elisabetta Dami, creator of the famous children’s character Geronimo Stilton, took part in the festival; in 2025, instead, the Embassy organized a series of seminars to mark the Centenary of Andrea Camilleri’s birth. On that occasion, Professor Mauro Novelli, one of the foremost experts on the writer’s work, delivered two lectures in Singapore — one hosted at the Embassy and another organized in collaboration with the National Library.
As for design, Italy regularly takes part in the Singapore Design Week, presenting leading figures in the fields of design and architecture. Over the past two years, the Embassy brought to Singapore two prominent architects on the national and international scene, Michele De Lucchi and Mario Cucinella, both included in the event’s official program. The Embassy also collaborates with ICE Singapore (Italian Trade Agency) in the organization of FIND – Design Fair Asia, a key platform showcasing the excellence of both international and Italian design.
Music represents another cornerstone of our cultural engagement. The program ranges from classical music — with the piano concert by Ludovico Einaudi in 2024 and the performance by flautist Andrea Griminelli in 2025 — to jazz, with the special performance by Danilo Rea in December 2025 in La grande opera in jazz, blending Italian operatic tradition with jazz improvisation, and to pop music, with the concert by Ilaria Della Bidia in May 2025. Special attention is also devoted to opera, through support for local companies staging works from the Italian repertoire. In 2026, the Embassy will be among the main supporters of the production of Macbeth, scheduled for March and curated by Lirica Arts.
In 2026, for the first time, the Embassy will collaborate with the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) to bring to Singapore the exhibition Pinocchio’s New Clothes, organized in collaboration with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and featuring the participation of internationally acclaimed Italian illustrator Philip Giordano.
We also continue to invest with determination in artist residencies — a key component of our cultural strategy — as they foster lasting and sustainable collaborations between Italian and Singaporean artists in the performing and visual arts. In particular, at the beginning of 2026, the artistic residency of photographer Camilla Marrese will take place, as part of a dual Italy–Singapore residency project facilitated by the Embassy in partnership with DECK and the Fotografia Calabria Festival.
Finally, the Embassy works in collaboration with an extensive network of partners — private companies, institutions, and international non-profit organizations — including the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), which is particularly active in fostering cultural dialogue between Asia and Europe.
Artists interested in proposing cultural initiatives to the Embassy may write to singapore.culturale@esteri.it.