Post Museum, a social enterprise in Singapore that provides a platform for community causes and the arts, has closed shop on August 7, after four years of existence. The venue hosted a regular soup kitchen, NGO talks, and even a beer festival. It also has studio spaces for artists in residence.
According to newspaper Today, they are not the first of such cultural spaces to disappear recently. Blackhole, a community space focusing on music, lifestyle, and the arts, was shut down last September. Evil Empire, an eclectic arts space which holds events like a drawing contest and faux auction, followed suit in April this year.
The main reason Post Museum has shut down was because they could not get enough funding to cover their costs. Besides crowd sourcing, they also earn from their bistro Food#03, an integral part of the venue, as well as rentals from its four studio spaces for artists. Unlike charities, social enterprises need to generate sufficient revenue in order to be self-sustaining.
The co-founders only accept money from donors who give them complete control for their projects. Jennifer Teo told Channel NewsAsia: “For a lot of spaces and…activities and events that get corporate funding, there are always compromises they need to do. We actually don’t. We’d rather not get the money. There’s always a need for people to be independent from greater influences.”
Another reason was the lack of manpower. They were unable to find someone to take over or help manage it.
But we won’t be seeing the last of Jennifer and partner Tien Wei, as they are planning to do one-off events in different venues and countries. The new initiative will be called OutPost.
Photo: An photo exhibition at Post Museum. By Aameerule
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