Recall the last time you made art with your heart and imagination, or when you immersed yourself in the world of arts — whether strolling through a museum, browsing a gallery, or attending a performance — did it bring you joy? As an art enthusiast myself, each encounter is not merely pleasurable but profoundly enriching as it broadens my intellectual and cultural perspective. As the respected art historian Ernst H. Gombrich says in “The Story of Art”: “One never finishes learning about art. There are always new things to discover.”
Indeed, the impact of the arts goes far beyond personal enrichment; the arts are the lifeblood of vibrant communities. They contribute to community health and vitality in myriad ways, such as inspiring creativity, nurturing cultural expression, and harnessing inclusivity.
While governments and corporations often support the field of arts and culture, individual patrons and philanthropic foundations also play an important role in ensuring that it thrives. Their philanthropic efforts range from grantmaking and establishing endowment funds to creating awards and fellowships. Arts grants are the most prevalent of these efforts, directed toward arts and cultural organizations of a variety of sizes and types, as well as individual artists and specific projects. In recent years, the funding environment for arts and culture has seen the increased involvement of everyday individuals, mainly through their participation in membership schemes offered by related organizations.
Arts and culture are at the heart of philanthropy in regions like Europe, and the same is often true in the U.S. European philanthropists’ devotion to arts and culture remains despite recent health and economic crises, according to a 2023 study by Philea. However, this is not the case in Asia, where philanthropy has historically centered on education and health due to a mix of factors such as the nonpolitical nature of these concerns and a humanitarian desire to fulfill basic needs.
This tendency continues today, as evidenced, for example, by the recently released China Charity Ranking (2024). With support from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs and the China Philanthropy Times, the ranking includes over 200 individual philanthropists who have each contributed more than RMB1 million in the previous year. Among them, 75% have specified education, bursaries and physical education as their giving priorities; donations toward these areas reached RMB6 billion, accounting for over half of the total donations.
In India, data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs demonstrate that education and health topped the CSR spending (among those subject to mandatory CSR under the Companies Act 2013) in the financial year 2022/23. Environmental sustainability is also the subject of growing corporate interest.
In contrast, arts and culture, often perceived as having less immediate or critical needs, do not receive as much philanthropic funding across Asia. This exacerbates the chronic underfunding of many Asian arts organizations, especially in South Asia, where there is a preexisting shortage of public funding, according to ArtTactic’s 2020 report. But an intriguing question arises: Why should philanthropists fund the arts at all?
While donors will differ on how they answer this question, supporting arts and culture is crucial, for one, because it can preserve and promote one’s cultural legacy in an increasingly interconnected world where diverse cultures blend and influence one another. The arts are common avenues for individuals and communities to express their cultural values and traditions, essentially a reflection of cultural identities. When increasingly exposed to and, ideally, engaging in the arts, people can deepen their understanding and appreciation of their own culture. This, in turn, motivates them to participate in cultural preservation and revitalization, thus reducing the risk of erosion in the future.
The Philippines’ Ayala Foundation has long been a driving force of such efforts. Chief among them is the decades-long Ayala Museum, now known as one of the leading private museums in the archipelago, showcasing an extensive collection of Filipino art, history and cultural artifacts to the public. The Japan Foundation, alternatively, facilitates the exposure of Japanese arts and culture beyond borders. Through its generous grants, Japanese artists and cultural specialists gain access to international platforms and audiences they may not otherwise have reached. This promotes not only their individual works but also the broader aspects of Japanese culture on a global stage.
Moreover, opportunities exist for philanthropists to empower marginalized groups and contribute to a more inclusive, equitable society by investing in the arts. Arts and culture have traditionally been associated with elites, and even today, such opportunities are not always accessible to everyone. Factors such as the lack of disposable income and time, geographical limitations and disability pose barriers to arts accessibility. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many students from impoverished backgrounds are deprived of art education outside the classroom for financial reasons.
Donors can help bridge this accessibility gap, as reflected in the Singapore International Foundation’s Arts for Good Projects. Singapore’s annual Arts and Disability Forum, for example, features programs led by the global arts industry and other arts-based activities, such as dance workshops run by dancers with disabilities, enabling their voices to be heard.
Likewise, India’s Baithak Foundation strives to make traditional music — historically restricted to only certain privileged groups — available to socioeconomically disadvantaged children. Its flagship initiative, the APT Project, involves concerts, participative workshops and music clubs specifically for children in urban slums and rural areas. Taken together, these opportunities allow disadvantaged individuals to equally explore their creative abilities, foster connection to others through artistic expression and generate economic value from their artworks.
Philanthropy can also support the arts for their capacity to facilitate deep and critical thinking. The arts often mirror an individual’s or a group’s experiences, affirming and empowering them to delve into various perspectives and reimagine the past, present and future. Since 2018, individual patrons have funded Parallel Space, an independent art gallery in Hong Kong, which hosts exhibitions revolving around contemporary political and social issues. One such example is a recent photography exhibition that captures day-to-day lives in Hong Kong in the aftermath of the 2019 protest movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. These photographs evoke a sense of frustration and uncertainty in Hongkongers’ lives, but also trigger collective memories and reflection on the lasting, inescapable impact of sociopolitical changes. Society can reap the benefit of this form of nonverbal expression, thoughtfully engaging citizens in conversations about shifting sociopolitical dynamics.
By funding the arts, philanthropy acts as a catalyst for social change, from safeguarding cultural diversity and advancing inclusivity to spurring reflection. While a few have harnessed this powerful tool in Asia, much more needs to be done to reshape the arts and culture giving scene for its robustness and longevity. Yet, philanthropists must be prepared to play the long game. After all, it takes time to translate arts and cultural initiatives into actual societal impact, alongside challenges in quantifying such impact.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s own and should not be attributed to any organization with which she is affiliated.
Jodee Fok is the Research Analyst at the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS).