Just in:
Digital Hub Unveiled: Xposure Launches Platform for Global Photography Community // 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Will Be The Costliest One Till Now In The Whole World // UAE Golden Gambit to Counter Saudi Bid for Business Leadership // New Nylon Constant Torque Hinge From Southco Provides Position Control In A Compact Package // Sharjah Chamber Breaks Ground on Final Expansion with New HQ Pact // Following the Money Trail: US and UK Investigate $20 Billion in USDT Transfers Tied to Sanctioned Russian Exchange // Ingdan Announces 2023 Annual Results // Aid is at the core of Israel, Palestine struggle to control post-war Gaza // Simplified Business Moves for Al Reem Island Firms // Samsung Partners National Heritage Board to Bring a Slice of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV // Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Fri, 29 Mar 2024 // Melco Style Presents “SANRIO CHARACTERS STUDIO CITY CARNIVAL” – Explore a SANRIO World of Unlimited Love and Cuteness // U.S. Compliance Takes Center Stage at OKX Following Industry Jitters // Sunshine’s Debut Features Leave Tech World Scratching Its Head // Hong Kong Crypto Exchange Application Stalled by US Lawsuit // DrGo launches DrGo Me+ Ready Pack portable nutritional supplement pack // Experience Ultimate Shopping Freedom at 4.4 Shopee Spree: Don’t Worry, Shop Shopee! // Global Audience to Witness Thrill of Dubai World Cup // CABSAT 2024 Ushers in 30 Years of Media Innovation // Samsung Electronics Launches 2024 Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED, and OLED Displays to Spark the AI Screen Era //
HomeArts & CultureHighlights from the seventh edition of Art Stage Singapore

Highlights from the seventh edition of Art Stage Singapore

1484415798 AR 170119570

‘Contemporary art is not a decoration, it is a statement. It is a wonderful ­seismograph of our societies and realities.”

These words were part of the opening speech given last week by founder Lorenzo Rudolf at the seventh edition of Art Stage Singapore in the South-east Asian island city.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rudolf, from Switzerland, has made it his mission to champion those sentiments since 1991, when he took over as director of Art Basel and, over the course of a decade, turned it into the world’s leading art fair, with a waiting list of more than 700 galleries when he left in 2000. He then turned his attention to Florida, Frankfurt and Shanghai. In 2011, he founded Art Stage Singapore.

The event is considered crucial for helping galleries across South-east Asia to find a consolidated platform. This year, 131 galleries from 27 countries exhibited, just over a third of them from SE Asia.

“We want to position this ­region, with Singapore as the hub, within the international art ­market,” says Rudolf. “Every country is strong in creativity but weak in infrastructure so not able to compete internationally and that is why we want to build ­bridges with the rest of the world.”

Artistic diversity

Leading galleries from Japan showed work by masters such as Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese 87-year-old whose obsession with the polka dot has been seen at shows all over the world, including a major retrospective at the Sharjah Art Foundation, which closed last week.

ADVERTISEMENT

Also present were works by Hiroshi Senju and Yoshitomo Nara, two other leading Japanese artists.

The late Filipino artist, ­Pacita Abad, was featured in a solo show at Art 2 Gallery. She is ­considered a national treasure in the Philippines and her work reflects the sociopolitical ­landscape of her country.

From Singapore, leading artist Jason Lim, who combines ceramics with performance, had works on show, as did Ahmad Zakii Anwar – one of the most well-known artists in Malaysia.

There were also several young and emerging artists, including Hasanul Isyraf Idris, a ­Malaysian artist who likes to keep a low ­profile, shunning openings and attempting to work ­anonymously in the art scene.

Idris is represented by Richard Koh, who owns an eponymous gallery in Kuala Lumpur and plans to open a second space in Singapore this year.

Koh says he had an “amazing response” to Idris’s work, as well as the other seven emerging Malaysian artists he was showing at Art Stage Singapore. He was keen to point out that this ­response was mostly from collectors ­within the region.

“Singapore is the centre of SE Asia, much like the UAE is for the Middle East,” he says. “We get many buyers from the region but not so many non-SE Asian ­collectors. Westerners are not so familiar with this part of the world, not like they are with the Middle East – even though I actually think Middle Eastern dialogue and South-east Asia ­dialogue is very similar.

“For art to become internationally collected, it needs to be ­global first and then local, not local and going global. Here, we haven’t reached that stage yet, the market is not as mature.”

One of the key roles of the fair is to try to develop such ­maturity. Rudolf admits a single art fair cannot achieve such a feat, but that with a combined effort, things will improve.

“There is evidence of it happening already, with several regional collectors opening museums in places such as Thailand and Indonesia,” he says. “There is also an increased curiosity in the region from the west, but we must stay connected for it to work.”

Gallery reaction

Many exhibitors praised the broad range both of galleries and visitors. Jongsuwat Angsuvarnsiri, director of Subhashok Art Centre in Bangkok, says the distinct ­multicultural quality of Singapore was reflected at the fair.

“Singapore has a lot of collectors that are open minded about the type of work they collect and they are open to new cultures,” he says. “You need a lot of background information and context to properly appreciate Thai art and Singaporean collectors have that. There is a lot of diversity here.”

Vera Ong, owner of Art 2, also said many buyers came from ­China and Japan, which was something she appreciated.

Some galleries said they would like to see more galleries from ­Indonesia, often considered to be one of the most creative countries in the region, but in general the response was very good.

Harry Hutchison, of Aicon Gallery in New York, was one of the few gallerists from the West but was focusing his attention on buyers within the region.

“We have always had a really positive experience with South-east Asian buyers and we come all this way for them,” he says.

Collector’s stage

One of the best parts of Art Stage Singapore was an exhibition of works from the private collections of Singapore’s most prominent collectors, offering a rare insight into their tastes and inclinations.

Pieces included three neon-light sculptures by British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, who won the Turner Prize in 1999, as well as the Oscar for Best Motion Picture in 2014 for his film 12 Years a Slave.

Also included was a projection work by American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer, as well as several other high-profile Asian artists.

The main role of this exhibition was educating audiences, part of Rudolf’s commitment to building up the market.

“We are here in emerging lands and that means we have a lot to explain, including the importance of collecting art,” he says. “It is not only the question of what they bought but also what it means to like contemporary art and how important collectors are in the ecosystem of the art world.”

Drawing parallels

There are many similarities between the way Singapore has developed its art fair and the way Art Dubai started out. Both cities are regional hubs, with strong economies to support the infrastructure of an art fair and therefore act as a cultural glue for the creativity that surrounds them.

Part of Art Dubai’s success came from putting contemporary art from the Middle East in a global context and educating audiences through carefully curated exhibitions and gallery selection. Art Stage Singapore must do the same.

The wider scene

The event is at the heart of Singapore Art Week, a term covering several fringe events as well as an affordable art fair called Singapore ­Contemporary.

There is also the Singapore ­Biennale, which fills the national art museum with an impressive array of works on the themes of atlases and mirrors.

A highlight of the art week is Lock Route, a public art trail in Gillman Barracks – Singapore’s answer to Alserkal Avenue – a former army barracks converted into gallery spaces.

It is curated by Khairuddin Hori, who is something of a superstar on the Singapore art front. Formerly a senior curator at the Singapore Art Museum, and most recently the deputy director of artistic programmes for Paris’ prestigious Palais de Tokyo, he has a well-trained eye and has put together a robust collection of public art.

At Sundaram Tagore Gallery, one of 11 art galleries with permanent spaces in Gillman Barracks, is an exhibition by Iranian artist Golnaz Fathi. Her show, Line/Khat, is currently on show in Dubai’s The Third Line, and the Singapore exhibition is an extension of the same series, in which she works with rollerball pens across large canvases to produce labour-intensive and abstract pieces.

The future

While Singapore is a fairly new nation with relatively few artists and curators contributing to the global conversation, it is, like the UAE, a very strong regional hub that attracts galleries, artists and collectors.

It has seamless organisation and connectivity as well as a deep-seated commitment to promoting art and culture wherever possible. Although it has places where it needs to grow before it can become a global player, it is certainly on the right track and offers a refined window into the world of vibrant SE Asian art.

• Singapore Art Week runs until January 22. For more information visit: www.artweek.sg

[email protected]

Source link

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT
Just in:
Samsung Electronics Launches 2024 Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED, and OLED Displays to Spark the AI Screen Era // Samsung Partners National Heritage Board to Bring a Slice of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV // Universal Language for Healthcare: General Authority Embraces Global Coding System // DrGo launches DrGo Me+ Ready Pack portable nutritional supplement pack // Aid is at the core of Israel, Palestine struggle to control post-war Gaza // UAE Golden Gambit to Counter Saudi Bid for Business Leadership // Sharjah Chamber Breaks Ground on Final Expansion with New HQ Pact // Digital Hub Unveiled: Xposure Launches Platform for Global Photography Community // TUMI Hosts Global Launch Event in Singapore to Unveil Women’s Asra Collection and Announce Global Ambassador, Mun Ka Young // Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Fri, 29 Mar 2024 // CABSAT 2024 Ushers in 30 Years of Media Innovation // Saudi Arabia Unveils Green Financing Tool to Achieve Net-Zero Goals // French Leaders Gather for Interfaith Iftar Dinner // US reiterates concern over Kejriwal arrest, Cong accounts // A Tightrope Saudi Walk Towards Net-Zero // Emirati Aid Reaches Ukraine as Food Shortages Bite // Following the Money Trail: US and UK Investigate $20 Billion in USDT Transfers Tied to Sanctioned Russian Exchange // Global Audience to Witness Thrill of Dubai World Cup // U.S. Compliance Takes Center Stage at OKX Following Industry Jitters // Melco Style Presents “SANRIO CHARACTERS STUDIO CITY CARNIVAL” – Explore a SANRIO World of Unlimited Love and Cuteness //