Singapore Art Show

The Singapore Art Show was a biennial festival for visual art in Singapore, first organised by the National Arts Council in 2005 as a platform for local Artist|artists and other local residents.[1] The Singapore Art Show was planned to be held on alternating years with the Singapore Biennale.[1][2] The Art Show had a national focus on Singaporean and Singapore-based artists, while the Singapore Biennale, launched in 2006, would have a broader scope of Southeast Asian contemporary art in the international sphere.[1] Instead of having a single theme like the Biennale, the Art Show had sought to feature a large number of exhibitions by local artists without an overarching curatorial theme.[2]

The inaugural Singapore Art Show was launched on 23 September 2005, which included exhibitions, public art projects, and the television premiere of a commissioned work, 4x4—Episodes of Singapore Art by Ho Tzu Nyen.[1]

A main platform of the Art Show was the Singapore Art Exhibition, which was held at the Singapore Art Museum.[3]

## History

[edit]

The Singapore Art Show was organised as a platform for Singaporean artists to showcase their artworks and to foster public appreciation of the visual arts practices found locally.[1] While the Singapore Art Show was organised with a national focus on Singaporean and Singapore-based artists, the Singapore Biennale, launched in 2006, would have an emphasis on Southeast Asian contemporary art in the international sphere.[1] The Singapore Art Show was intended to take place every two years, held on alternating years with the Singapore Biennale.[1][2] Instead of having a single theme like the Biennale, the Art Show sought to feature a large number of exhibitions by local artists without an overarching curatorial theme.[2]

### 2005

[edit]

The inaugural month-long Singapore Art Show was launched on 23 September 2005, including exhibitions, public art projects, and the television premiere of a commissioned work by Ho Tzu Nyen, 4x4—Episodes of Singapore Art, on the Mediacorp TV12 Arts Central channel.[1] Over 400 artworks by 200 artists were exhibited across 11 venues.[1]

News coverage of the event sees the Singapore Art Show in relation to the slew of large-scale art events being held in Singapore in the lead-up to the Singapore Biennale, such as Seni Singapore in 2004 and the Singapore Art series, seeing the Art Show as a positive step.[4]

### 2007

[edit]

The second Singapore Art Show was held from 2 August to 8 October 2007.[2] Taking place over 2 months across 47 different venues, it featured a main platform, the Singapore Art Exhibition 2007, as well as 31 partner programmes and 5 satellite events.[3] The Singapore Art Exhibition 2007 at the Singapore Art Museum featured an invited section titled Imagining the City, with works from artists such as Chua Ek Kay, Goh Beng Kwan, Lim Tze Peng and Francis Ng, while the open section exhibited works from emerging artists selected through an open call.[3]

### 2009

[edit]

The third Singapore Art Show was held 21 August to 4 October 2009,[5] featuring 6000 works with 600 artists across 60 venues.[6] Its main platform, the Singapore Art Exhibition 2009, was held at the Singapore Art Museum with the theme of Art Buffet, featuring 30 works from artists such as Chng Seok Tin, Dawn Ng, and Wang Ruobing.[7] The works were selected by an open call and categorised through a "spread" of four themes: ‘humour’, ‘order’, ‘time’, and ‘space’.[7] Participating artist Chun Kaifeng's work was selected as the winning submission of the Singapore Art Exhibition and he was awarded the Singapore Art Exhibition Prize, a $50,000 grant.[7][8]

In a 1 September 2009 article titled "Gorging on art" from Singapore newspaper Today, the Singapore Art Show is criticised for its lack of focus and daunting number of exhibitions, or coming across as merely "filling in the gap" in the intervening years between Biennales.[6] The article suggests simply incorporating the Art Show within the Singapore Biennale.[6]

## Discontinuation

[edit]

No further editions of the Singapore Art Show were organised by the National Arts Council after 2009. The Singapore Biennale would continue to be organised, with its third edition held in 2011.[9]

In 2013, an annual event, Singapore Art Week, would be launched by the National Arts Council to create hype around the art fair, Art Stage Singapore, and would function as a similar platform for a loose collection of art events in Singapore.[10]

## See also

[edit]

* Singapore Biennale
* Singapore International Festival of Arts
* Visual art of Singapore
* Culture of Singapore

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chew, David (2 September 2005). "A visual arts boom". Today. p. 52. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
2. ^ a b c d e Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia (25 June 2007). "A Festival to Develop Singapore's Artistic Vision". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
3. ^ a b c Tung, John, ed. (2018). Singapore Art Museum: An Index of Exhibitions 1994-2018. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum. p. 169\. ISBN 978-981-11-8479-6.
4. ^ Chew, David (28 September 2005). "ART for the nation". Today. p. 40. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
5. ^ "Singapore Art Show 2009". Resonance: A MICA Newsletter (10): 2. July 2009.
6. ^ a b c Martin, Mayo (1 September 2009). "Gorging on Art". Today. p. 28. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
7. ^ a b c Tung, John, ed. (2018). Singapore Art Museum: An Index of Exhibitions 1994-2018. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum. p. 204\. ISBN 978-981-11-8479-6.
8. ^ Barker, Victoria (7 October 2009). "Singapore art on show at museum". AsiaOne. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
9. ^ Ngui, Matthew; Smith, Trevor; Storer, Russell (2011). Singapore Biennale 2011: Open House. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum. ISBN 9789810880507.
10. ^ Ditzig, Kathleen (23 February 2018). "Singapore Art Week". Art Agenda. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* National Arts Council Website

* v
* t
* e

Visual art of Singapore

Nanyang artists|

* Chen Chong Swee
* Chen Wen Hsi
* Cheong Soo Pieng
* Georgette Chen
* Lim Hak Tai
* Liu Kang

Art societies|

* Equator Art Society
* Modern Art Society
* Singapore Art Society
* Singapore Watercolour Society

Artist groups
& collectives|

* 5th Passage
* Group 90
* The Artists Village
* Trimurti
* Plastique Kinetic Worms
* PHUNK
* Ten Men Art Group
* Vertical Submarine

Venice Art Biennale
Singapore Pavilion|

* Henri Chen KeZhan (2001)
* Salleh Japar (2001)
* Matthew Ngui (2001)
* Suzann Victor (2001)
* Heman Chong (2003)
* Francis Ng (2003)
* Tan Swie Hian (2003)
* Lim Tzay Chuen (2005)
* Tang Da Wu (2007)
* Vincent Leow (2007)
* Jason Lim (2007)
* Zulkifle Mahmod (2007)
* Ming Wong (2009)
* Ho Tzu Nyen (2011)
* Charles Lim (2015)
* Zai Kuning (2017)
* Song-Ming Ang (2019)
* Shubigi Rao (2022)

Curators and art historians|

* Constance Sheares
* T.K. Sabapathy

Art schools|

* LASALLE College of the Arts
* Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
* NTU Art, Design & Media
* School of the Arts

Art museums,
galleries, and spaces|

| National art institutions|

* Singapore Art Museum
* SAM at 8Q
* STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery
* National Gallery Singapore
* National Museum Art Gallery (Defunct)

|

Decorative arts & heritage|

* Asian Civilisations Museum
* Malay Heritage Centre
* National Museum of Singapore
* Peranakan Museum
* Indian Heritage Centre

University museums
& school galleries|

* de Suantio Gallery (SMU)
* Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore
* NAFA Galleries
* NIE Art Gallery
* NTU ADM Gallery
* NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
* NTU Museum
* NUS Baba House
* NUS Museum

Independent & artist-run|

* 5th Passage (Defunct)
* Alpha Gallery (Defunct)
* Grey Projects
* Independent Archive
* Plastique Kinetic Worms (Defunct)
* The Artists Village
* The Substation

Private museums|

* ArtScience Museum
* Parkview Museum
* Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris (Defunct)
* The Private Museum

Commercial galleries|

* Gajah Gallery
* ShanghART Gallery

Other visual art venues
& organisations|

* 72-13
* DECK
* Gillman Barracks
* Jendela Visual Arts Space (Esplanade)
* Objectifs
* Sculpture Square (Defunct)
* The Arts House

Art events|

| Biennial exhibitions|

* Nokia Singapore Art (defunct)
* Singapore Art Show (defunct)
* Singapore Biennale

|

Art festivals|

* i Light Singapore
* Light to Night Festival
* M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
* SENI Singapore
* Singapore Art Week
* Singapore International Festival of Arts
* Singapore International Photography Festival
* Singapore Night Festival

Art fairs|

* Affordable Art Fair
* ART SG
* Art Stage Singapore (defunct)
* S.E.A. Focus

State bodies|

* Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth
* National Arts Council
* National Heritage Board

General|

* LGBT art in Singapore
* List of visual artists from Singapore
* Nanyang Style
* William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings

* Singapore portal
* Visual arts portal

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template