Organised by The Art Assembly and presented by Founding and Lead Partner UBS, ART SG opens to the public at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore from 19 – 21 January 2024. The fair presents 114 galleries from 33 countries and territories around the world – including 33 with an exhibition space in Southeast Asia.
Magnus Renfrew, Co-Founder, ART SG said: “The second edition of ART SG, represents a further step in the evolution of the art scene in Asia. Southeast Asia has a population size of 650 million people, approaching that of Europe, and is home to many of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Singapore has been increasing in relevance not only geo-politically and geo-economically, but has also emerged as the tech and biotech centre of Asia. Singapore is the acknowledged hub for Southeast Asia more broadly and with no capital gains tax is becoming the location of choice for the world’s wealthy. Our exhibitors share our view that Southeast Asia is a crucial market that is developing rapidly and we are thrilled to work with them and our stakeholders to put the focus of the international art world on to Singapore and Southeast Asia and to bring the international art world to the region. ART SG will continue to support, and strengthen Singapore’s increasingly influential role as a major art market and cultural hub for the Indo-Pacific now and in the years to come.”
Jin Yee Young, Co-Head UBS Global Wealth Management Asia Pacific and Country Head UBS Singapore said: “UBS is proud to bring back ART SG for a second year, kicking off APAC’s art calendar. Singapore serves as an important gateway to the vibrant APAC art scene with robust interest amongst art collectors. We anticipate strong attendance for ART SG, as 9 out of 10 HNW art collectors surveyed plan to continue attending art exhibitions in 2024. At ARTSG 2024, the UBS Art Collection unveils today new commissions for UBS focusing on themes of community and environmental consciousness, by the leading Indonesian artist, Eko Nugroho. This collaboration reflects our dedication to the arts in various regions where UBS operates, and furthers the dialogue at ART SG which serves as a fantastic platform to spotlight relevant issues and foster a space where we can collaboratively envision a brighter future.”
Yap Chin Siang, Deputy Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board: “We are delighted to welcome ART SG back for its second edition, once again anchoring the vibrant Singapore Art Week. We anticipate the city to be enlivened with the energy of ART SG and the collective creativity of art practitioners and partners during Singapore Art Week, further solidifying Singapore’s position as a vibrant lifestyle destination. This event exemplifies Singapore’s dynamic arts and culture scene, multicultural heritage, and progressive global mindset. We are proud to welcome galleries and art lovers from around the world as Singapore continues to grow as a vital, regional arts hub for Southeast Asia and beyond.”
Shuyin Yang, Fair Director, ART SG said, ”At ART SG 2024, we are delighted to welcome a stellar line up of leading galleries from Singapore, Southeast Asia and around the world. The fair’s second edition is headlined by a rich curation of multi-artist exhibitions, insightful solo showcases that allow the audience to journey deeper into the artist’s practice, and rising talents from Southeast Asia and beyond. Additionally, featuring 30 exhibitors with spaces in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the fair presents a broad and diverse range of Southeast Asian art, providing a nuanced perspective including painting, sculpture, large-scale installations, film and new media. The vibrancy of the region is further contextualised through the fair’s public programs, such as ART SG FILM curated by Sam I-Shan, and an engaging talks program featuring thought leaders such as Zoe Butt, Aaron Cezar, Prof. Apinan Poshyananda, X Zhu-Nowell as well as prominent collectors and private museum owners. These programs offer fresh perspectives into the dynamic art ecosystem of today.”
In addition to its dynamic exhibitor line-up, ART SG presents a curated program of large-scale and site-specific art and insightful conversations in the fair’s public spaces. Additionally, a schedule of video and films will be screened daily in collaboration with the ArtScience Museum.
PLATFORM showcases dynamic, site-specific installations and large-scale sculptures situated throughout the fair, giving visitors the opportunity to experience art of scale. This year, PLATFORM will feature five artists from diverse backgrounds and generations including a mixed-media installation Home by British-Chinese artist Gordon Cheung, in the form of traditional Chinese windows, made from financial newspapers and bamboo; a bio-art project by Singapore-based artist Boedi Widjaja presenting collectible DNA-spiked objects through capsule vending machines, Sarawakian textile artist Marcos Kueh’s new large-scale textile works, integrating visual motifs commonly associated with Southeast Asia – especially Borneo and Sarawak – within the format of large woven banners; Singaporean artist Donna Ong will present works that create fantastical worlds through her unique artistic practice of arranging miniature hand-cut paper shapes of tropical flora and fauna housed inside a glass vitrine; and British abstract painter Ian Davenport will present a large-scale painting-installation that used 120 litres of paint in its creation.
This year’s TALKS program: ART SG PERSPECTIVES comprises seven conversations featuring some of world’s most respected art world figures and names including how to support creative ecologies and nurture the social worlds of artists with Zoe Butt – Curator, Writer and Founder of in-tangible institute, Chiang Mai with Alessio Antoniolli – Director of Gasworks and Triangle Network, London; Vibha Galhotra – Artist, Delhi; Chantal Wong – Convenor for AFIELD, Hong Kong; a conversation between Dr. Apinan Poshyanonda – Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Bangkok Art Biennale and Stefano Rabolli-Pansera – Director, Bangkok Kunsthalle, on expanding the contemporary Thai art eco-system beyond Bangkok; explorations of a culture of philanthropy for the arts and the role of collectors and patrons in Asia with Vir Kotak – Collector and Founder, The Eight Foundation, Singapore; Alan Lau – Collector, Vice Chairman of M+ Hong Kong, Co-Chair Tate Modern Asia Pacific Acquisition Committee, Guggenheim Museum Asia Art Circle; Justine Tek – Director and CEO, Yuz Museum, Shanghai; led by Aaron Cezar – Founding Director, Delfina Foundation, London; Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics, currently on view at 6 venues across Gillman Barracks examines varied and complex histories, stories, and speculations in diverse media drawn from African and Asian diasporic cultural experiences featuring Pio Abad – Artist, Manila; Misheck Masamvu – Artist, Zimbabwe; Tuan Andrew Nguyen – Artist, Ho Chi Minh City; Dr Zoé Whitley – Director of Chisenhale Gallery led by Dr Karin Oen-Lee – Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Art History at Nanyang Technological University Singapore; understand value and criticality in the context of collecting, writing and taste-making with X Zhu-Nowell – Artistic Director, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Bill Nguyen – Director, Nguyen Art Foundation, Ho Chi Minh; Dr Roger Nelson – Co-founder, Co-editor of Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia; AI, Art & Art History with Kathleen Ditzig – Curator, National Gallery Singapore; Jake Elwes – Artist, London; Ho Rui An – Artist, Singapore; Deeps de Silva – Founder, Samadhi Ventures; led by Clara Che Wei Peh – Freelance curator; new ways of creating and presrnting moving image with Su Hui-Yu – Artist, Taipei; Han Nefkens – Collector and Founder of Hans Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona; Yeo Siew Hua – Artist, Singapore moderated by Sam I-shan – ART SG FILM curator, Singapore.
FILM is a free film program being screened daily in collaboration with ArtScience Museum, Singapore from 18-21 January at the museum’s cinema (Level 4). Curated by Sam I-shan and titled EMBODIED PRESENCES, a series of four hour-long programs will be on view revolving around the theme of the body and featuring an exceptional line up of established and emerging film artists, including the founder of video art Nam June Paik, Su Hui-yu, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Yeo Siew Hua, Hsu Chia-Wei, Chulayarnnon Siriphol and more. This selection of artist films and video art is centred around the body in all its perceiving and expressive capacities, material realities and mythic imaginaries. Nineteen moving image works by seventeen international artists are presented across three themed compilations of short films, and a special feature-length presentation. The program concludes with a feature film by Su Hui-Yu, a dystopic, dream-like tale of the last human on the planet.
Press release from ART SG
Image: Marcos Kueh. Royal Entrance. 2022. From the series Kenyalang Circus. 2022. Installation view at The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague. Image courtesy of ART SG
