Article from: Art News
These shifts have begun to draw the attention of major international art world players, even as other cities like Seoul, which has seen several Western galleries announce forthcoming outposts and will launch a new iteration of Frieze there in September. Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo will also get new art fairs in the coming years.
ART SG’s future home, the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
“I’ve been seeing a number of experienced collectors moving to Singapore lately and know of a few more who are considering a move here for the long term, with plans to move their entire art collection with them too,” she said. “These are positive signs for the growth of the Singapore art scene and market.”
Liu added, “It goes without saying that Singapore’s highly developed business infrastructure, family-friendly lifestyle, and travel mobility all amplify its merits for those who are surveying the art market here, with an overall momentum building toward ART SG’s big fair next January.”
Earlier this year, Ning Chong, a Singaporean art consultant, set up Family Office for Art (FOFA) with her father, Chong Huai Seng, a former investment banker and art collector. Since its launch in June, FOFA has received interest from private banks and their clients to share more about their experiences in buying and investing in art, as well as harnessing one’s passion to initiate new business ideas and legacy-building.
Ning Chong observed that Singapore has been dubbed Asia’s “Silicon Valley” as there are many tech entrepreneurs launching new ventures and multi-generational family business owners based in the city-state. “We decided to set up FOFA as we see a gap in the market for a full-service concierge that can look after all your art collection needs and more,” she said.
Michael Tay, a long-time Singaporean arts patron and the group managing director of The Hour Glass, a homegrown luxury watch retailer, agrees that family offices can play a “very important part in (patronage) and apart from straight out philanthropy, their contributions can also be shaped and directed through public policy.”
With proliferation of galleries requiring BOGO (buy one, give one) agreements from potential clients and promised bequests for contemporary art to institutions, Tay envisions that Singapore’s national collection will soon propel the country in the global art market: “My hope is that the Singapore government tweaks its national collections policy to include and emphasize international, non-Southeast Asian art and artists,” he said. “While we believe in the importance of Southeast Asian art, and our institutions do very important curatorial work in this domain, the rest of the global contemporary art market players doesn’t necessarily care much for it.”
Tay added that the upcoming ART SG would be an opportunity for the global contemporary art world to discover that there is a vibrancy among collectors residing in Southeast Asia and that “while it has been a region that has been overshadowed by our North East Asian cousins, the time now is ripe for its cultivation.”
Nonetheless, the general consensus is that the influx of individuals and businesses from across the region into Singapore could help fill the gaps in the local art market. However, there is always the risk that both people and money will merely transition in and out of the country with very little impact, as can be the inherent nature of port cities and frontier towns.
According to Singaporean curator Khairuddin Hori, who is also the vice president of Art Galleries Association Singapore, “For visibly impactful change in the arts, Singapore needs direct investments from committed, homegrown, corporate entities, and visionary individuals who are genuinely passionate, care for long-term cultural development, and are mature enough to facilitate a diversity of perspectives.”
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Article from: Art News
