Singapore is an immigrant nation that blends Eastern and Western cultures, attracting countless immigrant families. This year's 'Art Stage Singapore' will host the inaugural 'Southeast Asia Forum.' As the starting point for the year's art events, 'Art Stage Singapore' holds significant global influence due to its focus on Southeast Asian art, and the newly established 'Southeast Asia Forum' takes an innovative approach to exploring contemporary art production across the entire region.
The forum's project manager, Nadia Ng, stated: "Artists feel things that we take for granted. The purpose of this forum is to remind artists of their true role, and how they perceive the pulse of society and things that are often invisible."
An extension of the Southeast Asia Platform exhibition held two years ago, the inaugural forum is titled 'Seismograph: Sensing the City - Art in the Urban Age,' focusing on the theme of urbanization and exploring how cities shape our environment, spaces, and interactions, while also shaping our beliefs and identities.
Diverse discussions at the forum are expected to view art as part of the city's DNA. Speakers include 'starchitect' Rem Koolhaas and auctioneer Simon de Pury.
The forum will also feature an exhibition component, with 10 projects on display, including works by Aliansyah Caniago from Indonesia, Norberto Roldan from the Philippines, and Sherman Ong from Singapore, among others.
Art Stage Singapore founder and president Lorenzo Rudolf stated that he sees the role of the fair not just as selling art, but also as "raising awareness of contemporary art and its role in our society."
He mentioned that the fair should not just be an opportunity for art to change hands, but also an opportunity for exchange. He said, "As a fair, you need to keep moving forward; you cannot repeat yourself. Perhaps you are very perfect, and the best of the best, but it will become boring. The final question is what do you need to do to grow this market? If we discuss and educate, always within the same art world, is that enough? Or can we step outside this circle and still think about what art is and what the function of art is?"
Now in its sixth edition, the fair has established itself as a major art event in Southeast Asia. To date, 143 art galleries have been confirmed to participate, with 75% from Asia and 34% from Southeast Asia. There are 67 returning galleries, and while there are many familiar faces, there are also many newcomers, such as Galerie Forsblom (Finland), Aspan Gallery (Kazakhstan), Ward Gallery (UAE), Giorgio Persano (Italy), Hafez Gallery (Saudi Arabia) , Flowers Gallery (UK), Martin Browne Contemporary (Australia), Mo J Gallery (South Korea), X-ist (Turkey), and so on.
Rudolf acknowledged that the Asian art market has been affected by the poor economic situation, but added that although the ecosystem in Singapore is not yet fully developed, the place has come a long way since the fair was founded.
"Doing a fair in Singapore is doing it in an emerging (art) market, which is completely different from New York, Paris, London, Switzerland, or even Hong Kong. Our main goal and work here is to build the market. We are still in a very, very young region; we must find potential art lovers, must convince them, bring them to the art, and hope they start buying and collecting."
The fair has announced several works to be displayed around public areas: the Dada touring exhibition, a multimedia installation celebrating the 100th anniversary of Dadaism in 2016, will introduce visitors to 165 Dadaist artists, such as Jean Arp, Hugo Ball, Marcel Janco, André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Tristan Tzara. Welcoming visitors outside the fair will be a work commissioned by Thai artist Ploenchan Vinyaratn (Mook), featuring her famous woven textile creations, while Spanish artist Manolo Valdés will also have a large sculpture in a public space (his work will also be displayed at the Forsblom Gallery booth).
The fair's video platform was launched last year and will expand in scale this year, although Rudolf admitted that these works are 'not easy to sell.' He added, "We hope more and more partners will work with us," such as the leading Taiwanese gallery Chiwen Gallery.