The beginning was turbulent because of Covid-19 and investors dropping out, but those troubles are now firmly in its rear-view mirror. ART SG returns in 2024 for a second edition following its successful debut last year. We speak to fair director Yang Shuyin about the burgeoning arts scene and what visitors can expect this time around.
What lessons did you learn from the first ART SG in 2023 that you are applying this year?
As always, ART SG maintains an emphasis on curation and quality. Having successfully launched the fair, we are now focusing on building an even stronger platform and market aimed at highlighting the best art practices from Singapore and South-east Asia to the international art world, and creating meaningful engagements for visiting international gallerists with our growing collecting audience.
How have you seen the art scene in Singapore develop post-Covid?
The ecosystem has been incredibly resilient. In a post-pandemic world, artists such as Robert Zhao, who will represent Singapore at the Venice Biennale this year, are scaling even greater heights.
For the upcoming edition of ART SG, there will be several significant showcases dedicated to highlighting Singaporean artists. FOST Gallery is presenting Donna Ong, Wyn-Lyn Tan, Eng Tow, and Ian Woo. ShanghART will feature Robert Zhao alongside pioneering conceptual artist Tang Da Wu, and rising talents Alvin Ong (Yavuz Gallery) and Ruben Pang (Richard Koh Fine Arts).
We are also pleased to feature Boedi Widjaja in our PLATFORM sector, with “Immortal Worlds”, an installation focusing on bio-art and contemplating encoded DNA, memory, and language, which reflects the boundaries being pushed within art-making in Singapore.
What can we expect from the fair?
We have a diverse range of engaging presentations. There are artworks by world-famous artists, such as Tracy Emin, Olafur Eliasson, Antony Gormley, Aya Takano, Theaster Gates, and Ryoki Ikeda.
Additionally, there are solo spotlights that include 2019 Turner Prize joint winners Tai Shani and Del Kathryn Barton. Upcoming names like Myung Gyun You and a fantastic line-up of Singaporean and South-east Asian artists are also presenting.
Furthermore, we will be highlighting the intersection of art and technology across three sectors of the fair as part of the Digital Spotlight series. Presentations include digital art, AR, algorithmic art, film, and NFTs. A notable name is the late artist Harold Cohen, who developed AARON, the first computer program to produce art autonomously. It was one of the first uses of artificial intelligence in art-making.
This year, ART SG is once again co-timed with Singapore Art Week. Visitors can view art and interact with it in a more meaningful way through a variety of citywide programmes. Some exhibitions have been initiated by private collectors with the intention of aligning with ART SG and attracting international tourists to our city.
They include private collection and private foundation exhibitions, such as “Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics” by The Institutum, “Rough” presented by The Pierre Lorinet Collection, and “Chronic Compulsions” at The Private Museum.
The new Art & Dining experiences may also appeal to art enthusiasts who are avid foodies. In conjunction with “Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics”, Michelin-starred Nouri will host a selection of works from the show and feature acclaimed Ghanaian chef Selassie Atadika in a four-hands dinner with Nouri’s chef Ivan Brehm reflecting the unique curation of this exceptional exhibition.
In addition, we are thrilled to have chef Brehm and long-time collaborator and friend, Khir Johari, a food historian and author of award-winning book The Food of Singapore Malays, host “Crossroads”. They will lead a walking tour of Kampong Glam—a bustling cultural enclave and the historical crossroads of the Malay archipelago—that ends with a four-course lunch at Nouri. “Crossroads” will only be open to VIP guests of ART SG.
What tips do you have for first-time visitors to ART SG?
With over 100 galleries across two floors at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, a thought-provoking talks programme, and a film sector hosted at the ArtScience Museum, first-time visitors should bring good walking shoes and a curious mindset!
How do you see the art world in this region developing in terms of trends?
With a growing demographic of new or young collectors, there has been a rise in the appreciation of mediums other than the traditional formats of painting and sculpture, such as installation, photography, digital art or art created with technology, and even contemporary ceramics and textiles.
As technology continues to develop, the way artists engage with formats, such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR, algorithms, and computing, and create new modalities of art practice also evolves. At ART SG, we regularly spotlight galleries engaging with art and technology.
Under the Digital Spotlight label, visitors will find a variety of showcases that highlight tech-based art, including film, new media, algorithmic paintings, digital art, and NFTs. Galleries like bitforms (New York) will present digital works by Turkish-American new media artist Refik Anadol and London based Italian artist Davide Quayola. Artemis Gallery Lisbon will showcase Slovakian visual creative Evelyn Bencicova, kennedy+swan of Berlin, who create VR experiences about the impact of evolution on humans, animals, and plants, and Studio Above&Below, a London-based art and technology studio.
