Singapore hangs hopes on Asia art role

Singapore hangs hopes on Asia art role

Jacqueline Wong, Reuters, Singapore

Twenty five life-sized figures of grinning Chinese artist Yue
Minjun greet visitors to Singapore's swanky waterfront concert
hall at the Esplanade.

Across the street at an exhibition of regional artists, art
buffs pay big bucks for Yue's signature work on canvas -- a pop
art depiction of himself smiling from ear to ear -- and also the
works of other well-known painters from the region.

Yue's works priced at US$80,000, the most expensive of the
five-day art fair, had little trouble selling while his
installation pieces at the Esplanade are asking $160,000.

The growing pool of art collectors in Singapore, a magnet and
a refuge for the wealthy of Southeast Asia, has not shied away
from buying such luxuries despite a prolonged economic downturn.

The city state's government continues to invest in
infrastructure it feels is crucial to attracting culture and
business to fuel its export-driven economy.

"Singapore is a very cosmopolitan city. That is why its
location is ideal as a hub for art," said Chen Shen Po, general
manager of the ARTSingapore fair, held last month.

The market for contemporary Asian art, still largely supported
by foreign buyers and expatriates working in the city state, is
growing along with rising affluence and as Singaporeans travel
more widely.

The government feels that art, like semiconductors and
transportation, can be built up and it has no less of an ambition
then to transform the tiny nation of four million into a
Renaissance City.

To succeed, local artists say the government must relax tough
censorship laws if talent is to thrive.

The government says it will release new censorship guidelines
next year.

For the moment, its main focus is a building campaign it hopes
will help Singapore win a substantial slice of the regional art
market.

Apart from the waterfront's S$600 million ($335 million)
aluminum-shaded glass concert domes, the government has renovated
museums and created new exhibition venues to lure foreign and
local artists and Asia-themed exhibitions.

The strategy appears to be working.

Sotheby's auction of Southeast Asian paintings this month
reaped a record S$7.8 million in sales, the highest since it
started this category in 1996.

The most expensive artwork sold was of a Balinese nude by
Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias at S$911,000 ($510,000).

Gallery owners and artists note there has been a visible
increase in Singaporeans buying art, and going abroad to acquire
them as well.

"We do see an increase in participation by Singapore
collectors," Mok Kim Chuan, deputy director for Sotheby's
Southeast Asian paintings, told Reuters.

He said that when Sotheby's started sales of Southeast Asian
paintings six years ago, 80 percent of participation came from
Indonesians and less than five percent from Singaporeans.

Now Singapore buyers account for 20 to 30 percent of auctions
and half are successful in acquiring what they want.

Banking on hardware to showcase the region's art, Singapore is
hopeful of boosting its services sector, which contributes to 67
percent of gross domestic product.

Government agencies like the tourism board have lent a hand in
getting galleries from New York to participate this year in
ARTSingapore, billed as the only contemporary Asian art fair in
the world.

A conservative estimate by the Art Galleries Association
(Singapore) puts the worth of the art industry at around S$10
million and is growing, despite the slow economy. Industry
watchers are betting that as equity markets tumble around the
world, more money will be parked elsewhere, like in art.

The fair raked in total sales of S$1.3 million, with some 300
paintings selling at average prices of S$4,000 to S$5,000.

Nan Nan Nancy, curator at Art Seasons, said a growing number
of Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s were buying art. "There is a
lot of interest for Asian contemporary art works and my buyers
are young, like the artists. They make up all types, but many are
bankers who work nearby."

Melvin D'Rozario, 37, a search consultant, has always been
interested in art but only started collecting recently.

"I hate bare walls. As I live alone, they keep me company."

And it is not just business that Singapore wants to cultivate
but also a lively scene conducive for artists and entrepreneurs.

"Singapore is at a strategic place between East and West," Ho
Kah Leong, artist and principal of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts,
told art patrons at a recent exhibition. "We want artists to come
to Singapore, to live and work here," he said.

But Singapore is also a byword for censorship and calls from
local artists for more freedom have cast a shadow on the city
state's cultural hub ambitions.

State censors have snipped films, plays, TV shows and even
music in the past.

Some racy content has crept into the arts in recent years but
references to politics, race or religion in the multi-ethnic
nation remain sensitive.

Arts groups announced a proposal to end censorship ahead of
the fanfare and fireworks to mark the Esplanade's opening last
month.

The government said in April it would review its stringent
censorship laws as part of efforts to boost creativity and
artists and entrepreneurs are eagerly awaiting the new
guidelines.

Benson Puah, chief executive officer of the Esplanade, brushed
aside fears of censorship.

"We are not in the business of censorship. We are in the
business of presenting good quality artistic productions," he
said.