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.