Kicking off Singapore and Southeast Asia 2024 calendar of cultural events, ART SG 2024 came together with leading local institutions for a week-long festival celebrating visual arts. Here are some of the highlights.
Back with its second edition, ART SG welcomed more than 45,000 art lovers to explore displays by galleries from 33 countries and territories for displays across three unique sectors. Alongside the main ‘Galleries’ area, the ‘Focus’ sector featured tightly curated displays that spotlighted the development of artistic practices, while ‘Futures’ highlighted young galleries presenting rising talents and specially created content for the fair.
The fair will also featured large-scale installations across the show floor at its ’Platform’ segment, including eye-catching works by Ian Davenport and Marcos Kueh, as well as hosted a series of insightful talks connecting local and international art world thought leaders.
In the UBS Art Studio on level 1 of the fair, visitors were invited to participate in Eko Nugroho’s installation ‘We Are Here Now’ which addresses increased waste production. Commissioned by the UBS Art Collection, the interactive project consisted of three sculptures – one of which was completed through visitors’ contributions.
Looking around town, the National Gallery Singapore again illuminated the festival programming with a series of light projections across its façade, including 'Temple of Love' by artists Arahmaiani, Milosh Luczynski and Wayang Merdeka, which depicted the healing power of mother nature. The museum also launched the exhibition “Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America,” the first large-scale museum show to connect Southeast Asian and Latin American art, featuring over 200 works by artists including Frida Kahlo and Patrick Ng.
Alongside its main exhibitions, step outside into “The Everyday Museum” – a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum which features installations across Tanjong Pagar Distripark, including a new commission by Grace Tan which decorates an external corridor with floral motifs that have been hand stenciled with ground nutmeg.
The exhibition “Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics” at The Institutum delves into the vibrant and interconnected narratives of the African and Asian diasporas, including works by #UBSArtCollection artists Theaster Gates and Do Ho Suh.
In anticipation of the successful Singapore Art Week, most collectors in the region recently reported they are planning to attend either the same number or more art events than they did in 2023, as part of “The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting." Other insights from the region include an optimistic outlook for the future art market, meanwhile local HNW collectors have one of the highest representations of female artist’s works.
UBS is the proud Founding and Lead Partner of ART SG.
