SINGAPORE.- Art Stage Singapore will take place from 22 to 25 January 2015 (Vernissage on 21 January) at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The flagship art fair of Southeast Asia, Art Stage Singapore kicks off the region’s annual visual arts calendar, connecting the world to the best of Asian contemporary art. As the region’s leading visual arts event, Art Stage Singapore will present a diverse selection of galleries from across Asia featuring established and emerging contemporary artists from the region and beyond. The fair’s strong network of contacts with the region’s galleries, artists and art professionals and its deep understanding of international and regional art markets have defined Art Stage Singapore as the major platform to discover and interact with contemporary art from Asia.
Into its fifth year, Art Stage Singapore leads the Singapore Art Week as its pillar event. In 2011, the second edition of Art Stage Singapore presented, alongside the fair, several fringe visual art activities that created a festive ambiance and atmosphere celebrating contemporary art. This allowed international and local visitors alike to not only visit the fair but to partake of the many activities that were organised around it. Since then, Art Stage Singapore has become the catalyst for the creation of the Singapore Art Week conceived by the Singapore Tourism Board to become the definitive season for visual arts in Singapore and the region. In 2014, over 70 visual art activities were independently organised around Art Stage Singapore, a testament to the fair’s key role in the region’s visual arts sector. Plans for visual art events and activities for Singapore Art Week 2015 are currently underway, underscoring Art Stage Singapore’s strategic importance.
Following the success of the last edition, to date, over 80% of exhibitors that have signed up to show at Art Stage Singapore 2015 will be returning galleries. A large number of these are based in Asia and will be exhibiting a top line-up of artists, underscoring the fair’s Asian identity.
Board of Friends of Art Stage Singapore (Southeast Asia)
For the 2015 edition, long-time Art Stage Singapore supporters will be forming a group to help spread word about the Fair and its commitment to the region’s art and artists. Board of Friends of Art Stage Singapore (Southeast Asia) includes several personalities from Singapore and the region such as Mr Dick Lee, singer/songwriter; Mr Koh Seow Chuan, founder of DP Architects and philanthropist; Mr Satinder Garcha, a Singapore-based entrepreneur; Mr Robbie Antonio, Managing Director of Century Properties and art collector from Manila; Ms Millie Stephanie, Founder and CEO of Mobiliari Group and Indonesia businessman Mr Alex Tedja.
“Art Stage Singapore is today the leading art fair in Southeast Asia. Its presentation of new contemporary art from the many art scenes in Asia makes it the place to discover the region’s established and up and coming artists. In January each year, the world comes to Singapore to engage with contemporary art from Asia. As a Friend of Art Stage Singapore, I am proud to help put Singapore on the international art map, ” says Mr Dick Lee.
Prominent Indonesia art collector, Dr Melani Setiawan further adds, “I look forward to visiting Art Stage Singapore every January, as it is truly the place to discover the diversity of the region’s contemporary art scenes. Furthermore, numerous art exhibitions and events that sprout around the fair generate an exciting and lively atmosphere – galleries, collectors and artists from all over the world come together to meet at this one definitive point.”
Mr Jörg Starke, Chairman of the Starke Foundation, Berlin says, “Art Stage Singapore is the must-visit fair for me as it is the fair which places Southeast Asia on the world map of art, and that which builds a bridge between Southeast Asia and the world, and opening the door for all the great Southeast Asian artists towards the west. It is due to Art Stage Singapore that we have today a never seen before worldwide interest in Southeast Asian contemporary art.”
A Commitment to Southeast Asia’s Visual Arts Scene
Singapore stands behind Art Stage Singapore through the support of local organisations such as Economic Development Board, Singapore Tourism Board, Marina Bay Sands, National Arts Council and others. With their support, Art Stage Singapore reaffirms its commitment to promote contemporary art from Singapore and Southeast Asia on the international front.
The Voice for Asian Contemporary Art
Art Stage Singapore’s consistent support of the region’s galleries, artists and art practices has positioned it to be the region’s international voice, representing interests of Asian contemporary art in the global arena. More than a market platform, Art Stage Singapore is the definitive fair for discourse and exchange of ideas on the ever-evolving and diverse contemporary art scenes from the region. Past participating artists from the fair include Chinese artist Zhang Huan, British sculptor Antony Gromley, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, American photographer David LaChapelle, Filipino artist Ronald Ventura, Malaysian artist Sooshie Sulaiman, Indian artist Jittish Kallat, Indonesian artists Jumaldi Alfi, Entang Wiharso, Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, home-grown artists Han Sai Por, Jane Lee, Donna Ong, and many others.
Art Stage Singapore has served to offer a platform for dialogue and exchanges between the region and the rest of the world. This is visible through the fair’s past-curated platforms and attentive selection of galleries as they serve to further boost artists and art galleries’ visibility in the international art market.
“We continue to be committed to Singapore and to strengthen its position as the region’s art capital. As the leading event of the Singapore Art Week, we set the tone for the visual arts scene in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The fifth edition of Art Stage Singapore has much in store for visitors and it promises to be yet another milestone event for Singapore,” says Lorenzo Rudolf, Founder and Fair Director, Art Stage Singapore.
