Set to be the leading art fair in Southeast Asia, ART SG is a dynamic new platform showcasing the most visionary and exciting contemporary art from the region and globally. Under the direction of Fair Director Shuyin Yang and Co-Founder Magnus Renfrew, and organised by The Art Assembly, ART SG launched on 11 January 2023 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre at the heart of Singapore’s financial district.
The highly anticipated launch of ART SG, the new international art fair for Southeast Asia, closed to significant critical acclaim amid reports of buoyant sales. Hailed by many as the beginning of a new chapter for the art market in Asia, consensus has quickly built that ART SG will play a critical role in developing the audience for contemporary art in the region and in connecting Southeast Asia to the wider art world.
Having graced the VIP preview with opening speeches from Magnus Renfrew, Co-Founder, ART SG; Shuyin Yang, Fair Director, ART SG; August Hatecke, Co-head Global Wealth Management APAC and Country Head Singapore at UBS and Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, ART SG did present a strong curation within the public spaces of the fair, insightful talks and education, and a film program screened in collaboration with the ArtScience Museum.
ART SG brought together galleries, collectors, institutions, artists, organisations and art-lovers alike, fostering crucial opportunities for dialogue, discovery and exchange. Presented over two floors of the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, ART SG, organised by The Art Assembly, welcomed 42,706 visitors to its first edition.
The fair attracted a truly global audience, including a significant number of private collectors as well as representatives from local, regional, and international art institutions. Thousands of VIPs attended the preview day of ART SG, including local and international collectors from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan as well as Europe and the United States.
Held across four public days, the fair featured a strong line-up of 164 galleries from 35 countries and territories worldwide alongside carefully curated talks and film programmes. Hailed by many as the beginning of a new chapter for the art market in Asia, consensus has quickly built that ART SG will play a critical role in developing the audience for contemporary art in the region and in connecting Southeast Asia to the wider art world.
ART SG’s rich programming, as part of the dynamic Singapore Art Week (SAW), has firmly placed Singapore as a key feature on the international art world map. Leading cultural institutions and galleries across the city held exhibition openings, artist performances, and special events, providing international visitors wide-ranging opportunities to explore Singapore’s diverse and vibrant cultural fabric in the lead up to and throughout the fair’s opening.
Galleries reported robust sales, with works placed in major collections. Galleries highlighted an enthusiastic response from both established and emerging collectors from all corners of the world, with many noting that ART SG had provided a great platform for meeting new collectors.
Bringing progressive concepts and curation to the Singapore art landscape, ART SG delivers a custom-built fair of international standard and best practices, working from ground up to build a distinctive identity while fostering artistic excellence and cultural dialogue across Southeast Asia and the broader Asia Pacific region.
Differentiated from other art fairs, ART SG is geared towards the interests of the globally minded collector and aims to expand these interests by promoting new discourse and connections; encouraging cross-border collecting and a broad network of collectors and galleries forming relationships in Singapore.
Images: ART SG
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