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Singapore: a new Asian art fair has opened its doors
18/01/2023

Singapore: a new Asian art fair has opened its doors


by Elisabetta Roncati

Following the successful first edition of Frieze Seoul in September 2022, it’s time to speak about a more southern art fair: ART SG. It had been announced in 2018 and after several delays the exhibition launched its VIP preview on January 11th at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Running from the 12th to Sunday the 15th, ART SG hosted more than 160 galleries from 30 countries (included Italy) showing around 1.000 global artists. It was divided into six sections: “Galleries”, the main sector showcasing leading art operators; “Futures”, supporting young galleries or artist-run spaces under the age of six years; “Focus”, a contextualised sector for solo or duo artist programs; “Reframe”, galleries presenting art that is engaged with digital technology; “New/Now”, galleries submitting one artwork priced at US$ 10,000 and below to catch new collectors; “Platform” that displayed large-scale and site specific installations.
In addition there was a curated talk and film program.







But how and why ART SG project came alive?

It was organized by Art Assembly, an international player behind other fairs such as Taipei Dangdai, India Art Fair, Sydney Contemporary, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai and the new Tokyo Gendai (first appointment July 2023). Singapore has become the Asian perfect place for global companies as well as wealthy individuals. Many of them have departed other places such as Hong Kong due to Singapore’s softer Covid restrictions and its reputation as an international finance hub.

There were many famous galleries that took part at ART SG, such as the Londonese White Cube, which exhibited, among others, works by Georg Baselitz, Theaster Gates, Andreas Gursky, Mona Hatoum; David Zwirner (Josef Albers, Oscar Murillo, Alice Neel, Wolfgang Tillmans); Gagosian (Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, Nam June Paik, Giuseppe Penone, Ed Ruscha); Esther Schipper (Rosa Barba, Philippe Parreno, Simon Fujiwara); Goodman Gallery (William Kentridge and Yinka Shonibare among others); König Galerie (Bosco Sodi, Monira Al Qadiri); Pace (Elmgreen & Dragset, Lee Kun-Yong); Richard Saltoun (Simryn Gill, Everlyn Nicodemus, Rosa Lee); Sadie Coles (Alvaro Barrington, Jim Lambie, Sarah Lucas and others).







Some art galleries came also from Italy or had branches in the country: Cardi Gallery with a Damien Hirst solo show, Galleria Continua (artworks by Anish Kapoor, Juan Araujo, Hans Op de Beeck, Yoan Capote); Galleria d'Arte Maggiore G.A.M. (Arman, Giorgio de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Yanrunan Tong); Peres Project (Rebecca Ackroyd, Donna Huanca, Richard Kennedy and many others); Victoria Mirò Gallery (Chantal Joffe, Paula Rego, Do Ho Suh, Jules de Balincourt and others).
Art Singapore was not the only art fair that took place in this period: for example the boutique fair in partnership with Art Basel “S.E.A Focus” hosted national and Southeast galleries. It runned for two weeks at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, the city art district.

Furthermore, during the same time of Art SG there was also the eleventh edition of Singapore Art Week, from January the 6th to the 15th, involving the country-based art galleries and the major museums.
A wonderful opportunity to discover the cultural richness of this beautiful city.




Born in Genoa, Milanese by adoption, Elisabetta Roncati decided to combine her university education in economics and management with her passion for culture with a goal: bringing people closer to the art market in a clear, easily understandable and professional way. Interested in all forms of artistic and cultural expressions, contemporary and otherwise, she has two great passions: textile art and African art. As an art consultant, she firmly believes that culture has the power to transcend the boundaries of individual nations, creating a global community of art lovers. In 2018 he founded the registered trademark Art Nomade Milan that she uses to speak about art and culture on the main social media platforms.

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