Art for the people: Singapore opens its HK$2.9b National Gallery

The National Gallery Singapore - the first museum dedicated to modern art from Southeast Asia - opens today with a mission to make art accessible and the Lion City an international art hub.

Two inaugural exhibitions chart the development of art in Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia since the 19th century.

“Siapa Nama Kamu” (What is Your Name in Malay) tells the story of art in the city in 400 works, while “Between Declarations & Dreams” features art from surrounding countries. There will also be special exhibitions featuring the works of Chinese ink artists Wu Guanzhong and Chua Ek Kay.

The gallery’s role was also to define art in Southeast Asia and further its understanding in a global context, said Eugene Tan, its director.

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The S$532 million (HK$2.9 billion) project, which took 10 years to complete, is also a big architectural undertaking; it involved restoring, renovating and linking two colonial-style heritage buildings: City Hall and the former Supreme Court buildings. Designed by Studio Milou Singapore, the museum occupies approximately 64,000 square metres and is equivalent in size to the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and London’s Tate Modern.

Though set up as a private limited company, the National Gallery would rely heavily on government funding to sustain its operations and mount high-quality exhibitions and programmes, its chief executive, Chong Siak Ching, said.