When news broke that X — the video work by Lynn Lu for the Word of Mouth video exhibit — bore more than a striking resemblance to a performance piece done in 2002 by American artist Jason Mortara, curator Heman Chong could have X-ed Lu out. But the thought never crossed his mind.

"I wanted an engagement that would be fair to everyone," he said. Instead, Chong gave her seven days to make another video.

Word of Mouth is one of the three ongoing exhibits under Curating Lab, a component of the Singapore Art Show (SAS) 2007, where curator-artists are encouraged to strut their stuff by coming up with innovative exhibits for the public. The programme was first conceived in 2005.

As the current SAS 2007 emphasises its huge number of artists and exhibits, one statistic that may slip by unnoticed is the sheer number of curators involved. This year, there are 25 institutional, artist and guest curators involved — 14 more than the SAS in 2005.

However, as was the case with the "mini-controversy" surrounding Lu's work, the focus was hardly on the curator. Indeed, despite the influence they have on the kind of shows and the artists' works the public gets to see, curators are very much an "invisible" bunch.

THE FACELESS BUNCH

Chong, a 30-year-old video artist/curator who helps run Sparwasser HQ, an artist-run space in Berlin, said that curators in Singapore are "faceless because they choose to be". Most of them shy from the public eye.

Artist/curator/educator Michael Lee Hong Hwee, 35, has been curating for about six years. What he does runs the gamut from conceptualising themes and selection of artists to "writing press releases and thank you letters, as well as playing the occasional nanny, counsellor, buddy, tutor and so on", in his own words.

According to Ahmad Mashadi, 41, head of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Museum, the curator's role has become more complex. Previously, a curator would be concerned mainly with the "research, growth and display" of the museum's collection.

Now, Mashadi said, curators are also involved in marketing and sponsorship.

RISE OF A HYBRID

These days, there's another nascent trend in curatorship in Singapore: The emergence of the artist-curator.

Chong — who has been doing shows since 1997 and curating art since 2003 including WE, an exhibit at the NUS Museum co-curated with Mashadi — said that worldwide, the "traditional" role of a curator has somewhat diminished. Artists have realised they can be curators, too.

Some of the best exhibits he has seen recently, he said, were curated by artists.

He cited an ongoing exhibit at the Hirschborn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, where conceptual artist John Baldessari was chosen to exhibit works from the museum's permanent collection.

Mashadi agreed that some of the more interesting shows in Singapore have been curated by artists such as Lee, Chong, Khairuddin Hori and Lee Wen, who bring with them a "fresh curatorial thinking and outlook".

But the emergence of this hybrid does not mean the end of the traditional curator, said Low Sze Wee, 37, Singapore Art Museum's acting deputy director for curation and collection. There is a need for both types, he said.

"Artist-curators have a personal sensitivity for fellow practitioners' works and processes. Non-artist curators bring with them a greater familiarity with art history, and are able to approach the same artworks from different perspectives."

From Chong's perspective, both produce different shows. Museum curators, he said, are concerned with the art historical aspect of the museum's collection and how this can fit in a nation's history. As an artist/curator, Chong can formulate his shows without these rules. "I'm not bound to any dogma."

A LONG WAY TO GO

But curators whom Today spoke to, traditional or otherwise, believed the profession still has a long way to go in Singapore. Their assessments run from having too few experienced curators to not enough diversity in the pool, and to curators themselves having to juggle administrative tasks.

Lee Wen, 49, who is also the artistic director for the upcoming international performance art event Future of Imagination: 4, said that another possible factor is that contemporary art is not yet in high-demand here.

"The modest pool of professional curators here have made major inroads in bringing Singapore art to the international arena," said National Arts Council's director of visual arts and resource development Lim Chwee Seng, 48. He added though, that curation in Singapore is still in its infancy.

What, then, are the challenges local curators face?

There are different bones of contention, ranging from funding and time to censorship and the lack of adventurousness among curators themselves.

Low of the Singapore Art Museum thinks that curators can afford to push the boundaries more in the shows they organise. But he added that with the level of art appreciation still relatively low, there is a need to provide shows that are accessible to the general public.

Institutional curators usually juggle different projects simultaneously, he added, which means less time devoted to a particular show.

As for so-called OB markers, Mashadi pointed to artist-run and independent spaces as the places where daring curatorial thinking is being "incubated".

"The question is creating something meaningful from the different challenges and constraints without limiting one's own instincts. Stop talking about constraints, just do."

Which is something that Chong also believes in. "What's necessary for a curator is to read up, watch as many shows as you can, and think about what you want to say."

For the future of Singapore art, that's quite an important task for this "faceless bunch". - TODAY/ra