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SINGAPORE: The Singapore arts and cultural scene is set to grow in 2007.
More home-grown talents will be showcased worldwide at major festivals, and the Singapore Season 2007 is set to take China by storm.
The inaugural Singapore Season was held in London in March 2005 and it was a roaring success.
Organisers received 42,000 guests at over 100 events such as arts performances and networking dinners.
The next Singapore Season, to be held in Beijing and Shanghai from October 2007, is set to be bigger and better.
It will feature the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and even a concert of Singapore pop singers who are well known in China.
Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and The Arts, said: "The Beijing people and the Shanghainese will have a better appreciation of what Singapore can offer by way of arts and culture, that we're more than just a city good for business or just shopping. We can offer their visitors and the people who come to Singapore a much more exciting, cultural and artistic life."
The former Supreme Court and City Hall, once home to lawyers, are set for a major makeover as well.
The inaugural Singapore Biennale was held there last year and now an international competition has been launched to find the best architects to convert the two historic monuments into Singapore's biggest home for visual arts.
The organisers for the competition will be looking for architects to redesign the interiors of both buildings and creatively integrate them together.
As to how much the new National Art Gallery will cost, the Ministry says it will wait for the submissions to come in first.
But it will make sure that it will get the best value out of every dollar invested.
Dr Lee said: "It will also become an important node for both study and research into Singapore and Southeast Asian art. Because we have a good collection of both Southeast Asian and our own Singapore art which can present the historic developments and evolution of art in our social context, it is an excellent opportunity for people studying the art development to zero in on the National Art Gallery."
Once completed in 2012, the new National Art Gallery is expected to be 10 times the size of the current Singapore Art Museum.
Details of the architectural competition will be available online soon. - CNA/ir
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