| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Biennale, the country's largest contemporary art exhibition, is tied to events such as the F1 night race later this month to reach out to high net-worth visitors.
But in the long term, its organiser - the National Arts Council - plans to have the 10-week long exhibition stand on its own.
Works by Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck and UK artist Anthony McCall, just to name a few, are featured at the exhibition at Marina Bay, one of three central sites for the Singapore Biennale.
They are exhibited at an open field behind the NTUC Building at One Marina. The venue is also a piece of art, made up of 150 shipping containers by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.
"The contractors putting up the artworks for example, do not know what contemporary (art) is all about. But when they completed the erection of the installations, they saw how beautiful the artworks were and they were so amazed," said Lee Suan Hiang, CEO of National Arts Council.
The S$6 million art exhibition is also targeted at visitors for the upcoming F1 race in Singapore.
Lee said: "The high net-worth individuals are also patrons of the arts and when they come to Singapore, in addition to enjoying the Grand Prix, we hope they will take the opportunity to visit the city. With every biennale, we hope more people will have the opportunity to experience contemporary art.
"As more people get involved in contemporary art, either as participants or just as visitors, the interest in art will grow, and the biennale by itself would be able to sustain on a longer term basis.
"But to do it with another major event, like the IMF World Bank event or the Formula One, allows us to reach out to an even wider audience, an international audience."
While it is a pity that the art installations will be taken down after the exhibition, organisers said they are open to offers and suggestions for people to take over the space and use it for events such as conferences.
As for the artists, they said all they want is for their work to touch the visitors even in the smallest way.
The Singapore Biennale begins on September 11 and ends on November 16. - CNA /ls
|
