Ken Dedes by Indonesian artist Jim Supangkat

People watch the grand opening of the National Gallery Singapore on Friday Photos: Xu Ming/GT

In China, people always talk about "strength through unity." Judging from its ambitions to develop itself as an art hub in Southeast Asia, Singapore obviously knows the wisdom in this line of thinking as well. The country just opened its biggest gallery, the National Gallery Singapore (NGS), last week. Dedicated to modern art from Singapore and Southeast Asia, it seeks to unite the artistic power of the region into a unified whole.

The world's largest display of modern Southeast Asian art open to the public, NGS aims to build a platform dedicated to the systematic understanding of the art, culture and even history of Singapore and Southeast Asia in a global context.

"It is important to engage our neighbors, particularly Southeast Asian neighbors, because our focus is on Southeast Asian art. We hope that we can position Singapore as an international hub for visual art in the region," Chong Siak Ching, the CEO of NGS, said at a press conference in Singapore last Wednesday.

A history beyond art

Covering an area of 64,000 square meters, NGS was transformed from two important historical buildings in Singapore, the Supreme Court and City Hall buildings. A work involving 10 years of preparation, the gallery more than lives up to its ambition to be a hub for Southeast Asian art with its huge collection of over 8,000 works from various mediums dating from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Walking around the gallery, it's hard not to feel the weight of history. The two long-term exhibitions on display in the DBS Singapore Gallery and the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery are both displayed in chronological order, turning them into windows that allow visitors a clear view of the turbulent history the region has experienced.

In the DBS Singapore Gallery, the exhibition Siapa Nama Kamu (What is your name?), based on Chua Mia Tee's painting National Language Class (1959), boasts roughly 400 key works from Singapore's art history.

Divided into six themes, the exhibition examines Singapore's identity and links to Southeast Asia and the rest of the world by showing artworks from Singaporean artists from different time periods and exploring how they dealt with diverse values, ideas and cultural tensions. By appreciating their art, visitors can see how the art of Singapore was born and how it interwove different cultures and values over time.

Closely connected to history, the exhibition has double meaning for a country that is young and diverse and still trying to build sense of belonging and identity. These artworks therefore also act as a history lesson for young people who may be unwilling to learn otherwise.

Drying Salted Fish (1978), by Singaporean artist Cheong Soo Pieng Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Adam and Eve (1989-1990), by Thailand artist Kamin Lertchaiprasert Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Friends in Need (1986), by Malaysian artist Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Manusia dan Wayang (1987), by Indonesian artist Ivan Sagito Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Southeast Asia's story

This walk through history also continues in the exhibition in the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery - Between Declarations and Dreams. The largest such exhibition ever with its approximately 400 important pieces of art from 10 countries in Southeast Asia, it provides a regional narrative of modern art in Southeast Asia.

Partly drawn from Singapore's national collection and partly loans from significant private institutions and collectors in the region and beyond, the exhibition covers the 19th century to the 1990s, revealing the shared historical experiences and artistic trends of the region. Important historical events and social changes, including colonial influences, World War II, the My Lai Massacre, the country's independence, and so on, are reflected in the creations of these artists. 

"It is important to understand the commonalities we share with our neighboring countries, young nation states, long-standing traditions and cultures, the forces of colonialism, war, nationalism, independence. Thus NGS has the key mission to further the understanding of art in Southeast Asia. For the first time, there will be a long-term exhibition devoted to the historical development of art in Southeast Asia from a regional perspective," Eugene Tan, director of NGS, told media at the press conference.

In a later interview Tan told the Global Times that he feels it is an impossible task to try and tell the art history of Singapore without mentioning other countries in the region, because "it is so closely interlinked with art in other countries in Southeast Asia."

In recent years, Southeast Asian art has performed well in the market. The artworks of a number of artists from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore have sold for rather high prices at auctions houses like Sotheby's and Christie's, allowing people to see the huge art market potential in this region.

Tan, however, is not that optimistic. In response to a question from the Global Times, Tan pointed out that the growth in the art market in Southeast Asian is probably happening too quickly and as such is "not very healthy."

"It is basically because the infrastructure of public museums in Southeast Asia is not strong. The art market is supposed to follow art history that is set by museums who point out which are important artists in art history, and then the art market responds accordingly. In Southeast Asia, however, museums don't play the role it has to play, so the market just has a level of its own and thus causes a lot of speculation, I think," noted Tan.

"So I hope with the opening of NGS, with such scholarship and exhibitions we can lay a foundation for the understanding of the history of art and the value that artists have," Tan added.

Two Swallows (1981), by Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Put Down Your Whip (1939), by Chinese artist Xu Beihong Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Tradition from China

Though China does not fall within the scope of Southeast Asia geographically, the great influence on art in Singapore and Southeast Asia it has exerted can been seen from the exhibits at NGS. One of the most recognizable influences is probably that of Chinese ink painting - an "unfettered" and important tradition in Singaporean art.

At its opening, NGS specially opened a gallery and exhibition for Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong, along with another for Chua Ek Kay. Xu Beihong's masterpiece Put Down Your Whip is also on display at the gallery to - in Tan's own words - "examine the links between Southeast Asia and China."

In honor of Wu and his family's donation, the exhibition boasts more than 80 key works from Wu, many on display for the first time in Singapore.

"He [Wu] has deep connections with Singapore. Singapore is one of the earliest places where his works found recognition, were collected actively and exhibited regularly after he tried to modernize ink painting and was regarded as a radical and criticized in China in the 1980s and 1990s," Low Sze Wee, the director for the Curatorial & Collections department at NGS, explained to the Global Times.


Newspaper headline: Building an empire