Singapore’s largest art fair introduces a new element to their 2014 show, Gwen Pew find out more as she chats to Nadia Ng, director of Art Stage’s Curated Projects.
31 Dec 2013:
At last year’s Art Stage, there were only ‘pavilions’ for Singapore and Indonesia. What brought about the decision to establish the wider South-East Asia – and other country and regional – ‘platforms’ this year?
Art Stage is the only international art fair with a clear Asian identity, especially in South-East Asia. It is our mission to present art in context. The success of the Indonesian Pavilion in 2013 led to this new series of curated country platforms that we will premiere this year.
What is the idea behind it?
The platforms will offer a snapshot from individual countries or geographic regions of the Asia Pacific, filtered through the lens of experts in their respective countries. Many may not be familiar with what is current and what is considered ‘in the know’ across different parts of the region; we want to tap on specialists to explore and unearth these discoveries for visitors.
Talk us through the process of how you and the other country experts picked the works to display. What were the criteria?
The quality and maturity of an artistic concept and expression are the main criteria. Art Stage collaborates with leading curators from each country to guide the shortlisting and selection of artists. The South-East Asia Platform, for example, will feature 30 art projects from seven countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand). There are a number of new works specially developed for the platform, institution-worthy pieces and underrecognised artists who are debuting here.
How will the platforms be displayed?
The projects will be presented in a museum-like exhibition format – there will not be partition walls to separate the works but the presentation layout is carefully designed in order to offer a seamless experience to our visitors.
What can we expect from Singapore here? Who are the galleries and artists who are taking part?
In the South-East Asia Platform, there will be a ten-metre-long work by Jane Lee and a multi-media installation by Jolene Lai and Sarah Choo. Other local artists include Michael Lee, Chua Chye Teck, Chun Kaifeng, Jeremy Shama, Donna Ong and Robert Zhao Renhui. In the fair, you can also see works by Han Sai Por, Ng Joon Kiat and Ruben Pang.
GWEN PEW 