Artistic merit
This month promises to be a feast for the eyes of art lovers here. Singapore's ambition to be an Asian art capital has been known for years: at last it is achieving critical mass and the quality of exhibitions to fulfil its aspiration.
Having one great show alone, like the recent Ju Ming and Botero exhibitions, may attract the art world's attention, but one swallow does not make a summer. Last weekend, the annual art fair ARTSingapore05 came into its own, with a significant increase in participants offering a wide choice from around the region. While last year's fair was still on the smallish side, this year's had real substance: several galleries in Vietnam, South Korea and Japan sent works promoting their artists.
On the downside, the small booths gave some of the artwork a crammed-in feeling. In some cases, it was difficult to appreciate the work because different styles were shown close together.
Next weekend will be auction time for collectors. Sotheby's celebrates its 20th auction in Singapore with an estimated S$7 million ($32 million) worth of artwork up for grabs. Indonesia-based auction house Larasati will put more than 100 lots of artworks from the region under the hammer. And Christie's is showing a collection of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art, 20th century Chinese art and Asian contemporary art that is to be sold in Hong Kong next month.
But art here is not all about sales. The new blockbuster exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum has 37 works by Spain's greatest living artist, Antoni Tapies. Meanwhile, the month-long Singapore Art Show 2005 is offering a new platform for local artists, with a range of exhibitions across the island.
Naturally, some are more interesting than others. The work of batik artist Jaafar Latiff warrants the trek to Sculpture Square, to see this underappreciated art form. Along the way, you will encounter a people-friendly sculpture exhibition at the new Singapore Management University campus, complete with 'you can touch [the artwork]' invitations. The thinking behind this month's art events is in sharp contrast to that for the Singapore JewelFest 2005, also running this month. It is just another way to repackage Singaporean jewellers in one convenient place for tourists. While the publicity machine is over-hyping the event as a festival, the best-known, high-end jewellers like Tiffany and Chopard are absent. Most of the show is from home-grown companies cramming their booth with as many shining baubles as they can. After five minutes there, my eyes were spinning. Less is certainly more when it comes to a display of jewellery.
