SINGAPORE – The National Gallery Singapore (NGS) is facing a major leadership shake-up with two more high-profile departures.
Chief curator Patrick Flores and assistant chief executive Chris Lee are leaving in December, NGS said on Oct 26 in response to The Straits Times’ (ST) queries.
Their departures coincide with NGS chief executive and director Eugene Tan stepping down from both roles before 2027. Tan’s departure was announced in September 2026.
NGS’ chief executive designate Chng Hak-Peng, the former Singapore Symphony Group chief, takes over on Jan 1, 2027.
He told ST: “Interim leadership arrangements are in place, and the gallery’s programmes, partnerships and services continue as planned. We look forward to sharing more about the gallery’s next chapter in the coming months.”
NGS did not directly respond to ST’s queries about whether an international search will be launched for the vacant roles of director and chief curator.
It also did not directly confirm whether the role of chief curator, which Tan created in 2024, will remain. It said only that it would, in the transition period, review “future appointments that would best support the museum in the long term”.
Lee, who joined NGS in 2016 and oversees museum experience, starts as chief executive of Medan Pasar Realty and Muara Arts on Dec 16.
The not-for-profit arts initiative in Kuala Lumpur will open a public gallery focused on Malaysian and South-east Asian art on Nov 1, and is slated to open a performing arts theatre in 2029.
Eugene Tan’s (left) stint as chief executive and director of National Gallery Singapore will end come 2027. Chng Hak-Peng (right), the former CEO of the Singapore Symphony Group, will take over as NGS chief, while a new director has yet to be named.
PHOTOS: SINGAPORE ART MUSUEM, SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
NGS said that Flores, who joined the gallery in 2022 and was born in Iloilo, has decided to return to the Philippines.
In Flores’ time as chief curator, NGS has put on blockbuster exhibitions such as City Of Others: Asian Artists In Paris, 1920s-1940s and provocative ones like Passion Is Volcanic: Desire In Southeast Asian Art, the gallery’s first R18 show.
The exhibition After The Monsoon: Art & War In Southeast Asia, which was slated to run in May 2026, remains indefinitely postponed due to the “uncertain global situation”.
Flores’ departure comes in the midst of NGS’ permanent South-east Asian history gallery’s 1½-year revamp. The gallery is slated to reopen in November 2027.