{"id":692357,"date":"2026-05-24T23:09:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692357\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T23:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:09:33","slug":"singapore-art-museum-at-30-tough-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692357\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore Art Museum at 30: tough decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE \u2013 Since moving into the relatively far-flung container building of Tanjong Pagar Distripark in 2022<\/a>, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) management has been on the receiving end of contradictory feedback.<\/p>\n

There are complaints from visitors who think this new location too \u201culu\u201d (Singlish for remote) \u2013 the nearest Tanjong Pagar MRT station is a 20-minute walk away.<\/p>\n

A second group, mostly younger, remains vocally supportive of a well-resourced art institution finally having the courage to exit the colonial cluster of buildings in the civic district.<\/p>\n

In the year of SAM\u2019s 30th anniversary, its director and chief executive Eugene Tan reaffirms the museum\u2019s Catch-22 decision to settle at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2026, it will open its fifth gallery, up from the original two. This will finally bring its total exhibition space to 3,800 sq m, on a par with that of its previous home at the former St Joseph\u2019s Institution (SJI) and Catholic High School buildings.<\/p>\n

This commitment is despite Tanjong Pagar Distripark\u2019s uncertain future, with leases running out and the surrounding areas zoned for housing for the Greater Southern Waterfront development.<\/p>\n

The new gallery, on the third floor where staff play pickleball on their break, will explore open-air exhibition techniques. \u201cIt\u2019s an experiment and we will reveal more,\u201d Dr Tan teases.<\/p>\n

All galleries, as is the industry norm, are air-conditioned 24 hours a day. In the new space, adds Dr Tan, SAM is thinking about how it can avoid imposing such demands on the environment, while keeping the space comfortable for visitors and suitable for artworks.<\/p>\n

The decision to stay at Tanjong Pagar Distripark is reflective of a museum that sometimes feels like it is endlessly reinventing its identity. The opening of the National Gallery Singapore (NGS) in 2015 forced SAM to narrow its mandate. Previously the only dedicated art museum in Singapore, it was shunted into focusing on post-1980s contemporary art.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

Dr Eugene Tan (seated) with Singapore artist Ho Tzu Nyen at Ho\u2019s solo exhibition Time & The Tiger at Singapore Art Museum.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: ST FILE<\/p>\n

In 2019, its old home at the former SJI and Catholic High buildings shut for a $90 million revamp. Conservation issues and the Covid-19 pandemic delayed its scheduled 2021 reopening, and Tanjong Pagar Distripark was pitched as a stopgap.<\/p>\n

Over the last four years, however, SAM has found the industrial building\u2019s high ceilings and more grungy vibe congenial to its identity. The many empty units there offer flexibility to expand and contract according to circumstances.<\/p>\n

Dr Tan contextualises the decision as one in step with the times. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of an irony when you have contemporary artists lamenting the state of the environment and then new museums are built. Here, we are not building a new building, but adapting it to fit our needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSAM was based on the model of the museum that we\u2019ve known for a long time. These were spaces outside what was happening in society, for comfort and refuge. That\u2019s why when you went into a gallery, you were supposed to speak softly.<\/p>\n

\u201cA contemporary art museum should be aware of what we need to be at this time and age. Where it is affects how it is seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some ways, location is the least of the 30-year-old museum\u2019s dilemmas. The opening of the new Cantonment MRT station on its doorstep in July should alleviate the problem of access, even if Dr Tan insists this is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s concerted push in recent years towards hosting and collecting international artworks has caused some concern that this is distracting from its South-east Asian and Singapore mission. It has also sometimes struggled to juggle its regular duties with steering the mammoth Singapore Biennale and, from 2024, organising Singapore\u2019s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale.<\/p>\n

Dr Tan, appointed SAM\u2019s director in 2019, became the chief executive of NGS and SAM<\/a> in 2024 to better distinguish the identities of the two museums, and promptly re-conceptualised the split.<\/p>\n

Before he assumed his post, SAM was a contemporary museum engaging with South-east Asian art from the late 20th century to the present day, versus NGS\u2019 focus on South-east Asian art created between the 19th and 20th centuries.<\/p>\n

Now, he reiterates: \u201cThe distinction is that NGS looks at South-east Asia regardless of time, while retaining a historicising perspective. SAM looks at contemporary art regardless of place, but recognising that we are situated in Singapore and South-east Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

This more cosmopolitan approach is reflected in SAM\u2019s shows and the works it acquires. Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson\u2019s solo show in 2024<\/a>, the acclaimed artist\u2019s first in South-east Asia, drew the biggest crowds.<\/p>\n

\"Icelandic-Danish<\/p>\n

Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson\u2019s Symbiotic Seeing. The work was acquired by the Singapore Art Museum.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: OLAFUR ELIASSON<\/p>\n

From this show, SAM acquired two works, including the large-scale work Symbiotic Seeing (2020), a gallery-size ceiling installation created with laser lights and fog resembling a sky undergoing accelerated changes in weather.<\/p>\n

SAM has made sure not to conflate \u201cinternational\u201d with \u201cWestern\u201d. At the 2026 Art SG mega fair<\/a>, it bought four works by Lebanese artist Mona Hatoum and Korean-Canadian artist Lotus Kang with $250,000 from the SAM Art SG Fund.<\/p>\n

The switch has proven popular with patrons, Dr Tan says. \u201cThere are local and locally based supporters who see the merits of Singapore having a contemporary international art collection and museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some curators and arts players disagree. Independent curator Tan Siuli, who was at SAM from 2008 to 2020 as its head of collections and senior curator, says: \u201cThis new mission is quite generic. SAM used to be very clear that it was a collector of, and advocate for, South-east Asian art. The question is, what are you now doing that other players can\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Tan, who worked under all four SAM directors, fondly recalls the tenure of director Tan Boon Hui, who held the post from 2009 to 2013. He assigned each curator a portfolio of a South-east Asian country \u2013 Ms Tan\u2019s was Indonesia \u2013 and allowed them to spend extended periods doing field work and building relationships.<\/p>\n

Then, institutions in the region regarded SAM as the standard-bearer for the South-east Asian art scene. A running joke was that whatever was shown in Singapore would later find its way to art festivals like Artjog in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and the gigantic Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Works<\/p>\n

Works by Indonesian artist Elia Nurvista at SAM.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM<\/p>\n

That trailblazing reputation is gone, according to Ms Tan. She says: \u201cEspecially in the last couple of years, a lot of regional neighbours have established significant art spaces and are taking on a lot of what SAM used to do. You have Dib and Kunsthalle in Bangkok, Macan in Jakarta. Even in Singapore, private players like Tanoto Art Foundation, The Institutum and Kim Association are showing great art.\u201d<\/p>\n

This decline in reputation, she adds, is due to the dilution of mission, further hampered by SAM\u2019s new location.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have a building to call its own, and the movement from galleries downstairs to upstairs is not seamless. I also haven\u2019t seen anything taking advantage of the warehouse space that would not have been shown in the old building. That, in tandem with other things, gives me the impression that this is a museum in limbo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another former SAM curator Khairuddin Hori, who in 2025 led the United Arab Emirates\u2019 Manar Abu Dhabi light exhibition<\/a>, agrees that there is uncertainty in SAM\u2019s overall curatorial direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be clear that we were where South-east Asian contemporary art was, and that\u2019s why we have such a huge collection of South-east Asian art,\u201d he says. \u201cWith the growing emphasis on international programming, I\u2019m not always certain what the institutional proposition is. We rarely receive the most important works from these artists, and many of these exhibitions feel detached from the broader narratives and realities of this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

A museum\u2019s collection gives it identity, and invites collaboration with other institutions with other focal points. Mr Hori recalls that SAM was initially founded for Singaporeans to have a place to learn about neighbouring countries and cultures through art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became like an education mechanism for issues that, for example, Thailand and Indonesia were facing that were not necessarily written in textbooks,\u201d he says. \u201cIt validated the work of South-east Asian artists and canonised them. Museums, to have authority, need to put together shows that are consolidating or that make a statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

But SAM\u2019s new direction can also be seen as an effort at mainstreaming contemporary art, which is already challenging for the average visitor, says SAM\u2019s first director Kwok Kian Chow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is expanding the syllabus, so to speak,\u201d he says. \u201cThe understanding of Singapore became more sophisticated because we added South-east Asia. These references from the world can have the same effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, some 1.68 million visitors participated in SAM\u2019s exhibitions and programmes.<\/p>\n

Mr Kwok prefers to be positive about SAM\u2019s new trajectory. \u201cIdeally, NGS and SAM would be in close proximity. Now, the audience becomes bifurcated and I suspect the group of people who would look at both might not be a very huge group.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there are also many commercial galleries at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.<\/a> We can think of the synergies that are possible and view it as a total Tanjong Pagar Distripark experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been some backlash to SAM\u2019s curation of the Singapore Biennale, which ended in March.<\/p>\n

In an opinion editorial, The Straits Times\u2019 arts editor Ong Sor Fern called the event haphazard, disconnected from the community and inaccessible even to determined arts lovers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Artworks were difficult to find and the affair lacked coherent through lines, she added. \u201cMight that money be better spent supporting mid-career practitioners who are going places or need that extra push to go international?\u201d<\/p>\n

The piece prompted then National Arts Council (NAC) chief executive Low Eng Teong and Dr Tan to write a joint response to ST\u2019s forum<\/a> to say that they will continue to review how the Singapore Biennale can best serve artists, audiences and the wider cultural landscape.<\/p>\n

\"Izat<\/p>\n

Izat Arif\u2019s work for the most recent Singapore Biennale was a series of 10 terrazzo benches that some found difficult to locate.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: ST FILE<\/p>\n

To suggestions that the biennale be handled by a separate Singapore Biennale office, Dr Tan says: \u201cThat\u2019s a common model in other countries, right? We do it because we see the benefits of the biennale and how it aligns with SAM\u2019s mission. But it\u2019s not unthinkable that it\u2019s organised outside of SAM.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAM has also organised the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 2024<\/a>. Dr Tan, who leads a team of 10 curators, laments: \u201cWe say we take on too much. Sometimes we don\u2019t have the right level of resources to do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Singapore<\/p>\n

Singapore artist Amanda Heng (left) worked with curator Selene Yap on A Pause at the Venice Biennale.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM<\/p>\n

Mr Kwok says biennales, which are held in many cities around the world, often run the risk of becoming insular and fall into the trap of simply talking to one another. \u201cIt has to find the right balance to speak to the local,\u201d he says. \u201cOtherwise, it\u2019s just people flying around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Tan and Mr Hori think SAM should cede the organising of the biennale to other players.<\/p>\n

Mr Hori says: \u201cA biennale is a full-time undertaking<\/a>. It requires years of fund-raising, public education, relationship-building and smaller lead-up exhibitions. Singapore has many independent curators, researchers and art historians. If the biennale continues to be driven solely from within SAM, it risks remaining too closely tied to the museum\u2019s institutional DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Tan was still at SAM when the NAC, which had organised the biennale in 2006 and 2008, had an informal conversation with SAM about taking on the event. She recalls: \u201cOur answer at the time was, It would be an honour and privilege, but we also felt that it would be better to have more voices in the art scene and not have it concentrated in one institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAM began organising the Singapore Biennale in 2011.<\/p>\n

The good news is that SAM remains well-resourced relative to other institutions in the region, and being shown in its exhibitions still represents a palpable boost for younger artists. Its efforts at promoting Singapore shows such as local contemporary artist Ho Tzu Nyen\u2019s, which travelled to South Korea and New York, are bearing fruit.<\/p>\n

Singapore artists Khairulddin Wahab, Moses Tan and Chok Sixuan have also had positive experiences with the institution.<\/p>\n

Khairulddin, 35, whose work was featured in the 2023 group show Residues & Remixes: SAM Contemporaries, says the developmental platform indirectly opened many doors for him, from having his work acquired by a European institution to commissions for large-scale installations at The Esplanade \u2013 Theatres on the Bay and Art SG.<\/p>\n

He believes SAM bringing in international artists could attract more visitors, who could then be tempted to drop in on concurrent exhibitions of local and regional artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the outside looking in, it looks like SAM is diversifying itself more,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe blockbusters are a way for it to gain international prestige and to be considered a serious international museum, not just one that is focused on South-east Asia. It\u2019s about landing that balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Tan says it will be easier to understand the museum\u2019s work in time, and that SAM is committed to longer-term work to cultivate younger visitors by engaging with schools.<\/p>\n

He still sees SAM as a young institution. \u201cNGS\u2019 opening has allowed SAM to take on a new direction, which I think we\u2019re just starting to see the beginnings of. The art we see as contemporary today will become more familiar with time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Correction note: This story has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 Since moving into the relatively far-flung container building of Tanjong Pagar Distripark in 2022, the Singapore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-692357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}