Heating up Singapore’s art market as an alternative to Hong Kong – ARTnews.com

One-fifth the size of Rhode Island, Singapore is an island nation, located off Peninsular Malaysia, in central Southeast Asia, that has tremendous power in global financial and trading industries, like its traditional rival Hong Kong in the north. Like Hong Kong, so was the Singapore government accommodation Bigger-than-life ambitions to position the country as a major competitor in the global art market since the late 1990s. But, after several previous missteps, it has only recently begun to become a major player in the art world as Hong Kong’s primacy begins to wane.

The tide appears to be turning in the city’s favour, due in part to general migration through the region to Singapore due to the country’s relaxed Covid restrictions. It is said, thousands of families and small and medium-sized businesses Departure Hong Kong this year a large number of them are heading south. Even big companies like L’Oréal, LVMH and VF Corporation, which owns Timberland and North Face, are moving into town. Hong Kong’s financial community also moving in of employees to Singapore to make up for the reduced activity due to the previous zero Covid policy over the past two years.

Under the tight grip of mainland China, Hong Kong is considered by international businesses as loser Its competitive advantage, with the current travel restrictions it imposes, is a far cry from business hubs like Singapore. Comprised of a Chinese majority and ethnic minorities of Malays, Indians, Eurasians, and others, Singapore has also seen an increase in its affluent Indonesian community as well as a large influx of wealthy Chinese since the start of the pandemic.

These transformations are beginning to catch the attention of major global art players, even as other cities like Seoul, which has seen several Western fairs announce upcoming outposts and will launch a new version of Frieze there in September. Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo will also hold new art exhibitions in the coming years.

The possibility of Singapore as a counterpart to Hong Kong’s rise has been increasing since before the pandemic. Despite the last minute cancellation of Singapore’s largest art fair due to financial problems In January 2019, the city was due to receive its newest international art fair, ART SG, in November 2019. MCH Group, the gallery conglomerate behind Art Basel, was looking to expand its portfolio with ART SG, but withdrew as a contributor only a few months after Exhibition advertisement.

That change and the pandemic forced the inaugural edition to be postponed four times, before the list of exhibitors was confirmed in January 2023 last month. In a larger sign of the turning tide, MCH Group repurchased a 15 percent minority stake in ART SG in January, while Art Basel partners With local boutique art fair SEA Focus for the first time this year. And just last week, Sotheby’s announced that after a 15-year hiatus, it will be hosting its first live auction in Singapore in August.

“Singapore is increasingly becoming the preferred destination for global companies to have their Pan-Asia and Singapore operations base,” said Magnus Renfrew, co-founder of ART SG. ARTnews. This is particularly evident in the technology sector, where major Western companies are based. It is also the preferred location outside of China for major Chinese technology companies.”

Just last year, Chinese art dealer Liu Ying Mei opened an art gallery, 39+ Art Space, in recently revived The art collection at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a warehouse space next to the city’s famous port. The artist, featuring Chinese artists such as Lin Ke and Zhang Yunyao, has noticed movement trends from China and Hong Kong to Singapore among her client base.

“I’ve seen a number of collectors move to Singapore recently and I know a few who are considering moving here in the long-term, with plans to take their entire art collection with them as well,” she said. “These are positive signs for the growth of the art scene and market in Singapore.”

Liu added, “It goes without saying that Singapore’s highly developed business infrastructure, family-friendly lifestyle, and travel mobility all add to their advantages for those surveying the art market here, with overall momentum building towards the big ART SG expo next January.” “

However, there are still concerns that this influx of wealth, and even art collectors, may not automatically translate into increased art buying in a country where the level of patronage is not on par with Europe, the United States and South Korea. According to the National Council of the Arts of Singapore Our plan SG Arts (2018 – 2022)The domestic art market is still “nascent,” accounting for only 1 percent of all global art exports and imports.

But there is hope that the emergence of family offices, which manage the wealth of ultra-high net worth individuals, will change this situation. The city-state’s position as the private wealth management capital of Asia has accelerated with interest in setting up family offices in Singapore double In the past 12 months, this number is expected to continue to grow. It is said, the new family offices have a plus From 27 in 2018 to 453 in 2021, the last year for which data is available.

Earlier this year, Ning Chung, a Singaporean art consultant, set up the Family Office of the Arts (FOFA) with her father, Chung Huai Seng, a former investment banker and art collector. Since its launch in June, FOFA has received interest from private banks and their clients to share more about their experiences buying and investing in art, as well as harnessing one’s passion for starting new business ideas and building legacy.

Ning Chung notes that Singapore has been dubbed the “Silicon Valley” of Asia as there are many tech entrepreneurs launching new ventures and multigenerational family business owners based in the city-state. “We decided to create FOFA because we see a gap in the market for a full-service concierge that can meet all of your art group’s needs and more,” she said.

Michael Tay, long-time Singaporean art sponsor and managing director of The Hour Glass Group, a local luxury watch retailer, agrees that family offices can play a “very important role in[care]and that aside from direct philanthropy, their contributions can shaped and directed by public policy.”

With the proliferation of galleries requiring BOGO (buy one, give one) agreements from potential clients and promised bequests of contemporary art for institutions, Tai envisions Singapore’s national collection will soon propel the country into the global art market: “I hope the Singapore government adjusts the national private collections policy. It is designed to include and emphasize international art and artists from outside Southeast Asia. “While we believe in the importance of Southeast Asian art, and our institutions do very important regulatory work in this area, the rest of the players in the global contemporary art market don’t necessarily care much about this.”

Tai added that the upcoming ART SG exhibition will be an opportunity for the global contemporary art world to discover that there is a vitality among collectors residing in Southeast Asia and that “while it was a region that was overshadowed by our Northeast Asian cousins, now is the time to cultivate it.”

However, the general consensus is that the influx of individuals and companies from across the region into Singapore can help fill gaps in the local art market. However, there is always the risk that both people and money will move in and out of the country with very little effect, as the inherent nature of port cities and border towns can be.

According to Singapore curator Khairuddin Hori, who is also Vice President of the Art Exhibition Society of Singapore, “For clear and impactful change in the arts, Singapore needs direct investment from committed, local entities, businesses, and individuals with a truly passionate vision, and interest in long-term cultural development. term, and mature enough to facilitate a diversity of viewpoints.”