Cancellation of Art Stage Singapore Shortly before Opening

1 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth in light of the recent cancellation of Art Stage Singapore shortly before it was due to open (a) how has the National Arts Council helped the affected exhibitors; and (b) what is being done to support the viability of holding art fairs in Singapore moving forward.

The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Art Stage Singapore was a commercial art fair first organised in 2011. The National Arts Council (NAC), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Economic Development Board (EDB) supported the event through raising international awareness of Singapore’s art offerings, growing a strong local and regional collector base, and building local capability for art market development. However, we are not privy to commercial information of Art Stage, nor do we share in its commercial risk. MCCY and NAC were disappointed and saddened by the decision of the Art Stage organisers to cancel the 2019 edition at short notice.

To help the gallerists and artists affected by the cancellation, a non-profit organisation Art Outreach organised a new art fair called ARTery, which NAC, STB and EDB supported. We understand that Art Outreach contacted 36 affected exhibitors, including all who had no alternative space in Singapore. Fourteen eventually took part in ARTery. Other organisations also stepped forward to offer assistance, including private galleries and non-profit spaces in Singapore such as Gajah Gallery, PLOT, The Culture Story, Japan Creative Centre, and Marina Bay Sands. This was a demonstration of the strong spirit of the arts community in Singapore, and the close partnership between the public, private and people sectors. An international media outlet called it “a triumph of community spirit”. NAC promoted all their exhibitions as part of Singapore Art Week.

As outlined in NAC's Our SG Arts Plan, our aspiration is for Singapore to be recognised globally as the visual arts city for Southeast Asian art. To achieve this objective, NAC has welcomed ideas and participation from a wide range of partners, including those from the private sector. These ideas help us to innovate and bring different offerings to serve the local and global arts fraternity, and enable Singapore to distinguish itself from the others. As is the nature of innovation, some ideas take off, others do not. In working with commercial partners, it would not be appropriate for Government to use taxpayers' money to underwrite all the risk.

Art Stage's cancellation was a disappointment for Singapore's art sector. However, the sector is sufficiently resilient and deep to overcome this disappointment. We believe that Singapore remains a viable location for art fairs. In fact, the efforts of many parties to deal with the aftermath demonstrates the depth and breadth of the network of the arts fraternity in Singapore, and the camaraderie among our arts community. It reinforces the progress that we have made to develop a healthy and vibrant arts eco-system in Singapore.

MCCY and NAC will continue to foster a vibrant and robust visual arts landscape in Singapore. We continue to welcome ideas and activities that show a deep understanding of, and engagement with, our arts stakeholders, and a commitment to connect with Singaporean audiences.

Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. Just a few supplementary questions. The Minister mentioned that it is the view of the Government that art fairs on the scale of Art Stage are still viable going forward. Given the cancellation of the recent Art Stage and also the declining number of exhibitors for Art Stage in the years prior to the year it was cancelled, there would appear to be some concerns. Some concerns have been expressed about the lack of a local collector base, for example, to support visual arts events of the scale that Art Stage attempted to do. Will the Government agencies be pursuing any different strategies or be doing anything different to ensure the viability of future events, given some of these concerns in the recent past and also what we have seen with the cancellation? That is my first question.

My second question is really on whether the Government will consider having some kind of early warning system? I think the issue with the cancellation was that it occurred eight days before the event, so it was very disruptive. If there had been a cancellation with more lead time, perhaps it would not have been so disruptive and so damaging to Singapore's branding as an arts hub. Would the Government consider having or requiring some kind of early warning system where these commercial organisers have to issue alerts or have to provide updates on the finances of the events well prior to the date of the event starting?

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Mr Speaker, as I mentioned in my reply, our job as a regulator and a promoter is to help grow the market for local arts and also as an arts marketplace. In this process, we welcome participation, ideas and suggestions, and I am sure many of these commercial players would take viability into consideration. As we have seen in the Singapore Art Week, the number of people participating, the number of collectors visiting our shows have actually been increasing in good numbers. We are hopeful and optimistic about Singapore as an art market. Whether there will be another Art Stage and in what form, I think it is early days to comment. As I said, we are always open to suggestions and proposals from commercial players.

Whether there will be an early warning system, I would say that the reason why MCCY and NAC were particularly disappointed with this cancellation is because we have had occasions where we presented Singapore Art Week to the community together with Art Stage. And even in the few media meetings that we had, there was no inkling about plans to cancel the show. As I mentioned earlier on, Art Stage is a commercial organisation, and we do not have sight of its financial numbers. Like all commercial entities, financial situations are not something they would openly display or share with the public. It is also not something we ask of participants. NAC does not have a direct financial interest in the show, so it would not be appropriate for us to be demanding commercial organisations to show us their financial situations.

I think it is important for us to always remember that the art marketplace is not one where the regulator itself can decide its viability, and its growth require all the parties in the visual arts landscape to play their part. We call on the art community to come in and support Singapore Art Week and any subsequent shows that we may have in Singapore.