SceneAsia, the Wall Street Journal’s listening post in the region, has one final bit of news to cap off its excellent coverage of Art Stage Singapore:
Come May, 13 galleries will set up shop at Gillman Barracks, a former colonial military compound about 15 minutes out of the city center. […] The initial batch of galleries includes Japan’s Kaikai Kiki, run by artist Takashi Murakami, and Sundaram Tagore Gallery, which has spaces in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Gillman Barracks, which was handed over by the British in 1979 and used first as a Singapore army camp before becoming a commercial and dining spot, will eventually hold about 20 galleries.
The Singapore government came up with the idea of developing Gillman Barracks into an arts cluster in 2010, and has since invested S$10 million into the project. An open tender was made last June for galleries to apply for a space in the barracks. “We thought hard about galleries that would have the effect we want [and could] make Gillman Barracks a catalyst” for the Singapore arts scene, said Eugene Tan, a director at the Economic Development Board. Selection criteria included the participation of galleries in international art fairs, the artists the galleries represented and the profiles of gallery directors.
A New Art Hub in Singapore (SceneAsia/Wall Street Journal)
