SINGAPORE in January 2023: S.E.A. Focus

The art scene in Asia recently is flourishing and getting more and more busy. It is not only about Hong Kong anymore. It is an exhilarating moment for art and a complicated one, as everyone navigates rapid changes, sizes up the newcomers and angles for position, as economic fears loom, but despite that, a dealer invasion is underway in Asia. 

Well-known galleries (for example, Köning, Tang Contemporary Art, Gladstone) have changed their locations by moving to the more wealthy areas of Beijing and Seoul. Frieze opened a fair in South Korea in September 2022, some 120 exhibitors, and the international art world flew into its capital city. Finally, after cautious pandemic management, Seoul’s metropolitan area of 26 million, felt gloriously alive. Amid the action, for example, one young South Korean gallery worker, discussing the fair, told The New York Times, he was proud that Frieze, which has editions in London, New York and Los Angeles, had picked South Korea instead of rival Japan for its first fair in Asia. Also, the Seoul-born art dealer, Jason Haam, 32, enthused in an interview for The New York Times: “It’s kind of like the World Cup or Olympics coming into the country.” 

At the same time, it may soon be tough between South Korea and other Asia locations. There is a big collectors base in South Korea, although, not as big as China, the U.S. or Europe. Recently, in relation to the collection of art in these areas, before it seemed to be just a hobby, that has now evolved into a culture of collecting artwork. Hong Kong’s political crackdown and strict coronavirus quarantine helped Seoul, but those rules have been dropped. Japan has loosened its tax rules for art, and another fair is in the pipeline for Tokyo this summer. 

Japan will get its first big art fair in decades as the market continues to increase its focus on Asia. Tokyo Gendai will run at the waterfront Pacifico Yokohama convention centre, southwest of the capital on 7-9 July 2023. The founders are Sandy Angus, Tim Etchells and Magnus Renfrew, working through their affiliation The Art Assembly, which organises five other Asia Pacific fairs including Taipei Dangdai and the India Art Fair. “Gendai” means “contemporary” in Japanese, and plans are for the fair to have up to 100 selected exhibitors, focused on Japan and the Asia Pacific, plus galleries from around the world.

The country hosted one of Asia’s earliest art fairs in the same convention centre in 1992, but its international commercial scene has since been limited. Now, M. Renfrew says to the Financial Times, the moment is right for one of the wealthiest cities in the world to galvanise its longstanding institutional and gallery strengths.

In this contest it is crucial to mention the Southeast Asia region, that has worked hard recently and there are new museum openings, foreign galleries, also, corporations are ploughing money into contemporary art in this part of the world. For example, Singapore based artcommune gallery proves this by saying to follow.art: “As a city-state that has seen the world’s wealthiest families setting up businesses and homes of late, Singapore’s solid financial, political and financial infrastructure coupled with tax-friendly laws, offers fresh consideration to the Asian art ecosystem in recent times. The successful staging of fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong and Freize Seoul in Asia in the last ten years is also indicative that the region has room for more players to join the international fair circuit. While it may be premature to declare ourselves as an arts hub at this point, we would certainly see Singapore’s rise as having an overall additive effect to the arts world: our continuing attraction to the wealthy elite contributing to the growing pool of buyers outside of the world’s major art centres of consumption.” 

Let’s talk about fairs starting in January 2023 in this significant and wealthy Asian city: Singapore.

S.E.A. Focus 6 Jan - 15 Jan 2023

S.E.A. Focus has been founded with the goal to be a leading showcase and art market hub dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary art. It aims to bring together a fine curating for emerging artistic talents, and to foster a deeper appreciation of contemporary art and artists in the region. It has been positioned as a local boutique art fair in its fifth edition this year, and is now enjoying a second year of partnership with behemoth Art Basel (by the way Art Basel Hong Kong will be opening doors on 21st March 2023). 

As the anchor event of the Singapore Art Week, it offered an exciting and complementary blend of art experiences for collectors, artists, galleries and the public. As the region steps into a new season of renewed opportunities of post-pandemic regime, this edition had some of the most creative works emerging from its artistic landscape, steeped in rich cultural history. The initiative celebrated the best of contemporary art in Southeast Asia and was led by STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, commissioned by the National Arts Council of Singapore. 

S.E.A. Focus brought together 25 galleries and over 50 artists from around the world in a physical showcase of paintings, sculptures and installations at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. It was also incorporating a designated space featuring Tezos, a pioneering Layer 1 Proof of Stake block chain widely adopted by NFT artists and collectors worldwide, in a specially curated Asia-centric NFT and digital art showcase. Alongside the main exhibition there was an exciting line-up of programmes to engage art lovers from seasoned collectors to curious enthusiasts, including a curated film programme of artists' video works, stimulating art conversations with industry thought leaders, and exclusive access to art spaces.

A new programme ‘SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund’ established in 2023 recognises iconic works of contemporary Southeast Asian art and aims at ensuring their longevity for current and future generations by facilitating their entry into the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)’s collection. The fund was kicked off with the support of founding sponsor, the Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation, which was established by the Hong Kong and Singapore-based husband-and-wife arts patrons Yenn Wong and Alan Lo. “Singapore is asserting itself as a major influence on the regional art ecosystem, but its cultural output remains under-represented on the global art scene,” Lo mentioned to ARTnews. He also added: “We see the SAM S.E.A. Focus Fund as a crucial initiative to build and expand a meaningful legacy for art from Southeast Asia.” Launching with a amount of USD 25,000 per edition, Wong and Lo have committed to support the art fund for the next three years. Outstanding works presented at each edition of S.E.A. Focus will be chosen by a selection panel and acquired directly from the exhibition for the SAM collection. The inaugural works already acquired through the fund are a series of 13 works by Indonesian artist Agung Kurniawan presented by Jakarta-based gallery ROH Projects; and Mercurial Inscription (2022), and a video work by Malaysian artist Tan Zi Hao, presented by Kuala Lumpur–based gallery A+ Works of Art.

The curatorial theme of S.E.A. Focus 2023, a world anew, explored the idea of new beginnings and how vast potential can be found in minuscule or humble sources – as the region looks forward to renewed opportunities post-pandemic. With the challenging times behind, the fair stepped into a new season where optimism and caution intermingled. On the S.E.A. Focus website its team says: 

Emi Eu, executive director of STPI and project director of S.E.A. Focus, told ARTnews: “It is great to finally have more international dialogue on Singapore’s role in the global art market and as a hub for Southeast Asia. We hope that this will translate to stimulating the region’s art market, and in turn catapult Singapore’s standing as a global art market player.” Eu believes S.E.A. Focus will only continue to benefit from this on-going momentum: “Especially when we are also physically located in Singapore’s up and coming arts enclave at Tanjong Pagar Distripark (alongside a historic port in the city), we are also seeing other galleries joining and growing this cluster, such as Gajah, Art Agenda, 39+ Art Space, and, more recently, Whitestone Gallery.”

Hong Kong-based art dealer Pascal de Sarthe, whose gallery was exhibiting at the fair, observed that the Southeast Asian art market is still emerging and is increasingly drawing the attention of collectors globally. In his opinion, over the last few years, Singapore has grown to be an even more appealing financial hub within the Asian region, to the benefits of the Southeast Asian art ecosystem.

Follow.art received a very honest answer on the Southeast Asia art market from Singapore based AC43 Gallery: “We definitely think the region has sparked new levels of curiosity from newer entrants who may or may not necessarily come from traditional art-buying backgrounds, but have nonetheless resonated with the art, with very deep pockets to spare.

"As a fast-growing region with identified zones for development by investors, the level of luxury consumption, especially coming from younger collectors, has enjoyed a positive causal relationship with the economic prosperity of neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. At the same time, with the staging of fairs like S.E.A. Focus and ART SG, we are also observing gradual attitudinal shifts among existing collectors in the region who have conventionally only looked at buying art within their local culture.” 

This year’s edition is simple and straight-forward in its presentation with a contained selection of works on show, allowing visitors to cover the fair quickly. One of the standout sections at S.E.A. Focus belonged to 39+ Art Space, a first-time fair participant presenting a solo presentation of Indonesian artist Jumaadi. Titled “Almost Natural,” the works on view were intricate, detailed acrylic paintings on buffalo hide. “The artist’s approach gave a contemporary language to the classic material that is important in many Asian cultures. Visitors were intrigued by the historical and cultural context of the works,” said Chinese art dealer Liu Ying Mei, who opened 39+ Art Space in Singapore last year.

According to French collector Guillaume Levy-Lambert, who runs Art Porters Gallery and is based in Singapore “Visitors came out of S.E.A. Focus energized by our presentation, its freshness and variety” he told ARTnews.  The gallerist reported that re-hanging was required as three out of four works by Malaysian artist Chok Yue Zan’s works were sold in the first few days of the fair. 

Also, Mr Levy-Lambert explained to follow.art: “We felt thrilled to have presented three exceptional Southeast Asian based artists — Chok Yue Zan (Malaysia), 白提山 (Bettina Schleier, Austrian born, Singapore based) and Hazel Lim (Singapore) for this year's edition of S.E.A. Focus. We are heartened to witness both seasoned collectors and the general public really appreciating these artists’ works, especially for Bettina whom we were presenting for the first time in a fair, and had her works sold out. Following Zan’s recent solo exhibition at the gallery Throughout, we experienced an overwhelming reception at the fair that led to a rehang of his additional available works. For Hazel, S.E.A. Focus doubles as an opportunity to announce that the renowned educator and artist is now represented by Art Porters. Her artwork (at the fair) Liquified served as a teaser for her future solo exhibition at the gallery. From this fair experience, a growing appreciation of local and regional art could be observed; visitors (both local and international) from all walks of life expressed a keen interest in learning more about the artists and their practices.”

A crucial part of the S.E.A. Focus were talk sessions, where the roundtable discussion focused on collecting as an expanded practice, exploring the idea of what it means to be a Southeast Asian art collector and what a Southeast Asian art collection conveys, not only in terms of artistic practice and art history, but how collectors - whether individuals or collecting institutions - position themselves within both fields. Also, there was the conversation already discussed at last year’s roundtable, asking if a Southeast Asia art market exists. The conversation drew on the research of offshoreart.co in a discussion with gallerists from across the region. This year, with recent developments made in Singapore and beyond, pointing to rising art market momentum in Southeast Asia. Beginning with the first Sotheby’s sale in 15 years staged in Singapore, to the expansion of Silverlens Gallery in Manila and Singapore to New York City. With these movements in mind, this panel brought together specialists of the Southeast Asian and international art markets, to explore the conditions by which a Southeast Asian art market might operate in the future. Another conversation regarding the conditions and dynamics shaping Singapore in the 21st century, as reflected on by artists, curators, and administrators working within and in the region took place during the fair. It is important to point out that Stephanie Bailey who is a Conversations Curator for Art Basel Hong Kong curated discussions.

Interestingly, several galleries participating in S.E.A. Focus also had booths at ART SG, another art fair running in-between 12th and 15th January 2023 in Singapore. “Both fairs have different objectives. One is a platform focused on Southeast Asian galleries and artists; the other is a major international fair with a much broader mandate,” G. Levy-Lambert commented to follow.art.