• Ideas
  • Jan 17, 2014

Preview: Art Stage Singapore

During its preview this past Wednesday, Art Stage Singapore was hectic and crowded—not only with deadline-frantic media, but with eager collectors who, according to several local galleries, had already snapped up over a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of paintings and photographs by Singapore artists alone.

Now in its fourth incarnation, Art Stage is featuring 158 international galleries at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Some 75 percent of these participated last year, including White Cube (London, Hong Kong, São Paolo), Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna) and Galerie Perrotin (Hong Kong, Pari and New York), along with nearly 30 Singapore galleries. Art Stage, a quasi-commercial venture, is supported heavily by Singapore government arts and development agencies, but with well over 40,000 visitors anticipated during its three-day run, and considering the current investment enthusiasm for the region’s arts market, this venture may well be poised to succeed on its own.