Philippines Art and Heritage Professionals in Singapore for Intercultural Exchange

Singapore, 22 April 2010 — The Singapore International Foundation (SIF) has launched Art Associates, a thrice-annual, 10-week attachment programme for Southeast Asian art professionals at The National Art Gallery, Singapore. The programme will enable regional art experts to exchange ideas, knowledge and perspectives with their Singapore counterparts.

For first cycle of the programme, running from 22 February to 30 April, the SIF invited art associates Mrs Maria Katrina Tan-Conte, 24, an animator and teaching artist at My Masterpiece Multi-Arts Center in Manila; and Ms Dayang Magdalena Nirvana T. Yraola, 33, a projects manager at the Center for Ethnomusicology, University of the Philippines. Both will be attached to the Gallery.

To provide a richer understanding and interpretation of Filipino art, the associates have researched a number of works by Philippines artists contained within Singapore’s National Collection, such as tarot card-inspired painter Brenda Fajardo (b. 1940); abstract minimalist Lao Lian Ben (b. 1948); Pacita Abad (1946–2004), who painted Singapore’s Alkaff Bridge; and contemporary painter Leonardo Aguinaldo (b. 1967), among others.

To date, Ms Yraola has contributed interpretative research of 10 Filipino artists and their works. Mrs Tan-Conte, whose portfolio includes arts education, is also collaborating with the Gallery’s Education and Outreach team to produce an instructional video for children. The video will complement the Realism in Asian Art exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, on display from 9 April to 4 July 2010.

Ms Jean Tan, Executive Director of the SIF says, “Art Associates exemplifies the SIF’s mission to share ideas, skills and experiences. By linking Southeast Asian art professionals to their counterparts in Singapore, we hope to enrich the learning of both parties and provide an opportunity to share ideas in preserving the region’s cultural heritage.”

Mr Kwok Kian Chow, Director of The National Art Gallery, Singapore, says, “This pilot programme with the SIF presents a fantastic opportunity for the Gallery to bring together art professionals from the region, and allow for a sharing of knowledge and expertise on Southeast Asian art. Such collaborations also enable the Gallery to build its research and scholarship base and facilitate cross-cultural perspectives on regional art development, building the Gallery’s reputation as a leading art museum both in the region and the world.”

Since arriving in Singapore, the two associates have met, collaborated and exchanged ideas with a number of arts managers, curators and practitioners. “As they ask my opinions on Filipino art,” explains Ms Yraola, “I’m finding out about Singapore art; this [exchange] is what I was looking for.”

The associates have toured museums and galleries in Singapore, including the Singapore Art Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum and the Singapore Philatelic Museum. They have also spent time in arts schools, including the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and private arts spaces, such as the Arts House, Utterly Art Gallery and The Substation.

The second cycle of Art Associates will run from June to August 2010.