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Opinion: National Gallery Singapore should do more for Singapore itself

One member of the media is calling out National Gallery Singapore in a recent opinion article for being hard to navigate and not making Singaporean art its main focus.

In the article, the writer stated that since the facility itself is called National Gallery Singapore, art from the nation should be its primary focus, as well as educating the public that visits the facility on the history and role of art in Singapore. While National Gallery Singapore does have the largest collection of Southeast Asian art in the world, the writer posits that the facility doesn’t do enough to showcase art uniquely from Singapore, instead focusing on regional and international artists and artworks.

A recent exhibit that focused on the history of art in Singapore was difficult to navigate and find each of the three times the writer visited, she wrote. Maps and identifying signage throughout the museum is severely lacking in some places and haphazard in others, showing that organizers and curators of the museum didn’t plan well for people actually intent on seeing certain collections. For example, in the lobby, the map outlining the organization of the exhibits only includes the names of the individual gallery spaces, which highlights the donors but doesn’t give the visitors any frame of reference for what the galleries themselves contain. In order to ascertain this essential information, the visitor must cross reference the map in the lobby with an additional paper map. Also, the lobby map is confusing and laid out in a horizontal manner, even though each of the layers should be vertical to represent the stories of the actual building.

And the exhibit on Singaporean art itself was a letdown, the writer said. It was perhaps too ambitious, or perhaps the curators became too intimidated by its scope to execute it properly. Overall, the effect was that it was rushed, and that all the moving pieces didn’t come together well enough to present a cohesive enough whole. In comparison, other big-name international and regional artists’ exhibits were breathtaking and very well done. It’s this that makes the writer believe that Singaporean artists and artworks are getting the short end of the stick.

Once inside National Gallery Singapore, the writer notes that it is very hard to get around. The museum itself was made by combining the historic city hall and supreme court of Singapore in a groundbreaking and modern architectural feat. Once inside, however, visitors are treated almost to a maze of hallways and chambers that are increasingly difficult to navigate.

Some exhibits that feature a single Singaporean artist have fared better, the writer allows. But overall, to be a successful museum, National Gallery Singapore ought to provide more context and history for its Singaporean works.

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To read the opinion article calling for National Gallery Singapore to improve the way it operates and displays Singaporean artworks, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/more-focus-on-singapore-art-please.

  • October 19, 2018
  • Blog

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