Three Singapore artists earn posts at major international arts bodies
SINGAPORE - A trio of Singaporean artists have landed high-profile engagements in the international contemporary art scene.
Artist Ho Tzu Nyen has been appointed artistic director of the 16th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, to be held in the South Korean city in September and November 2026. The renowned contemporary arts event is the oldest biennale in Asia, founded in 1995.
Ho, who participated in the 2018 edition and made a commissioned work for the 2021 edition, told The Straits Times that the appointment 'is a great honour and a great adventure'.
The 49-year-old, who represented Singapore at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 and received a large-scale survey solo at the Singapore Art Museum in 2023, added: 'I hope to be able to give something back to this speciality which has contributed so much to both the history of democratic struggles in Asia, and also to the spirit of artistic enquiry and experimentation.'
His appointment was announced on Apr 23 by acting president Lee Sang-Gap of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation. In a statement, the foundation cited Ho's research-based practice and engagement with Asian historical narratives as key factors in his selection.
On the other side of the world, multidisciplinary artist Ming Wong started his stint as The National Gallery's first Singaporean artist-in-residence in March. The year-long residency at the London institution, in its fifth iteration, offers artists access to a studio as well as the Gallery's staff and collections. His work will also be displayed at the museum and a work produced during the residency will be acquired.
The 53-year-old said in a statement: 'It's such an exciting time to be granted this opportunity to re-navigate myself in the journeys of European art as the National Gallery celebrates 200 years with a rehang of its collection.
'There isn't a better time to reimagine the stories that these characters and creatures inhabiting these worlds can tell one another, and their exchanges that cross centuries and civilisations beyond the frames.'
Dramaturg and curator Tang Fu Kuen, 52, is one of the international judges for the Taishin Art Awards. The biggest contemporary art prize in Taiwan, sponsored by Taishin Bank, offers a NT$1.5 million (S$64,382.34) grand prize and an additional NT$1 million each for the visual arts and performing arts categories.
Mr Tang said he and fellow judges are poring over submissions for the prize, due to be announced via livestream on May 24: 'We have three intense days of being locked up in the hotel to debate and give points.'
The first foreigner to helm the Taipei Arts Festival in 2017, Mr Tang has served on multiple international art juries but he noted the rigour of the judging process in Taiwan: 'The accountability and transparency is insane. It's like sitting for exams!'
He added: 'To return to Taiwan in this capacity is special to me. As I've oft-shared, Taiwan is the only truly horizontal society I've experienced where never once, in my years directing Taipei Arts Festival, was I asked to defend the function of art in society, or to define what contemporary art is/could be.
'It takes relentless work and years of many organisations and governance - including the high recognition conferred by Taishin Art Prize - for art to arrive at such an enlightened and celebrated level, to such an enlightened society.'
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