For now, it’s goodbye until 2021!
Singapore’s museum scene isn’t very big. Our two main players are the National Art Museum and the Singapore Art Museum. The latter has been a popular choice among young teens for it’s 19th century mission school building and the special feature photo booth. Of course, the art takes priority and the fact that it makes for a very picturesque social media posting is secondary.
SAM has been around for a good 21 years, and is set to undergo a major revamp in the coming months.
The 2 Decades Old Facade
The decision for a revamp was reinforced after the recent Singapore Biennale highlighted some of the challenges faced for the display of certain artworks. To combat this, the revamp will add “double-volume” spaces for the larger-scale installations as well as enhance the facilities. Currently, drilling and hanging of paintings in the buildings are kept to a minimum since it is afterall two decades old.
This causes limitations as not all works could be displayed for exhibition.
For a better use of space, the adjacent SAM at 8Q will also be connected to the main building so that visitors would have a more seamless experience.
With a $90 million revamp in the works, the museum will be expected to remain at the forefront of contemporary art in Southeast Asia. The hefty sum aside, the government as well as the museum’s management agree that the revamp is much needed. It will pave the way for SAM to work with artists who push the technological frontier and create works using social media.
While there is a need to be keeping up with the times, SAM will still play an integral role in presenting works of homegrown South-east Asian artists. Funding-wise, the government will be forking out $80 million, while the rest will be sourced from donations and sponsorships. SAM’s visitorship hit a record high of 900,000 in 2015 and the numbers have been steadily increasing.
Good news for those avid-Museum hoppers – some of the Museum activities will still continue in the community spaces and spaces of other cultural institutions. But for now it’s goodbye until 2021.