Hello all!

Merry Christmas in Advance to All!

2017 is coming to an end and much has come and gone. Anyway, the signal of the end of the year means that Art Week will be coming up in January.

The main highlight will be Art Stage.

A lot has been said and much bemoaning of Art Stage shrinking to 3 days and with less galleries. Many are attributing it to the art stage boss having Art Stage Jakarta which cannibalises Art Stage Singapore amongst other factors.

But I really don't think it does. I think it's just that the interest and demand is down. And certain sectors of the economy aren't booming and thus you don't have people rolling in dough and throwing money in. i.e the big bankers, lawyers and oil & gas people. In a way this is good for art collectors as the speculators are away.

Singapore's art sector is rather unique. There are only a handful of collectors that are hardcore and actively collecting without worrying to much about the future value of their purchases. The galleries are able to flag these people. Majority (aka the rest) of the collectors buy investment grade art. And these are mainly buyers at auction or when the galleries/ primary sales feature these artists.

So the galleries generally are doing ok with the former band of collectors supporting the system. In Singapore unlike in the West, there isn't a strong pressure to collect art to be cultured. There, collecting art makes one cultured and it's not only to show your wealth. Because you don't only want to be rich but you want to be cultured too. So without this pressure in Singapore, a lot of people with extra income or who are rich don't feel the need to collect art. Hence, it becomes difficult for the art market to boom or sustain at a higher level. Singapore Art Fair and Singapore Contemporary bear a testament to it.  There are a lot of people interested in art, with tons of money spent on the diamond of the Singapore Art Scene - the National Gallery of Singapore, multiple art events and with NAC's strong funding, it has given rise to the art loving crowd. But these thingys are free, and there is an unwillingness to spend on art works, even the Affordable Art Fair is downsizing.

So if you ask me, is Art Stage doing anything wrong? I don't think so but it has to think about its vision in Singapore and Jakarta, and what they eventually want to achieve. It will be difficult to compete head to head with HK and Art Basel. But should try to see what offering it can do for South East Asian art. My take is that they should reduce the cost of the fair to galleries, that is the main thing. Maybe move away from MBS and hold it somewhere else cheaper. Singapore has lots of nice convention spaces and great infrastructure. Heck you can also hold it in a tent like Art Central HK or Frieze NY. A successful fair is one that has good attendance, good sales and many exhibitors. I think it starts with many exhibitors and the attendance and sales will follow.

Let's see how it goes next year!