SPOT ART – SEA’s First International Juried Visual Arts Festival in Singapore
Festival: 26 Oct – 04 Nov 2013, 11 am – 9 pm daily
ARTrium@MCI, 140 Hill Street, Singapore
From SPOT ART:
Togetherprojects, an organisation dedicated to nurturing art in South East Asia, today announces SPOT ART, an international, juried, visual arts festival that seeks to promote the best contemporary artworks by artists below 30 years old from the region.
Supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Kickstart Fund, the National Arts Council, and the Singapore Art Museum, SPOT ART will be staged for the first time at ARTrium@MICA from 26 October – 4 November 2013, with the aim of bringing to the fore emerging artists to engage with supporters of youth, education, and the arts.
Jerry Gunn, Founder and Festival Director of SPOT ART said: “SPOT ART is the first and currently the only international platform where South East Asia’s most talented young artists under 30 years old, rigorously selected by a highly esteemed panel of art critics, curators and academic professionals, can be seen side by side with their peers from the region in a dynamic and meaningful way. In a highly fragmented and fast-paced contemporary art landscape, SPOT ART’s goal is to provide a centralized location where supporters and patrons can go to view and collect the best of the region’s young talent, and they can do that right here in Singapore while visiting the Singapore Biennale.”
Festival attendees to SPOT ART can look forward to seeing over 200 works produced by over 70 artists representing a total of 10 countries including: Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
Ms Carrie Kwik, the Executive Director of Arts and Entertainment and Integrated Resorts at the Singapore Tourism Board said: “We are very excited at the launch of one of our first Kickstart Fund-supported projects. The team at SPOT ART has conceptualised an event that will not only help discover young talents in the region, but also expand the spectrum of Southeast Asian contemporary art experiences in Singapore. This affirms our Kickstart Fund’s objective to support and accelerate the launch of innovative concepts that have the potential to enhance Singapore’s wealth of niche experiences for locals and travellers.”
Out of the 70 artists showing at SPOT ART, 22 of the artists are currently living and working in Singapore.
The SPOT ART selection committee consists of some of the most well-regarded art experts from SE Asia including Aminudin TH Siregar, David Teh, Iola Lenzi, Luckana Kunavichayanont, Milenko Prvacki, Patrick D. Flores and Robert B. Epp.
Robert Epp said, “I welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the selection process for this show. This was the first time something like this has happened and SPOT ART has successfully made an important bridge in the region to our talented and emerging young artists in the region. As a juror for the exhibit I was deeply moved by some of the pieces and I am confident that the community who come to see this exhibit will agree that something exceptional has taken place here.”
Mr. Jerry Gunn said, “The difference between SPOT ART and the other art offerings in Singapore and the region are three things: Quality, Diversity, and that it is all in one spot: QUALITY in that our renowned selection committee of esteemed curators and experts on contemporary art in SE Asia has selected over 200 works of over 70 artists from an open call submission of over 1500. DIVERSITY in that the open call submissions went out to 10 countries through education networks of the best fine arts universities and institutions in the region. The outcome is an unprecedented broad survey of current trends in emerging contemporary art in the region.
And finally, ONE SPOT – Due to the economic, cultural, historical, and geographical diversity of the region, the arts scene tends to be quite fragmented. We provide a unique singular platform for the most talented young artists to showcase their work on the international stage alongside their peers.”
About the Jury
The Spot Art jury is an outstanding congregation of the region’s most eminent curators, academics, commercial gallerists and collectors. They include:
Mr. Aminudin TH Siregar – Director of Soemardja Gallery and lecturer of Art and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Mr. Patrick D. Flores – Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines and curator of its Vargas Museum, and adjunct curator of the Singapore national Art Gallery.
Ms. Luckana Kunavichayanont – Director of the Bangkok Art and Culture Center
Mr. Milenko Prvacki – renowned artist and Senior Fellow at LASALLE College of the Arts;
Mr. David Teh – Researcher at NTU and Director of Future Perfect
Ms. Iola Lenzi – curator, critic and lecturer at LaSalle-Goldsmiths College of the Arts
Mr. Robert B. Epp – Director of ADM Gallery at NTU
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased through SISTIC or at the event at the following prices:
• Regular adult ticket is $10 per person and will admit 1 adult for 1 day.
• Regular child ticket (under 12 years old) is $5 and will admit 1 child for 1 day.
• Concession tickets for student, senior citizen, or NSF (with valid identification) is $5 and will admit 1 for 1 day
• School packages are offered to groups of 10 or more students.
Pricing of artworks for purchase will range from $500 to $5000.
For further information, please visit the organizer’s website.
Two Vietnamese artists to be showcased at the SPOT ART’s festival are Le Thi Huong Giang and Tran Chi Thanh.
