02 July 2008
Singapore Art Museum and Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Announce Nominations for the Inaugural Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize
Thirty-four artworks by artists from 12 countries in Asia Pacific have been nominated for the inaugural Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize. Representing Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, one of these artists will have the distinction in October of winning the highest art prize awarded by a jury in the Southeast Asian region.
The APB Foundation Signature Art Prize series marks a 15-year partnership announced in October 2007 by Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and APB Foundation to develop and promote contemporary art in the region. Organised by SAM with a sponsorship of SGD 2.25 million from APB Foundation, the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize is a quality mark of distinction and excellence to be awarded triennially to artists whose work represents a significant development in contemporary art.
At the announcement and donation ceremony in 2007, Trustee and Chairman of the Advisory Committee, APB Foundation, Mr Koh Poh Tiong, said the intention for the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize was for its stature to be equivalent to that of the John Moores Painting Competition in the United Kingdom and the RBC Canadian Painting Competition in Canada, and place Singapore on the regional and global map for the arts.
The competition is open to all visual artworks regardless of medium, subject matter and size. The 34 artworks were nominated by respected individuals in the field of art in each country. Each nominator was asked to select up to three works that in their opinion represented an outstanding contemporary artwork produced in their country in the past three years.
The result is a collection of contemporary art with diverse themes and mediums such as painting, sculpture, mixed media, site-specific installation, video, photography, performance art, new media and interactive work that showcases the richness of visual art forms in contemporary art in the region today.
In Singapore, the three nominated artworks comprise a performance art pieces, a site-specific installation and a painting.
Dr S. Chandrasekaran’s Bleeding Angel belongs to a series of performances, documented in photo stills and video-film that involves the artist’s immersion of half his body in a specially constructed metal vessel containing wine and bacteria. This produces a thin film over the encased side of the artist’s face and body making it a kind of ‘living sculpture’. The artist is interested in the idea of mapping the Self as a Multiple Self in relation to socio-political and cultural situations in a contemporary society.
Mr Milenko Prvacki’s Building is an acrylic on linen painting that is part of a cluster of works conceived for the Sydney Biennale 2006. Echoing its subject matter, transparent layers of material and colour are ‘built up’ and constructed to form the painting. For the artist, the work explores the notions of displacement and its attendant problems of integration and alienation, occupying a space where the sentiments of survival, dislocation, transition, isolation, memory and belonging all mix together.
Mr Yeo Chee Kiong’s A Day without a Tree is a mixed media installation that transforms the brick and plaster columns of the National Museum’s rotunda into a ‘living body’ experiencing the devastating effects of environmental change. In a world without trees, global warming has melted the solid forms of the building into a white fluid. Yet the slippery white fluid is also a visual pun and tongue-in-cheek reference to the notion of ‘spilt milk’, particularly within the confines of a building which houses and protects artefacts and works of art.
These artworks were nominated by Ms Lindy Poh, an independent art consultant and former SAM curator.
In August, the 34 nominees will be cut to a shortlist of 10 artists who will be in the running for the five awards - three Juror’s Choice Awards of SGD 10,000 each, a SGD 10,000 People’s Choice Award and the Grand Prize of SGD 45,000.
An international jury panel will also be announced in August and a voting website will be launched at that time to provide a platform for the public to vote for their favourite artwork; the artist whose work gets the most public votes will receive the People’s Choice Award. From October to November, Singapore Art Museum will hold an exhibition showcasing the 10 finalist works in the competition.
“The quality of the nominated artwork is remarkable. We are seeing an unexpected diversity of themes and mediums that augurs well for the contemporary art scene in the region”, the Director of the Singapore Art Museum, Mr Kwok Kian Chow, said today. “They will certainly provoke and stimulate lively public debate about contemporary art in the region, which is exactly the aim of the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize.”
More information on the ABP Foundation Signature Art Prize can be found at:
http://www.nhb.gov.sg/SAM/signatureartprize/
About Singapore Art Museum
Opened in January 1996, the mission of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is to preserve and present the art histories and contemporary art practices of Singapore and the Southeast Asian region. To date, SAM has amassed the world’s largest public collection of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian artworks with a growing component in international contemporary art. The museum has presented shows covering both local and international art practices, traditional and cutting edge art expressions. Through strategic alliances with international arts and cultural institutions, SAM has been facilitating visual arts education, exchange, research and development within the region and internationally. Through forging collaborative partnerships and staging innovative programmes to engage different audiences, SAM aims to contribute to an enlarged role in the regional visual arts community and Asian art museology, as well as facilitating developments in art as well as the art sector in Singapore.
About Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation
Instituted in June 1994, the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation (APB Foundation) has been fulfilling APB's philanthropic commitment to society. Its philanthropic intent spans three areas namely Creativity Development, Human Excellence and Humanitarian Causes.
Since its inception, the Foundation has provided grants and other forms of support to over 150 initiatives, benefiting disadvantaged homes and charitable organisations, medical research bodies, theatre and music groups and scholarship programmes amongst others.
The APB Foundation envisages a fun and vibrant arts scene in Singapore. It has supported causes that cultivate artistic talent, grow audiences and develop local artistic work. Moving together with the local arts community that has blossomed over the years, the Foundation holds the hope that Singapore will soon join the ranks of nations where diverse local arts groups enjoy strong followings from all sectors of society.
Recognising that Singapore's global competitiveness lies in the hands of its people, the APB Foundation has been investing in Human Excellence causes that are designed to discover and nurture talent, and to build human capital.
The Foundation is hopeful that with its contributions, Singapore can realise an enhanced competitive edge supported by a ready pool of talents, sportsmen, educators, researchers and professionals.
In reaching out to the disadvantaged in the community, the APB Foundation seeks to play a constructive and developmental role in the community, and partners those who share common altruistic goals to better serve societal needs. The Foundation believes in enabling self-help amongst the beneficiaries so that they could rise stronger to move beyond their problems and contribute to their community or society eventually.
The APB Foundation Board of Trustees, assisted by its Advisory Committee, envisions the Foundation to play a constructive and developmental role in the community, and working with partners who share common altruistic goals to better serve societal needs both in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region.
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