Singapore Art Museum is officially opened

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is an art museum that focuses on Singapore and Southeast Asian contemporary artworks. It also houses a growing collection of international contemporary art.^[1] The museum is one of the first art museums in Southeast Asia to be equipped with facilities of international standards, such as 24-hour climate control.^[2] SAM is Singapore’s first repository dedicated to both collecting and showcasing Singapore and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art.^[3]

SAM officially opened on 20 January 1996. The opening ceremony was graced by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, together with other dignitaries and art patrons at the refurbished former St Joseph’s Institution.^[4] In his Guest-of-Honour speech, Goh said he envisioned SAM, along with other developments in the Arts and Heritage District, as an entrepôt for the arts, culture, civilisation and ideas and to be a meeting ground of different cultures.^[5]

Featuring 13 art galleries spread over a 3,000 square metre area, the museum is meticulously curated to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Kwok Kian Chow, then director of SAM, promised “something for almost everyone”, including a nursery where parents could leave their children, electronic galleries and a glass hall and auditorium for corporate functions and seminars.^[6]

On 20 October 1995, three months ahead of SAM’s official opening, a separate ceremony was held to mark the restoration of the 140-year-old national monument that was once St Joseph’s Institution. Restoration of the building took more than two years and cost $30 million. Kwok explained that a separate opening ceremony for the building was held to emphasise its status as a heritage building and acknowledge the renovation and transformation of an old educational space into a new one.^[7]

References
1. Singapore Art Museum. (2013). Overview: About the Singapore Art Museum. Retrieved from Singapore Art Museum website: https://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/about/index.html
2. A first in South-east Asia – the Singapore Art Museum. (1995, February 2). The Straits Times, p. 6.; Toward the level of museums in Japan, Australia. (1995, February 2). The Straits Times, p.7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Art for Mum and Dad, and a nursery for the kids. (1996, January 20). The Straits Times, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
4. Lenzi, I. (1996, January 23). Towards greater heights in Singapore art. The Business Times, p. 14. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
5. Wang, H. L. (1996, January 21). Vision of S'pore as entrepot for art, culture. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. The Straits Times, 20 Jan 1996, p. 2.
7. Two opening ceremonies: One for the building, one for the art. (1995, October 20). The Straits Times, p. 23. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.