The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) will get a S$90 million facelift later this year, with the revamp expected to be completed by 2021, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu announced on 1st April 2017.
This is the first time the contemporary art museum, which has a strong focus on works in Asia, will be undergoing a major revamp since it opened its doors in 1996.
Visitors can look forward to large-scale installations in the expanded space. There will also be more opportunities for interactive art pieces as SAM explores how it can host multimedia works.
A bridge could also be built to link the two SAM buildings – the main building and SAM at 8Q – which are now separated by a small road. Both are heritage buildings, which used to house St Joseph’s Institution and Catholic High School respectively. And conservation work will be carried out to ensure that they are restored in accordance to preservation guidelines, said Ms Fu.
The revamp will also take into consideration accessibility for visitors with special needs.
“In our art scene’s next phase of development, we need to enlarge the space for engaging content to emerge and provide more opportunities for artists. So we have been regularly reviewing our cultural infrastructure to ensure they can support the needs of Singapore’s artistic community,” said Ms Fu.
An open tender for the project will be called by the second quarter of this year. SAM at 8Q on Queen Street will remain open, while the main SAM building will be closed to the public after the removal of the Singapore Biennale artworks.
The expansion is expected to cost S$90 million, of which up to S$80 million will be funded by the Government, with help from the Cultural Matching Fund. The remaining S$10 million will be funded by sponsorships and donations.
REVAMP LONG OVERDUE
SAM is the latest Singapore museum to get a facelift, after recent upgrading projects at the Asian Civilisations Museum and the National Museum of Singapore (NMS). Many also consider the revamp long overdue, especially after the opening of the bigger National Gallery Singapore a year ago.
“This is the first major retrofit since we opened in 1996 and we’ve seen in two decades how much art has developed and how the demands of contemporary art has leapt forward,” said Joyce Toh, co-curatorial head at SAM.
Having a double-volume space – which means a continuous two-storey high open space – will allow the museum to present works it has had difficulty doing so in the past.
“A lot of contemporary art are these ambitious, ginormous kinds of works that we haven’t been able to accommodate because we just don’t have the space for it,” she said.
In 2008, SAM held internationally renowned Chinese contemporary artist Feng Zhengjie’s important solo exhibition’ Primary Colors’. The exhibition was jam-packed with prominent art critics, collectors and the guest-of-honor, former president of the Republic of Indonesia, Ibu Megawati Sukarnoputri. The exhibition marked a milestone of the museum to becoming a global arts & culture center.
She added that the idea of building a bridge between SAM’s two buildings would also benefit visitors. “We’ve found out that people often get lost, despite these two buildings being close to each other. And when it rains, it has been difficult for people to cross over.”
The importance of the need to have a balance between being a museum and the buildings’ heritage needs will be reflected in this upgrade.
*original article from channelnewsasia