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Cheung Hok-hang

Wealthy mainland Chinese families have been flocking to Singapore since the pandemic, drawn to the city-state’s reputation as a safe haven for capital and its friendliness to Mandarin speakers.
The new money is evident everywhere, from new mala hotpot chains dotting the streets to luxury penthouses disappearing off the market.
While Chinese buying power has yet to create a boom in local art sales, the new arrivals are making themselves felt in other ways: by starting their own art spaces.
Among a number of Chinese-owned venues that have appeared in recent months is Highlight Art.
‘Too ambitious’ National Gallery Singapore show still has its merits
The commercial gallery, which has showcased celebrated Chinese artists including Zhou Chunya, Liu Xiaodong and Xiang Jing, was originally set up by Willa Dong in Shanghai in 2001.
A series of unrelated events led Dong to Singapore.
In 2017, Chinese artist Meng Zhigang – now programme director of the Singapore gallery – heard about studios being demolished in Songzhuang, the vibrant artists’ colony in Beijing. Meng sprang into action, documenting the colony’s plight on his social media platform.

Dong noticed this, joining Meng’s effort remotely to record the stories of displaced artists and their fight against eviction.
As the Songzhuang crisis subsided, Meng and Dong began to research Chinese art history together, eventually leading them to look into the exodus of Chinese artists to Southeast Asia during times of war.
This historical interest, coupled with the restrictive Covid-19 pandemic measures in place in Shanghai and Beijing, led Meng and Dong to make a fresh start in Singapore.
After a year-long search, the pair found the ideal home for Highlight Art within a beautifully restored Peranakan shophouse on Club Street. What makes it so perfect is not just the space itself but its neighbour, Meng says.

The gallery, which occupies the first two floors, shares the building with the Goh Loo Club, which was founded in 1905 by overseas Chinese supporters of Chinese Nationalist Party leader Sun Yat-sen and his revolutionary movement. The pairing of the two entities symbolises the gallery’s mission to create a bridge for cultural exchange between mainland China and Singapore, Meng says.
Its inaugural exhibition, “How Much ‘Hua’ Do You Feel Today?” – hua meaning China or Chinese in Mandarin – opened in November 2023. It featured a diverse selection of 10 artists who embody the gallery’s commitment to showcasing artists from the Chinese diaspora, such as third-generation Singaporean-Chinese artist Hans Chew, who studied in Japan. His ceramic works incorporate objects found on the streets of Singapore, reflecting themes of identity and cultural memory.
There was also Zou Zhao – a performance artist from China’s Hubei province who emigrated to Singapore at the age of six and now lives in New York – who explores the complexities of language and its role in shaping cultural understanding; and Jon Koko, a Swedish artist who employs a minimalist style and pale colour palette to evoke a sense of Zen and introspection in his viewers.

Another new art venture in Singapore is the Eureka Griffin Fine Arts Club, a private collection with Chinese roots whose focus extends beyond contemporary art, encompassing antiquities as well as fine jewellery.
Li Yicheng, the club’s director who has nearly two decades of experience in the Chinese art industry, explains that research into ancient Southeast Asian history, including ceramics and Buddhist statues, led the club to become interested in contemporary artists working in the region.
This new private club caters to business leaders with an interest in collecting art and antiquities. It offers members a range of exclusive privileges, including fine dining, cigar lounges and cultural events such as curated exhibitions – both in-house and collaborative ventures with major brands.

Membership costs S$55,000 (US$41,000), which is refundable after five years or upon the member’s decision to invest in the club’s Eureka Fund.
There’s also the Whale Art Museum, a non-profit art space that has become the talk of the town, nestled in the same industrial building occupied by the Singapore Art Museum and the venue for the annual SEA Focus art fair.
Founder Li Fan, a property developer from Beijing, is a well-known collector in his hometown who has amassed an impressive body of works by established international and Chinese artists from the secondary market over the past few years.
To many, this appears more like another form of wealth transfer
Singaporean art collector Chong Huai Seng on the new Chinese arrivals
Li Fan recently relocated to Singapore and is currently pursuing an Executive MBA (Chinese) programme at the University of Singapore. He was not available for comment for this article.
The museum’s inaugural show, which kicked off on January 18, presents a mid-career survey of two prominent Chinese artists: Ouyang Chun and Huang Yuxing.
The exhibition showcases around 30 works, including three pieces from Li’s collection that have attracted significant attention at auctions in recent years. Those include Huang’s Paradise (2015), which sold for 16.1 million yuan (US$2.2 million) at a Yongle auction in 2022, and Ouyang’s The Lonely King (2008), which fetched 4.8 million yuan at a China Guardian auction in 2023.

According to those who attended the January opening party, which was held in the same week as the Art SG and SEA Focus art fairs, the event attracted just about every China-born art professional in town.
But they added that few Singaporean collectors or professionals were present, with one saying that the museum’s existence had only been publicised among the mainland Chinese diaspora in Singapore.
This prompted Singaporean art collector Chong Huai Seng, co-founder of the art salon The Culture Story, to say that he would like to see more interaction between the new arrivals and the local art scene.
“To many, this appears more like another form of wealth transfer,” he says.

According to a Whale Art Museum press release, it has plans to add a multimedia exhibition space and an artist-in-residence programme in Singapore soon to promote Chinese artists abroad.
While he has set up a new platform in Singapore, Li Fan remains committed to Beijing, where he is in the process of building a new museum inside a skyscraper developed by Future Land Centre, where he serves as chief investment officer.
There are a number of other mainland-Chinese-owned art spaces that have recently opened in Singapore, including Prestige Art, an existing gallery revamped by Beijing filmmaker Audrey Zhang in the Bank of Singapore headquarters; and Woosee, a studio and gallery in the Mandarin Gallery shopping centre on Orchard Road run by Allison Liu, a Chinese ink painting and pottery artist.
Apart from concerns about local integration, questions remain regarding Singapore’s potential as an art market.
How Singapore’s art scene is ‘maturing’ with growth in private shows
Dong admits that making sales has proven harder than anticipated.
“We haven’t seen the level of foot traffic or media exposure we expected, even though we’re located close to the central business district,” she says.
“In Shanghai, you can get a nice space for 50,000 yuan in rent a month,” she adds. “It costs five times more here.”
Other galleries and dealers concur, saying that the arrival of new wealth and family offices has yet to translate into sales.
Zhou Jiji, founder of Blank Gallery in Shanghai and Tokyo, was one of dozens of mainland Chinese collectors and art professionals who flew to Singapore in January to attend the art fairs and some of the 100-plus exhibitions during Singapore Art Week.
“I barely saw [any Chinese collector] making significant purchases,” he says, adding that for now he will not be taking part in the city’s art fairs.

While local professionals suggest factors such as Singapore’s relatively high sales tax, and the need to build trust with local dealers, contribute to Chinese collectors’ hesitation, Li Yicheng says a deeper reason is a reluctance for them to branch out into Southeast Asian art.
“Traditionally, the mainland Chinese art market has primarily focused on its own artists, with only a few forward-thinking collectors venturing beyond,” she says. “The pandemic has further intensified this trend.”
In the meantime, many of the new arrivals in Singapore remain hopeful about the city becoming a cultural centre that can generate new dialogues and perspectives.
Li Yicheng believes that Singapore’s cultural diversity is its main advantage. That is why her club aims to foster “new cultures created through intermingling” rather than focusing solely on ethnic identity, she says.
And Dong says local galleries have been supportive towards Highlight Art, introducing her and Meng to reliable art logistics providers and sharing local tips.
Referring to the heritage of the early Chinese immigrants in Southeast Asia, Meng says: “We want to foster a new Peranakan culture for this era.”


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Wealthy Chinese relocating to Singapore open art galleries, but concerns exist over local integration, lack of sales

Zhou Jiji, founder of Blank Gallery in Shanghai and Tokyo, was one of dozens of mainland Chinese collectors and art professionals who flew to Singapore in January for the art fairs.

Willa Dong is founder of Highlight Art, a new gallery in Singapore. Recent years have seen many new mainland Chinese immigrants to the city open art spaces. Photo: Highlight Art

Meng Zhigang, programme director of Highlight Art, at the gallery in Singapore. Photo: Highlight Art

The restored Peranakan shophouse on Club Street that is the new home of Highlight Art. Photo: Highlight Art

Installation shot of “How Much ‘Hua’ Do You Feel Today?” at Highlight Art. Photo: Highlight Art

Li Yicheng is director of the Eureka Griffin Fine Arts Club in Singapore. Photo: Eureka Griffin

Works by Huang Yuxing on show at Singapore’s Whale Art Museum. Photo: Whale Art Museum

Zhou Jiji is founder of Blank Gallery in Shanghai and Tokyo. Photo: Zhou Jiji

‘Some days I spend 10 hours carving’: printmaking artists in Hong Kong under the spotlight in special fundraising exhibition

Printmaker Jay Lau at his studio at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei. Lau will take part in a special exhibition ahead of the Hong Kong Open Printshop’s 25th anniversary to raise funds for two new spaces. His “Reality but Virtual: Square” (right) depicts Hong Kong’s skyline, the Liberty Square in Taipei, and La Pietà by Michelangelo. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Lau shows his carving tools. Photo: Kylie Knott

“Icon No.3”, by Jay Lau. Photo: HKOP

“The Proof of the Cake is in the Eating”, by Avery Lau. Photo: HKOP

Lam Lok-san is one of the artists taking part in the fundraising exhibition. Photo: HKOP

“Falling into the Water”, by Jeannie Wong. Photo: HKOP

“Sunshine and Salt”, by Lam King-ting. Photo: HKOP

80-year-old famed Singaporean artist Tang Da Wu on curiosity and being real with audiences as his latest solo exhibition opens

“Tiger’s Whip”, one of Tang Da Wu’s best-known works, is an installation and performance piece first presented in 1991 in Singapore’s Chinatown (Photo: Koh Nguang How)

Singaporean artist Tang Da Wu paints with earth at the opening of his solo exhibition “3, 4, 5, I Don’t Like Fine Art” at ShanghART Gallery in Singapore on July 29, 2023. Photo: ShanghART

Tang’s earth painting of a snake at ShanghART Gallery. Photo: ShanghART

Installation shot of “3, 4, 5, I Don’t Like Fine Art” at ShanghART Gallery. Photo: ShanghART

The metal bird sculpture at “3, 4, 5, I Don’t Like Fine Art”. Photo: ShanghART

Tang performs “They Poach the Rhino, Chop Off His Horn and Make This Drink” in 1989. Photo: Koh Nguang How

Tang (left) performs “Tiger’s Whip” in 1991 in Singapore’s Chinatown. Photo: Koh Nguang How

How Singapore’s art scene is making a big comeback in 2023, and why artists question whether any meaningful change is occurring

“Yen Yen” by Lolay x Kobored is projected onto the facade of the National Gallery Singapore during the “Light to Night” festival, part of Singapore Art Week, which ended January 15. Photo: NGS

“Strayed Too Far from her Scented Court” (2022) by Chia Ching Kai, a digital animation that is part of a group show at independent art space Supper House, in Singapore. Photo: Enid Tsui

Rosa Daniel, chief executive of Singapore’s National Arts Council. Photo: Getty Images

“Philosophical Theater of Animals” (2019) by Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook. These papier-mâché dog heads are shown with an accompanying video at the Singapore Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui

“Crossing The Fartfher Shore” (2014) by Dinh Q. Le at the National Gallery Singapore’s “Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia” exhibition that runs until August 20. Photo: Enid Tsui

Ashley Chiam with works by Samuel Xun (right) and Baelf Design (left) at his independent art space Supper House. Photo: Enid Tsui

Singapore artist Ho Tzu Nyen. Photo: Matthew Teo

Sim Chi Yin at her solo exhibition “One Day We’ll Understand” at Hanart TZ Gallery in Hong Kong. Photo: Hanart TZ Gallery / Kitmin Lee

Has Art SG fair boosted Singapore’s hopes to become Southeast Asia’s primary art market?

Collectors and art dealers from around Asia congregate at the inaugural edition of Art SG, a new contemporary art fair in Singapore. With over 160 galleries from 35 countries and territories, it is Southeast Asia’s biggest art fair. 

Collectors and art dealers from around Asia congregate at the inaugural edition of Art SG, a new contemporary art fair in Singapore. Photo: Enid Tsui

Singapore’s Yeo Workshop presents works by Singaporean and other Southeast Asia-based artists such as Fyerool Darma, Wei Leng Tay, Maryanto and Citra Sasmita at Art SG. Photo: Enid Tsui

Visitors browse artworks at Art SG. Photo: Enid Tsui 

Sammi Liu, co-founder of Tabula Rasa Gallery in Beijing and London, at a pop-up exhibition she organised for the artist Li Tao in a traditional Nanyang mansion in the Emerald Hill Conservation Area of Singapore, in January. Photo: Enid Tsui

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

Many new mainland-Chinese-owned art venues have opened in Singapore as recent immigrants to the city make their wealth and presence felt
But some insiders say there is little interaction between the recent arrivals and the local art scene, and the new wealth is not yet translating into sales


Singapore has recently seen many art galleries and spaces opened by wealthy mainland Chinese new to the city-state, but concerns have arisen over their local integration and a lack of sales.


Singapore

Chinese overseas

Wealthy Chinese relocating to Singapore open art galleries, but concerns exist over local integration, lack of sales

Many new mainland-Chinese-owned art venues have opened in Singapore as recent immigrants to the city make their wealth and presence felt But some insiders say there is little interaction between the recent arrivals and the local art scene, and the new wealth is not yet translating into sales

Many new mainland-Chinese-owned art venues have opened in Singapore as recent immigrants to the city make their wealth and presence felt

But some insiders say there is little interaction between the recent arrivals and the local art scene, and the new wealth is not yet translating into sales