An art collector's journey

Mr Koh Seow Chuan,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good evening. I am no longer in MCCY but I am very happy to be here to support and launch the exhibition.

2. As you can see, the exhibition is titled “An Art Collector’s Journey”. I think Seow Chuan is being modest because he is no ordinary art collector. He is one of our pioneer architects, a champion for the arts, a patron for many artists and he has a rich and vast collection. Everything that you see here today is part of his collection – it is really quite remarkable.

3. He was our Founding Chairman for the National Art Gallery, and when he stepped down, I immediately asked him to be the Chair for our Advisory Board that advises all our art institutions, including the Singapore Arts Museum, the National Art Gallery as well as the Singapore Tyler Print Institute; and he still remains the Chair for the Visual Arts Cluster. I think we should give Seow Chuan a big round of applause for all his contribution to the arts.

4. In fact, it is not the first time that he has shared his works for Singaporeans to enjoy. He has done this many times in the past. Earlier this year, he also had a SG50 celebration in LASELLE where artists imagined what the nation would be. It was the first exhibition that he did this year for SG50. Now that the year is coming to an end, I think it is fitting that he has another exhibition to wrap up SG50 with a series of art works, again from his collection spanning more than 50 years, showcasing how Singapore art has evolved over the years.

5. He has not only contributed the artworks, but also personally curated the artworks. Seow Chuan brings with him a very unique perspective. First of all, he is a pioneer who has lived through some of the more critical periods of our history, I think he is one of the few people in this room who have lived through four of our national anthems. More importantly, he lived through that period of history with a perspective as an arts collector, an arts champion; as someone who can appreciate how art has evolved through this period.

6. It is very valuable because it would have been very different for a young curator to pull this together. I do not mean any disrespect to our young curators; we have many good young curators in the National Art Gallery and they are doing very good work. However for those of us who have not lived through this history, including myself, we can only curate or tell the story of the past from second hand information. For someone like Seow Chuan who has lived through it, personally experienced it, curating an exhibition like this provides fresh and interesting perspectives. I think it will be a hugely enriching experience for all of us, including other curators, to go through this exhibition to see how the Singapore story is told.

7. I think it is sometimes regrettable that some of the excesses of the market have crept into the art world. Many people talk about investing in the arts because it is an investment that can appreciate in value. When Seow Chuan collected art, it was not for investment or that in 50 years’ time, it would have appreciated in value. He did it for the love of art, and I hope this would inspire the young collectors to collect art for the love of the arts and not for the investment value. I think if you do that over a lifetime of collecting art, then perhaps many years later when we celebrate SG100, we would have many more collectors like Seow Chuan who will have rich collections of art works over time that they can also showcase to the public.

8. I think this is a very valuable experience, and I thank Seow Chuan, Dick and Ida for coming together to show all of us what the private sector can do to contribute to the arts sector in Singapore. Like Seow Chuan said earlier, I hope this is just the beginning. There are many arts collectors and private sector practitioners, gallery owners, people involved in art storage, and others in the arts markets. It is a growing and thriving market, and we hope that all of you will also step forward to contribute to the arts sector and do something to develop and advance the appreciation of art even further in Singapore.

9. I think we are at a time when there are many things exciting things happening in the arts world and the arts market in Singapore. The National Art Gallery is opening very soon next month, so this exhibition is a small taste of what we can experience when it opens its doors. We have more and more art exhibitions, we have new galleries opening and we have spaces like this, thanks to Helutrans, where people can come and enjoy the arts. I believe if we all continue with our collective efforts, we can all contribute to a growing and thriving arts scene in Singapore that will grow in vibrancy as our society matures.

10. Thank you very much for being here and I wish you all a very enjoyable evening. Thank you.