Forging international collaborations and local partnerships in the world of art

Mr Ong Yew Huat, Chairman STPI, 
Ms Emi Eu, Director, STPI, 
Excellencies and Distinguished Guests, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. It is wonderful for all of us to be here to enjoy this very rare exhibition of Picasso's prints and photos. So I'd like to congratulate the STPI for putting together this show.
   

International Collaborations

2. This is a very significant milestone for STPI and Singapore art. Every year, more than 1000 galleries and institutions worldwide apply to exhibit at Art Basel – what some call the Olympics of the art world – only a fraction of these applications are selected. This year, for the first time, we have a Singapore institution at Art Basel, and it is none other than STPI. I must also congratulate Emi for being invited as a member of the Selection Committee for Art Basel next year. It is wonderful that we have made these achievements. We are very glad for STPI, as over the years, it has grown and developed into a premier print making centre in Singapore, and I hope your example will be an inspiration to like-minded artists and art organisations in Singapore. We are also very proud of our Singapore artists who have done well not only in Singapore, but overseas as well. At Art Basel, young artists like Genevieve Chua were featured and her works attracted a lot of visitors.

3. Recently, I was in Paris, where I visited some of the museums. I was at Palais de Tokyo, where they have a new exhibition. They invited proposals from more than 500 applications worldwide, and selected 21 exhibitors. One of the exhibitions was from a Singaporean proposal – it was from the Singapore Art Museum. It shows that our Singaporean artists are making their mark. They are achieving success and recognition, and we will continue to do all we can to support them, together with all of you here as well.

4. My Ministry and The National Arts Council are doing more to support our Singaporean artists. Earlier this year, I announced that Singapore will return to the Venice Biennale in 2015. I also went to Venice recently; we are looking at selecting good sites and selecting artists who can represent Singapore at the new Singapore Pavilion in 2015. So if you're going to be in Venice in 2015, please look out for the new Singapore Pavilion that will be on display there.
   

Local Partnerships and Recognising Sponsors

5. On the government's part, we are doing what we can to support the arts. But we cannot do it all on our own. We need the support from all of you here, especially our corporate sponsors. So I want to thank SingTel for presenting this exhibition, OCBC Bank and Bank of Singapore for their support, and the Spanish Embassy for making this exhibition possible.

6. Finally, congratulations once again to STPI, I hope all of you have a pleasant evening and enjoy the exhibition. Thank you very much.