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Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth
Speeches

Showcasing Singapore's artistic talent to the world through the Venice Biennale

Sectors

Arts & Heritage

6 May 2015

Welcome Address by Minister Of State Sam Tan at launch of Singapore Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2015, Singapore Pavilion, Sale D'armi, Arsenale, Venice

Distinguished guests

Partners, supporters, friends 

Ladies and gentlemen 

A very good afternoon to all of you in Venice.

  1. On behalf of the Singapore government, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you who have come and visit the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. This afternoon, I have the honor and privilege to introduce to you two very distinguished individuals from Singapore – the artist, Mr Charles Lim, and curator, Mr Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. They are the ones responsible for putting up the exhibition at the Singapore Pavilion.

  2. Venice is always a very interesting place. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world - full of culture, history, heritage, arts, craft and many other things. And Venice always has a very special place in my heart. This is my fourth visit to Venice in the last five years and my second visit to the Biennale.

  3. So it is wonderful that we make a comeback after four years to take part once again in the Venice Biennale. This is Singapore's 7th participation in this world-renowned Biennale and we're here to stay because we have committed to a long-term lease of 20 years. So, in the next 20 years, you will continue to see us showing our art. In a sense, we would like to show Singapore to the world through this very important city – Venice.

  4. Venice is about 6,000km away from Singapore, and both Venice and Singapore actually have quite a bit of similarities and commonalities. Both cities are small and both are sea states. So it is no coincidence that this year, our artist, Mr Charles Lim, has chosen the theme SEA STATE for the exhibition in the Singapore Pavilion.

  5. We decided to come back in 2015 to re-participate in the Venice Biennale for a good reason. This year is a very, very special year for Singapore as Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence as a nation. It is also a very special year for Singapore and Italy. It marks the 50th year anniversary of the bilateral relationship between Singapore and Italy. So you actually have two very important milestones here coming together and we thought this will be a perfect opportunity for Singapore to come back and rejoin the family of the Venice Biennale.

  6. And this year being a Golden Jubilee year for Singapore, back in Singapore, we have organised a lot of celebratory activities to celebrate our nationhood. So, one of the highlights of this year's celebrations is the opening of the National Gallery Singapore. It will be open in October this year and we promise to make it the best collected modern art centre in Singapore and also in Southeast Asia. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to make a trip to Singapore in October to witness the opening of the National Gallery Singapore.

  7. I will leave the explanation of the theme and also the meaning of the exhibition to Charles and Mustafa. Let me conclude by welcoming all of you again to the Singapore Pavilion and I look forward to meeting you again in your country as well as Singapore. Thank you for coming and have a pleasant afternoon.