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Thursday, 11 October 2007 | Levent OZLER
Singapore Biennale 2008
The Singapore Biennale will be back for the second time next year, with exhibitions falling under the theme "Wonder".
The first Singapore Biennale held last year attracted over 883,000 visitors who marvelled at the works located at 19 exhibition sites, under the theme "Belief".
And believing that the next Singapore Biennale will be even more successful, the National Arts Council (NAC) has re-appointed Fumio Nanjo, the Director of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, as its Artistic Director.
Working with Mr Nanjo on Singapore Biennale 2008 are two emerging curators from Singapore and the region, namely independent curator Joselina Cruz, formerly a curator at the Singapore Art Museum and the Lopez Museum in Manila, as well as Matthew Ngui, one of Singapore's leading artists in contemporary art.
"The previous exhibition was a theme of belief. And we explored the belief of people through art. But now we have to re-question - is that belief really true, worth believing?" explained Mr Nanjo.
"Constant questioning is another nature of art. So we bring this type of art and we question what we believe and what we know - is it true? Through many surprises and illusions and miracles of art, we will discover these questions, and through these, we realise what the world is, reality is, where we live in."
To realise this, a major part of the Biennale programming involves engaging the public through talks and workshops. Primary and secondary school students will be involved as well.
Organisers added that while they research on contemporary works from all over the world, they will pay special attention to works from Asia.
The exact details of the next Singapore Biennale were not revealed, but organisers were quick to distinguish it from the Singapore Arts Show, which ended on Monday.
The Singapore Art Show is targeting half a million visitors to its visual art displays islandwide.
"At the Singapore Art Show, we were able to bring in different art forms, both contemporary as well as the more traditional, classical artworks. So it is a platform that allows for an all inclusive approach to visual arts," said Lee Suan Hiang, CEO of the National Arts Council.
"(But) for the Biennale, the language is contemporary arts. So we will be showing contemporary artworks, not just from Singapore artists, but also from all over the world. And this will include many surprising installations that we hope our audience will enjoy.
"So the Biennale will give Singapore audience a new experience. And I hope they will look at contemporary arts in a way that is not too formidable, and that through the Biennale they will enjoy artworks and contemporary artworks."
The world has become the new stage for some local artists who had participated in the first Singapore Biennale. Fourteen of them have displayed their works in Germany.
The second Singapore Biennale will be held from 11th September to 16th November.
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