In late January, I travelled to Singapore to participate in the fourth edition of the Singapore International Art Fair, Art SG. Föenander Galleries presented a four-artist exhibition titled Both Skin and Story, celebrating some of the finest talent from Australasia: Israel Tangaroa Birch, Monique Lacey, Monica Rani Rudhar and Professor Robert Jahnke ONZM. As the only New Zealand gallery represented at the fair it felt especially meaningful to share the work of the artists.
STAY
The Pan Pacific Hotel is ideal if you are after a classic, grand-scale Singapore hotel experience, the architecture of the interior is wonderfully otherworldly – a soaring atrium, marble everywhere and cocoon-like dining pods sitting in a water feature. It is very Singapore in that way of being vast, immaculate and strangely serene.
DINE
Singapore’s food scene is fantastic, spanning everything from refined dining to the iconic Hawker centres (Maxwell, Lau pa Sat and Newton Circus are all musts). A particular highlight was Jumbo Seafood at Dempsey Hill, think bibs, gloves and award winning chilli crab. I was also introduced to Atlas bar by Monique Lacey (whose work we were exhibiting at the Fair). It is a luxurious 1920s-inspired venue with Art Deco Décor and an impressive collection of outdoor sculpture including several works by Salvador Dalí. Across the variety of the experiences, they shared a certain theatre.
SHOP
Travelling for the art fair meant shopping was not at the top of the agenda, however, if one were inclined The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is hard to ignore. An impressive line-up (largely couture), it is an experience in excess and immaculate presentation
SEE
One of the highlights was quite simply walking Singapore by night, we had the joy of being joined by two of our exhibiting artists – Monica Rani Rudhar and Israel Tangaroa Birch – and spent an evening wandering through the Supertree Grove. The city feels very safe, and they have done an impressive job of developing the waterfront public spaces – light installation, generous walkways, and large public sculpture (there were more than a few Botero works on exhibit) all of which make the city feel alive at night. The ArtScience hosts a permanent Team Lab exhibition worth visiting. Team Lab are a digital art collective from Japan known for their works which explore the intersection of art and Science. The exhibition is immersive and of grand-scale. It invites people of all ages to engage and play, something adults are rarely encouraged to do, and something we perhaps lose too easily as we grow older.
