The National Art Gallery, Singapore Welcomes Singapore Artists in a Symbolic Gesture

Photo opportunity with artists on City Hall steps to mark its transformation

Come 2013, Singapore artists will find a new home at the new National Art Gallery, Singapore. The City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings will be transformed into the new Gallery, and will carry one of the largest and most comprehensive showcases of the history of Singapore art and artists. As a symbolic gesture of this transformation, a once-in-a-lifetime photograph will be taken of representative Singapore artists on City Hall steps

Photo Opportunity with Singapore Artists

2                Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts and Chairman of the Steering Committee for the National Art Gallery, will be the Guest of Honour for this event. To symbolically mark this momentous beginning as the newest and largest Singapore visual arts institution welcoming Singapore artists and Singaporeans, a photo opportunity has been arranged. The specially choreographed shot will the first of its kind weaving in representative local artists hailing from all the different art societies in Singapore. They will be featured together with Minister Lui, Mr Koh Seow Chuan, Chairman of the National Art Gallery, and Mr Michael Koh, its Chief Executive Officer, and Mr Kwok Kian Chow, its Director, on the steps of City Hall on 8 October 2010 (Friday) at 4:00pm.

A Photo Journey: Memories of City Hall and Former Supreme Court

3                At the Launch event, Guest-of-Honour Mr Lui Tuck Yew also presented prizes to the winners of the Photo Competition titled “A Photo Journey, Memories of City Hall and former Supreme Court”. A total of 723 works were received for this competition, of which 12 were selected as the winners in both the Open and Youth categories. The judges for the competition include celebrity photographer, Mr Dominic Khoo, Straits Times Photo Desk Editor, Mr Mike Sargent, and Mr David Tay from the Photographic Society of Singapore.

4                The National Art Gallery Open House will take place from 9th to 10th October 2010 at the City Hall and former Supreme Court. Due to popular demand, the exclusive guided tours through these buildings have been fully subscribed, and extra weekend tours – both guided and free and easy – have been specially arranged on 16 and 17 October to cater to overwhelming public requests. Details of both events are attached at Annex A for information.

5                Admission to the event and its activities are free but pre-registrations are required for the guided tours. For more details, members of the public are advised to log on to the event website at www.nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse.

National Art Gallery Open House
9 and 10 October, 16 and 17 October (extended weekend)
11 am to 9 pm daily
City Hall and former Supreme Court Buildings
1 St Andrews Road
www.nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse

Annex: Open House Factsheet

THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY OPEN HOUSE
City Hall and former Supreme Court Buildings
1 St Andrews Road
www.nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse

The National Art Gallery, Singapore is organising a special open house event for the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings. Titled The National Art Gallery Open House, this special weekend event offers a rare and exclusive glimpse at the buildings’ unparalleled history and distinctive architecture. It will feature eye-opening guided tours, exhibition displays portraying the future galleries, as well as crowd-pleasers such as film screenings, a photo exhibition, activity corners for children, flea markets and a snack fair. Visitors will also stand to win attractive lucky draw prizes. Come experience these unique spaces for one last time, before they are transformed into the new National Art Gallery. Admission is free.

Event highlights

a) Historic guided tours

From 9 – 10 October, the Gallery will be running a unique series of guided tours of the buildings. Staffed by 200 trained volunteer guides, these tours will offer visitors a rare glimpse into the buildings’ unusual spaces, understand its colourful history, as well as gain special insights to what the future National Art Gallery will look like. Tours will be conducted in English, Mandarin, Japanese and Malay. Special tours for children will also be available. As there are limited spaces for these tours, interested participants ought to sign up for a tour slot via out website at www.nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse/reg Sign up early to avoid disappointment!

To cater to the public’s overwhelming request for tours, we have extended these tours for a second weekend on 16 and 17 October 2010. The Gallery has added an extra 30 guided English tours for this 2nd weekend.

b) Self-guided tours (16 & 17 October only)

Members of the public who are unable to register for a guided tour or who prefer to explore the spaces on their own time can go on a self-guided tour. A suggested itinerary has been prepared, and visitors may wish to pick up a hard copy onsite or download the online version at (http://nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse). These include the historic Former Supreme Court lobby, the Law Library, the somber Chief Justice’s chamber and courtroom, the timehonoured corridors, balconies and foyers of both buildings, as well as the City Hall Chamber, where the first Cabinet was sworn in.

c) Special film screening in City Hall Chamber

Curated according to the theme of exploring spaces and collective memories of Singapore, the National Art Gallery is presenting, for the first time, a select series of Asian films in the historic City Hall Chamber on 9 and 10 October, from 7-9pm nightly. Audiences will be treated to an evening of nostalgia and remembrances, as they are invited on a journey to revisit and rediscover old and forgotten spaces and places in Singapore. The films featured include:

• Elegy for a Matron (2010)
• Moon over Malaya (1957)
• Lost Images (2009)
• Old Places (2010)

Throughout the day, visitors can also enjoy looking at a series of archival footages of key events that took place in the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings and watch a flythrough of the future Gallery spaces.

d) “A Photo Journey, Memories of The City Hall and Former Supreme Court”

Jointly organized by the Gallery and the Singapore Photographic Society of Singapore, this is the first time a photographic competition is organized for the buildings. Budding photographers are brought into the buildings to explore and document the historical richness of its architecture through their lenses. As part of the competition, special guided tours have been organised for photographers who are interested in capturing the grand interiors of the buildings. 12 entries, out of a total of 723 works were selected as winners.

There are two categories of entries – Open and Youth (under the age of 25).

The judging panel includes prominent members in the local photography scene such as Straits Times photo desk editor, Mike Sargant, and award-winning celebrity photographer, Dominic Khoo. Winning works will be exhibited at the Open House weekend and prizes will be presented by Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Mr Lui Tuck Yew.

e) Special facade light-up

For 4 nights only from 7 to 10 October, come watch the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings transform into a visual feast right before your eyes! Using creative lighting techniques and light projections, key artworks from the National Collection will be featured on the façades, transforming these iconic buildings into a magical symphony of lights.

f) Barcamp conference

For the first time, the National Art Gallery will be hosting a Barcamp Singapore Conference in City Hall building from 9 to 10 October. Barcamp is an international network of usergenerated conferences. They are open, participatory workshop events, whose content is provided by participants. This edition of Barcamp will feature a special Art and Technology edition, in conjunction with the Open House. About 200 participants are expected for this event. Interested participants can sign up online at http://www.flickevents.com/e/barcampsg6#details

g) Lifestyle events and activities

Visitors will get to sample the original works of budding local designers, or have their portraits drawn by illustrators from illustrators from the Organisation of Illustrators Council. Popular flea market organizer, FleaFlyFloFun, will also be organizing a special art, design, music and lifestyle themed flea market at this Open House. The first 500 visitors to climb up the grand steps of City Hall each day will stand to win special goodie bags! There will also be an hourly lucky draw with attractive prizes to be won throughout the weekend.

h) Children’s activity area

An interactive area dedicated to children and the young-at-heart, the Children’s Activity Area will feature a multi-media landscape and touch screens for children to create their own paintings. Discover your child’s potential as an artist by bringing him/her to the art activity stations for portrait drawing and colouring. Get your child to write on our very own event’s message mural. You can also bring home a souvenir by purchasing books from our publication booth!