Art Stage Singapore opens on 16 January 2014 at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on a high note as the flagship Asian art event of the region. With its new fair format, a strong showing of new and returning galleries and a comprehensive outreach and art education programme, Art Stage Singapore 2014 firmly places Singapore on the global art map, bolstering the city-state’s position as the leading centre of contemporary art in the Asian region. 8 Country & Regional Platforms: Best of Asian Contemporary Art

Art Stage Singapore’s fourth edition introduces eight country and regional Platforms that offer an immersive and comprehensive experience of contemporary Asian art for visitors to the fair. The Platforms provide a contextual understanding of art from Asia Pacific, showcasing an impressive total of 70 exciting projects from the region, presented in a museum-like exhibition layout. Art Stage Singapore collaborates with leading international curators in selecting and curating the artworks for each of these country and regional Platforms; the Platform curators are Aaron Seeto (Australia), Charles Merewether (Central Asia), Huang Du (China), Bose Krishnamachari (India), Mami Kataoka (Japan), Kim Sung Won (Korea) and Rudy Tseng (Taiwan). All artists exhibiting artworks at the Platform exhibitions are represented by their respective galleries.

The Southeast Asia Platform, being the largest Platform of all, will present 31 works from the region. Featured artists in the Southeast Asia Platform include Jane Lee (Sundaram Tagore Gallery), Jeremy Sharma (Michael Janssen Singapore/Berlin), and Donna Ong and Robert Zhao Renhui (Primo Marella Gallery) from Singapore; Victor Balanon (Artinformal) and Maria Taniguchi (Silverlens) from the Philippines; and Manit Kantasak (Whitespace Gallery Bangkok) from Thailand and Anida Yoeu Ali (JavaArts) from Cambodia.

Other Platforms present works by both emerging and established artists such as Sam Jinks (Sullivan+Strumpf), and Jasper Knight and Isabelle Toland (Chalk Horse) at the Australia Platform; Askhat Akhmediyarov and Saodat Ismailova at the Central Asia Platform; Chen Wei (Ben Brown Fine Arts) and Yuan Yuan (Edouard Malingue Gallery) at the China Platform; Sakshi Gupta (Galerie Krinzinger) and Jitish Kallat (ARNDT) at the India Platform; Satoshi Hirose (Tomio Koyama Gallery) and Tatsuo Miyajima (Lisson Gallery) at the Japan Platform; Seung-Woo Back (Gana Art) and Han Myung-Ok (Wooson Gallery) at the Korea Platform; and Tu Wei-Cheng (Tina Keng Gallery) and Wu Tien-Chang (Tina Keng Gallery) at the Taiwan Platform.

Art Stage Singapore will also showcase feature installations at various locations on the fairground, presenting large-scale works by artists such as The Continuous Gate by Joko Dwi Avianto, The Raining Bed by FX Harsono and Crush Me #2 by Entang Wiharso from Indonesia, as well as Urban Street Night Club by Lim Sokchanlina (SA SA BASSAC) from Cambodia. Exhibitor Highlights

The fair also presents more than 158 galleries of which 75% are Asia Pacific-based. This underscores Art Stage Singapore’s core Asian identity going beyond its role as a market platform to become the rendezvous point for discourse and exchange of ideas on the ever-evolving Asian art scene.

The exhibitor’s list for Art Stage Singapore 2014 includes a high percentage of returning galleries from the Asian-Pacific region and all around the globe. With more international galleries convening in Singapore for the fair, it is evident that the art market in Singapore continues to grow at a healthy and positive pace, highlighting Singapore’s rising position as the international art hub for the regional art scene. Among the gallery highlights are – Arario Gallery (Seoul, Beijing, Cheonan), ARNDT (Singapore, Berlin), Beijing Commune (Beijing), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London, Hong Kong), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Le Moulin), De Sarthe Gallery (Hong Kong), Edouard Malingue Gallery (Hong Kong), Gallery Guy Pieters (Knokke, St Paul de Venice), Gallery Hyundai (Seoul), Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna), Kukje Gallery (Seoul), Lin & Lin Gallery (Taipei, Beijing), Michael Janssen Singapore / Berlin, Mizuma Gallery (Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing), Ota Fine Arts (Singapore, Tokyo), Pearl Lam Galleries (Shanghai, Hong Kong), Galerie Perrotin (Hong Kong, Paris, New York), Rossi & Rossi (London, Hong Kong), ShanghART Gallery (Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing), Singapore Tyler Print Institute – STPI (Singapore), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Singapore, New York, Hong Kong), Tina Keng Gallery / TKG+ (Taipei, Beijing), Tomio Koyama Gallery (Singapore, Tokyo), White Cube (Hong Kong, London, São Paulo) and Yavuz Fine Art (Singapore).

“Since our inception in 2011, Art Stage Singapore has always endeavoured to bring the international art world to Singapore and worked, in partnership with local institutions, towards developing Singapore as a world-class, international art destination. Art Stage Singapore is now a major part of the global art calendar with many international galleries, collectors and art professionals making their way to Singapore in mid-January to view some of the best art from around the Asian region and the world,” says Mr Lorenzo Rudolf, Founder and Fair Director, Art Stage Singapore. “Today, it is to our great delight that Art Stage Singapore has since become a catalyst to the multitude of art events and activities happening in the same week, including the initiation of Singapore Art Week. It is definitely rewarding to see the local art scene benefiting from the many international visitors that we bring in,” Mr Rudolf adds.