Mr Lawrence Wong
黄循财先生
Minister for Culture,
Community and Youth
and Second Minister for
Communications and Information
[su_quote]Congratulations to the Singapore Art Society on its 65th anniversary! It is a momentous occasion for the Society, which has made invaluable contributions to Singapore’s art scene over the years.
Since its beginning in 1949, the Singapore Art Society has embraced art practices in both traditional Chinese and Western media, including Calligraphy, Chinese ink, Oil and Watercolour. Today, the Society continues to organise a range of activities for its members, including exhibitions, talks, art classes and panel discussions. These events provide opportunities for the artists and art enthusiasts to interact, widen their networks and gain exposure. Through such efforts, the Society and its established members such as Cultural Medallion recipients Lim Tze Peng and Tan Kian Por have helped to nurture future generations of artistic talents. I would like to commend the Society for its unwavering commitment towards the growth of Singapore’s artists, and its focus on building a strong foundation of traditional disciplines and techniques.
It is therefore very timely that the Society takes stock of its progress to date through the publication of the Singapore Artists Directory. This book, supported by the National Arts Council, documents the artists in the Society, their creations and how they have left their mark in our arts community. I am happy that there is also going to be an exhibition that will be held in conjunction with this book, to showcase the works of these featured artists. It will take place during Art Week 2015 and will be a good opportunity for our Singaporean artists’ works to be shown with a global audience and market. The book and accompanying exhibition are also meaningful ways for the Society to join in the celebration of our nation’s
50th year of independence.[/su_quote]
Dr Ho Kah Leong
何家良博士
President
Singapore Arts Federation
[su_quote]新加坡艺术协会循例每五年出版一本《画家名鉴》。这 是很有意义的举措。因为这本册子不但更新本地画家的 名单，也间接记录了本地五年来的艺术活动。这本册子 的出版也因适逢新加坡艺术协会在推动艺术发展方面， 耕耘了六十五年而显得更加珍贵。
无庸否认，新加坡的艺坛随者岁月的增长而越来越活跃 和多姿多彩。三所艺术院校即南洋艺术学院、拉萨尔艺 术学院和新加坡艺术学校每年培养出来的画家，加上留 学回来的画家大大地增强本地原有画家的阵容。画家人 数增加是一回事，另一引人关注的是画廊的数目近年来 也如雨后春荀般冒起。艺术品拍卖会也呈兴旺相，整体 艺术市场活跃，这都拜越来越多来自海内外的收藏家所 至。
在这互联网时代，世界各地画家的互动显得更加容易。 在过去和现在，因新加坡地处东西方交通要冲的优越位 置，来自世界各地的画家频繁到访是免不了的。有了互 联网，技术的交换与物品的递送可瞬间完成。然而，互 联网也带来了一些问题。例如隐私权的保护、真迹的鉴 定、防伪和防知识产权侵犯等都有待解决。不可否认， 目前在本地通过电商来买卖艺术品还有一定的局限，一 些技术问题诸如物流、认证等都要事先解决。可是话得 说回来，有了互联网，与艺术爱好者、收藏家、同道们 甚至世界各地友好分享您的新创作是件容易不过的事。
职 是之 故， 新 加坡 艺术 协会 可利 用 这次 出版 《 画家 名 鉴》所收集到的资料，获得当事人同意后，构建一个网 络平台。这是一项很有意义的工程，可让我国的画家在 权威和代表性的画会推荐下走向全世界，也让小红点的 新加坡在世界艺术版图上占据一个位置。[/su_quote]
[su_quote]It has been a customary practice for the Singapore Art Society to publish a ‘Directory of Singapore Artists’ once every five years. The significance of this publication is not just to update the list of artists in Singapore, but also it is an indirect way to document local artistic activities in the past five years. Moreover, it is also auspicious as Singapore Art Society marks 65 years of traverse in promoting art in Singapore this year.
It is an undeniable fact that the art scene in Singapore is more and more vibrant and diversified as time goes by. The artists churned out by the three art schools viz. NAFA, LaSalle and SOTA plus those overseas gradustes in art add to the pool of incumbent artists. Apart from the sheer number of artists,it is noticed in recent year the number of art galleries has been growing rapidly. Art auctions as well as the art market are brisk as more and more art colletors emerge at home and from abroad.
In the Internet Age of today, the interaction of artists over the world is made much easy. In the past and even now, since Singapore enjoys the benefit of being geographically situated in the middle of the East and the West, physical contact of artists from different countries or places is frequent and inevitable. With the Internet, the transfer of technical knowhow and delivery of goods is almost immediate.However, Internet also brought about many problems too. The protection of privacy, the verification of authentity, prevention against fraud and intellectual properties etc are some of them. Admitably, sale of artworks through internet still has its limitation and many technical problems such as logistics, accreditation have yet to be solved. Nonetheless,using Internet to share the images of your new creation with art lovers, collecters, fellow artists or even overseas artists is an easy way for your works to be known to the world.[/su_quote]
Terence Teo Chin Keong
赵振强先生
President
Singapore Art Society
[su_quote]Advancing with Time – Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Singapore Art Society
Entering its 65th year, Singapore Art Society has not forgotten its roots. Since its inception in 1949, the SAS’s goal has been to popularise and develop various visual art mediums in Singapore. Over the years, it has organised numerous art events that has become reputable in the local art scene. These include SAS members’ Annual Art Exhibition, Cultural Art Exchange and the Dr. Tan Tsze Chor Art Award. Whilst all these events provides a platform for members to showcase their talents and reach out to their audience, the Dr. Tan Tsze Chor Art Award offers the opportunity for non-members to participate. Launched in 1977, the Award has enabled many artists to establish themselves within the Singapore art scene.
This year’s SAS Artist Directory, published every half a decade, assimilates around 150 prominent artists in Singapore. All are bonded by their shared traditional creative spirit that still strives to develop innovative and inspirational creations in various mediums.
The represented mediums this year are Calligraphy, Chinese Ink, Oil, Watercolour, Acrylic and Mixed-media. While each category are strongly represented with excellent works, it is encouraging to see contemporary reinterpretations by various artists, such as reinvented calligraphy, modern Chinese Ink and increasing Mixed-Medium works. This is an encouraging sign for the future growth of Singapore art.
This year, a number of Cultural Medallion recipients and prominent senior artists are included in the SAS Artist Directory and are deserving of a special mention. These artists create artworks that showcase their distinctive style. Their artworks have come to be recognisable and seen as representative works of the South-East Asia region.[/su_quote]
