Singapore Art Museum

The Singapore Art Museum holds the national collection of Southeast Asian contemporary art, and since its original home in the old St Joseph's Institution building on Bras Basah closed for redevelopment it has operated from warehouse floors at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a working port logistics complex, where it has been announced the museum will stay. The raw industrial spaces suit the work better than the colonial building did, and the museum also commissions across other venues. The museum has held the national collection of Southeast Asian contemporary art since 1996 and its remit is regional rather than purely Singaporean, which distinguishes it from the National Gallery down the road.

History

The museum opened to the public on 20 October 1995 in the former St Joseph's Institution, restored for S$30 million, and was officially opened on 20 January 1996. It added a wing at 8 Queen Street in 2008, closed its two heritage buildings in 2017 and 2019, and opened at Tanjong Pagar Distripark in January 2022 (Wikipedia, Singapore Art Museum).

Highlights

• The Southeast Asian collection - contemporary work from across the region.
• The warehouse galleries - raw port logistics floors converted for exhibitions.
• The commissioned works - large installations made for the spaces.
• The Distripark setting - a museum inside a working port complex.

When to go

Year round; the museum closes on some weekdays and hours vary by exhibition. Checking what is on before travelling matters. Weekends are busier.

What to expect

The Bras Basah building has been closed for years, and it has been announced that the museum will not return to it. The Distripark location is awkward to reach and industrial. What is showing varies enormously.

Nearby

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is nearby, and Chinatown is northeast.

Key facts