Prof Tommy Koh, Chairman of National Heritage Board,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased to be here this morning to receive on behalf of the Singapore Art Museum, the great artist Mr Liu Kang's artworks donated by his family and the naming of a gallery dedicated to him.

The history of art in Singapore is relatively short. The genesis of Singapore art can be traced back to the late 1920s and 1930s. That period saw a number of artists, sculptors, poets, writers, dancers and musicians settling in Singapore. They were among the first foreign talents who came to boost the creative arts in what was then just a bustling entrepot. Mr Liu Kang came to Singapore during that era. Other artists of that generation who had also made a mark on the Singapore visual art scene included Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee, Cheong Soo Pieng, and Georgette Chen. Mr Liu Kang and his contemporaries gave Singapore an identity in the art world with their interpretations and renditions of life and their social environment as seen through their eyes.

But, more importantly, they laid the foundations for the development of the arts in Singapore. Mr Liu Kang was well known for adopting techniques from both the East and the West and creatively forging them into a Southeast Asian or Nanyang style. Even in those difficult early days, he took pains to travel widely to Europe, Bali, India and back to China. He sought inspiration and exposure to the various art trends and experimented to evolve his own unique style and new interpretations of Nanyang scenes. Mr Liu Kang was not satisfied with just refining his own technique. He sought to share his experience with new generations of young Singaporean artists. As a teacher and founding member of the Singapore Art Society, Mr Liu Kang became a leading light in the visual arts from the 1940s. He played a key role in shaping and encouraging many artistic talents 60 years ago.

We are indeed fortunate to have Mr Liu Kang and his contemporaries who were dedicated to promoting the arts. They helped to create a tradition of artistic depth and excellence, which laid the foundation for a vibrant arts scene today. Mr Masuri Salikun, the late Pan Shou and the late Brother Joseph McNally also come to our minds. The late Brother Joseph McNally was responsible for setting up LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, to nurture talented young artists and arts professionals. From a humble beginning as a small Arts Centre at St Patrick’s School in 1984, the College relocated to Mountbatten and will eventually move to a brand new campus at Rochor from which it will be able to offer an even more comprehensive art education. Another luminary is the late Mr Kuo Pao Kun who made many important contributions to the development of Singapore's theatre scene through his founding of the Theatre Practice, Practice Performing Arts School and the Substation. Many others have also made their mark. I am reminded of master potter Iskandar Jalil who has been serving tirelessly as practitioner, teacher and advisor in the arts community, and Mr K P Bhaskar who contributed significantly in the field of Indian dance practice and education throughout his life-long career which continues to this day.

I am glad that our investment has yielded dividends. I will not have time to recount all we have done. But, one indication is that the number of visual arts exhibitions has increased from 150 to 550 in the last decade.

Singapore artists have received greater international recognition. A growing number of Singapore artists and arts groups have participated in international performing and visual arts events such as the Copenhagen International Festival, Documenta, Melbourne Festival, and the Shanghai International Festival of Arts. Next month, three artists, Tan Swie Hian, Francis Ng and Heman Chong will participate at the 50^th Venice Biennale, the most important visual arts event in the world.

In the performing arts, last year, the number of ticketed attendance for performing arts events exceeded 1 million, for the first time ever, in spite of the gloomy economic climate. Our arts companies are more established and are making a name for themselves globally. Last year, the Singapore Dance Theatre and Huqin Quartet, were invited to perform at the Cervantino Festival in Mexico. Ong Keng Sen, the artistic director of Theatreworks, was appointed to curate In Transit, an intercultural arts festival in Berlin.

Today the performing arts is better presented and has a higher profile than the visual arts. This is a situation that should stimulate us to make a greater effort for the visual arts. Promoting the visual arts will have far reaching benefits, both to the arts in general and to the economy. A visual arts base is important if we want to further develop and promote the design industry in Singapore. Many branches in the creative cluster such as advertising, interior design, architecture and fashion design require basic visual arts creativity. Developing the visual arts is, hence, an integral part of MITA’s strategy to develop the creative industries.

This will require much effort. MITA and its agencies are exploring several ideas for implementation over the medium to long term. On the drawing board are plans to have a major international visual arts event and in the longer term, a major visual arts facility. These are just ideas at this stage and much work has to be done to flesh out the concepts. We must also bear in mind that investment in the arts infrastructure will be closely related to the performance of the economy.

For the present, MITA wants to increase visual arts awareness with more arts education and outreach programmes. MITA will work with URA, NAC and NHB, and various stakeholders to display art at public spaces, and to strongly encourage building owners to incorporate art in their developments. To be a Renaissance City, Singapore should become a city where art is seen all around us, not just in galleries and museums but where we work, in our MRT stations and educational institutions, shopping malls and of course in our homes. MITA also wants to groom young and future talents. MITA is looking into developing a framework for specialised arts education. In addition, MITA is exploring how we can establish world-class university programmes and a scholarship scheme for arts and design, in collaboration with our tertiary institutions. Our young talents who benefit from these programmes will significantly enrich Singapore’s cultural capital and help us to achieve our vision of a gracious and cultivated society.

I would like to emphasise that MITA’s interest in promoting the visual arts is part of our overall aim to develop our cultural capital, which covers performing, visual and literary arts, our rich heritage and other aspects of arts and culture. This will be the next phase in our nation building efforts, that is to evolve Singapore into a Renaissance City with a vibrant creative economy.

Today, it is our great fortune that Mr Liu Kang and his family have decided that his life-long works should now go into the collection of Singapore Art Museum. This priceless collection is the single largest donation of Singapore art. It is a collection with major historical significance. His works, spanning some seven decades from 1935 to the present, are a testament to his enduring legacy as an artist and teacher who has contributed greatly to Singapore art. In fact, Mr Liu Kang has written as early as 1948 that he wished a national art museum could be established and that its collection could facilitate research and promotion of the nation's artistic output. Mr Liu Kang will be happy to note that our art museum will be doing that and more, especially with his family’s donation of this priceless collection.

I hope that younger generations of artists will draw inspiration from Mr Liu Kang’s life and works.

On behalf of the Museum, I thank Mr Liu Kang and his family for this generous donation.

Finally, I congratulate both Mr Liu Kang and the Museum on the official opening of the Liu Kang Gallery.

Thank you.