Turning arts cluster into dynamic marketplace

SINGAPORE - The exit of art superstar Takashi Murakami from Gillman Barracks has cast a pall over the visual arts cluster as it looks ahead to its one-year anniversary in September.

For a development that aspires to be an iconic international destination for contemporary art, the withdrawal of Mr Murakami's gallery Kaikai Kiki, touted earlier as a key attraction of the enclave, is hardly a positive endorsement.

The commercial arts cluster off Alexandra Road was developed by the Economic Development Board (EDB) in 2011, together with JTC Corporation and the National Arts Council. The aim was to set up an arts business hub that would further develop Singapore's visual arts scene and establish the state as Asia's art capital.

In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times, Mr Murakami said that although Gillman Barracks is a "conducive environment" for artists to grow and experiment, Kaikai Kiki "decided to re-strategise plans". But Mr Murakami also said he continued to regard Singapore as a potential location for the Kaikai Kiki gallery because of the country's growing importance as an Asian arts hub.

In his statement to The Straits Times, Mr Murakami asserted that the decision not to open Kaikai Kiki in Singapore was not a no-confidence vote on Gillman Barracks. But coming after complaints among some galleries in the cluster, Kaikai Kiki's unexpected departure does raise questions about the precinct's viability.

Some problems that galleries at Gillman Barracks have flagged since its opening last year persist. Food and beverage options remain limited and crowds are usually thin. Moving among the 14 galleries sprawled over the 6.4ha site can also be tricky in Singapore's unforgiving weather. There are no sheltered walkways, for example.

Such concerns are valid. The area is not meant to be a spartan art camp, but a high-end art enclave.

Built in 1936, the site used to house the British forces and, in the 1970s, units of the Singapore Armed Forces. Since the 1990s, the buildings have been used for commercial purposes. Prior to becoming an arts cluster, it was a sleepy outpost for a hodge-podge of businesses, including eateries, a furniture shop and a wellness centre.

Currently planned improvements to the infrastructure of the Gillman Barracks arts cluster and the addition of complementary offerings are expected to enhance the visitor experience and encourage return visits.

Dr Eugene Tan, programme director of EDB's lifestyle programme office, said JTC Corporation and the EDB are working closely to address feedback from tenants, as well as implement infrastructure enhancements.

He added that the EDB is also in discussions with its partners to hold more activities that will cater to different segments of the public. "Upcoming highlights include a month of celebrations and activities in Gillman Barracks throughout September to commemorate its one-year anniversary," he said.

The work, however, does not stop there.

A crucial piece of the puzzle that forms Gillman Barracks is the Centre for Contemporary Art. The non-profit art institute, to be driven by the Nanyang Technological University, is intended to be the focal point of the cluster. It will function as a research centre and offer artist residencies at its nine artist studios. There will also be art shows at its spacious exhibition gallery.

The centre's inclusion in the cluster is an acknowledgement that healthy consumption of art needs to be built upon knowledge, creation, discussion and sustained interest. The centre is intended to offer a stable, neutral space in the commercial cluster for such activities.

While the centre will open only at the year end, two exhibitions curated by Dr Tan on behalf of the centre last September and again in January succeeded in attracting crowds. This suggests that the centre could play a crucial role in supporting the cluster. Its launch, coming more than a year after the debut of galleries there last September, amounts to a missed opportunity at promoting the precinct from the very beginning.

For the arts cluster to ultimately take off though, the commercial success of the development is key. Most galleries interviewed were mum on exact sales figures and their replies were largely tepid.

If the cluster is to do well, it has to be more than just a case of "build it and they will come" - a flawed idea that appears to have underscored its formation.

The review report released early last year by a 19-member steering committee, headed by School of the Arts chairman Lee Tzu Yang, recommended developing Singapore into a dynamic marketplace for the arts. The proposal was in response to growing overseas interest in Asian arts and culture, as well as Singapore's flourishing visual arts scene.

Over the last 20 years, Singapore has witnessed strong growth in commercial art galleries and art fairs. It has also seen the development of world-class facilities like the $80 million Singapore Free- Port, and rising international recognition of home-grown artists.

The intention to start Gillman Barracks was spelled out in the recommendation for high-profile public and commercial platforms such as a physical cluster of industry players in the arts that will extend Singapore's access to domestic, regional and international content, talent and markets. The writers of the proposal also expressed confidence that drawing major players here would bring buzz, stoke demand and spur growth in Singapore's art market.

These are reasonable recommendations and expectations. But the art gallery business is more complex than the report assumes. Fuelled by strong auction and art fair sales, Asia's thriving art market is an unreliable barometer of demand for the brick-and-mortar mode of art buying that galleries represent. The sales and fairs are periodic, whereas galleries operate year-round businesses. It helps that Singapore has a high number of wealthy residents and foreign visitors that makes them potential buyers. But the galleries will need to suss out the collectors, and find out the extent to which they are interested in the galleries' offerings.

The developers - EDB, JTC Corporation and the National Arts Council - could give the galleries a leg-up in this area by doing more than drumming up mass publicity.

One way to proceed, which takes a leaf from Singapore's glitzy malls, is to unite the tenant galleries as a collective and take advantage of opportunities such as regional art biennales and fairs. These could lead to tie-ups that will channel art-buying traffic, if not interest, to Gillman Barracks.

The developers could also explore ways of working with other private and public agencies to increase the number of complementary events in the city's calendar that will draw buyers with deep pockets and a taste for fine art collecting. At the moment, the cupboard is almost bare, with just the Art Stage art fair, Singapore Biennale and Formula One Singapore Grand Prix.

People who have difficulty understanding how a typically organic formation such as an arts cluster can succeed if it is a product of government engineering forget that Singapore has done this before. The Esplanade is one example of government-engineered success. But it will take more than a carefully put together cluster for Gillman Barracks to make good.

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