Singapore Art Museum (SAM)

Opened in January 1996, the mission of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is to preserve and present the art histories and contemporary art practices of Singapore and the Southeast Asian region.

To date, SAM has amassed the world’s largest public collection of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian artworks with a growing component in international contemporary art. The Museum’s collection comprise over 7,000 Singapore and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary artworks and over 1000 works from its Tyler Print Collection, that include some of the most prominent names in the 20th century international art scene such as Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, multimedia installations, drawings, prints, and photographs, among others.

Housed in a restored 19th century mission school, its permanent collection is displayed on a rotational basis. Along with Imaging Selves, Landscape In Southeast Asian Art, and Art of Our Time, all three exhibitions featuring its permanent collection, the Museum also curated country focus exhibitions, From There to Now, Soul Ties: The Land & Her People, Crossings, and Faith and Being, on Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand respectively. The art of the region is given international exposure through the Museum’s travelling exhibition programme. SAM also loaned its collection and co-curated shows with regional museums including National Art Museum of China (Encounters Exhibition) and Ayala Museum in The Philippines (SAM’s Philippines Collection), National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Cubism in Asia Exhibition) and National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (Cubism in Asia Exhibition), and The Japan Foundation, Paris (Cubism in Asia Exhibition).