FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 2016

QAGOMA AND SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM ANNOUNCE LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP

The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) today formalised a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

In Singapore to sign the wide-ranging agreement, QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM said the MOU will seal a five-year partnership between the two institutions from 2017 to 2021, with a possibility of a further extension.

‘QAGOMA is delighted to be partnering with the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore’s top contemporary art museum, with whom we share the vision of presenting the most thought-provoking contemporary art from our region,’ Mr Saines said.

‘With this partnership, we will be able to deepen our curatorial and research expertise by learning from each other.’

‘Forged on common interests to promote and advance the art of this region, this MOU between SAM and QAGOMA strengthens and deepens SAM's partnerships and collaborations with international like-minded art institutions. We look forward to our partnership and the friendship that we will be building upon over the next five years,’ said Ms Joyce Toh, Curatorial Co-Head, Singapore Art Museum.

The MOU marks SAM's most significant and long-term partnership with an art institution since its corporatisation in 2013, and QAGOMA’s first wide-ranging formal agreement with an institution in Asia. It will cover extensive cooperation between SAM and QAGOMA, including opportunities for staff exchange and training, collaborative programming and research, and a co-curated contemporary art exhibition to be held in both countries from 2019 onwards.

In June and September 2016, QAGOMA hosted two groups of staff members from the Singapore Art Museum to learn about QAGOMA’s collections and operations.


About the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) encompasses two adjacent river-side buildings in the Cultural Precinct at Brisbane's South Bank. The Gallery’s vision is to be the leading institution for the contemporary art of Australia, Asia and the Pacific.

QAGOMA holds a Collection of over 17 000 works of historical, modern and contemporary art, and stages a dynamic program of Australian and international exhibitions. QAGOMA is home to the Children's Art Centre which collaborates on interactive artworks with leading artists from around the world, and the Australian Cinémathèque, the only dedicated cinema facility in an Australian art museum.

About the Singapore Art Museum

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is a contemporary art museum which focuses on art-making and art-thinking in Singapore, Southeast Asia and Asia, encompassing a worldwide perspective on contemporary art practice. SAM advocates and makes accessible interdisciplinary contemporary art through research-led and evolving curatorial practice. Since it opened in January 1996, SAM has built up one of the most important collections of contemporary art from the region. It seeks to seed and nourish a stimulating and creative space in Singapore through exhibitions and public programmes, and to deepen every visitor’s experience. These include outreach and education, research and publications, as well as cross-disciplinary residencies and exchanges.

SAM occupies two buildings: the old St Joseph’s Institution on Bras Basah Road, built in 1855 and now a National Monument; and SAM at 8Q, a conservation building across the road on Queen Street that was the old Catholic High School.

In 2011, SAM was the venue organiser of the Singapore Biennale, becoming the main organiser of the 2013 and 2016 editions. SAM was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee on 13 November 2013, operating under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

For more information, please contact:

Amelia Gundelach
QAGOMA Media Manager
Phone: + 61 (0)7 3840 7162
Email: amelia.gundelach@qagoma.qld.gov.au