Magnus Renfrew On How ART SG Is Helping Transform Singapore’s Cultural Ecosystem
Kicking off the 2025 art fair calendar, ART SG will return to the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore for its third edition on January 17, with a VIP preview on January 16. This year, the fair brings together 106 exhibitors from 30 countries and territories, including mega-galleries like Gagosian, White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac. Other international players strengthening their Asian presence—Lehmann Maupin, Neugerriemschneider, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Annely Juda Fine Art, Goodman Gallery and P.P.O.W.—will also make appearances.
Singapore has seen incredible growth over the past decade with an impressive concentration of wealth. Strategically located in the region—and maintaining a diplomatically neutral stance between China and the U.S.—it is arguably Asia’s most stable financial hub. Numbers don’t lie: the country’s family offices grew exponentially from 400 in 2020 to 1,650 in 2024, drawn in by favorable tax policies and a business-friendly environment. Add in Singapore’s rise as a hyper-dynamic tech hub—the government-backed ecosystem has global entrepreneurs and investors flocking to capitalize on crypto and alternative markets—and it’s clear why the city-state is having a moment.
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The art scene, on the other hand, remains comparatively modest. While Singapore’s gallery and artist ecosystem hasn’t quite hit the levels of Asian powerhouses like Hong Kong or Seoul, it’s been gaining ground with strategic investments. Chief among these was the opening of the National Gallery of Singapore in 2015, now known for its dynamic programming. Longtime local players like STPI Creative Workshop & Gallery, active for over two decades, have been joined by a new wave of emerging galleries and familiar names expanding into the city, such as Woaw Gallery (with roots in Hong Kong and Beijing).
With the fair fast approaching, Observer spoke with Magnus Renfrew, co-founder of ART SG and founder of The Art Assembly, the organization behind ART SG and a broader portfolio of fairs in the region that includes Taipei Dangdai, India Art Fair, Sydney Contemporary, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai and Tokyo Gendai.
When we speak with Renfrew, it’s clear that ART SG’s ambition is to stake its claim as the premier fair for Singapore—and a benchmark for the entire region. “Singapore is the host city, but we have a powerful representation of galleries across Southeast Asia,” Renfrew says. He’s quick to remind us of a fact people tend to gloss over: Southeast Asia’s scale. “Southeast Asia has a population of 650 million people. It’s about the same size as Europe,” he tells Observer. “For us, logic dictates that an area of that scale deserves one major international art fair, especially once we consider that it’s today home to many of the fastest growing economies in the world. I think that the rise of the fair will be part of a broader Southeast Asia and Singapore rising story.”
This year, Art SG has taken steps to strengthen its cultural partnerships, teaming up with four landmark institutions spanning Singapore and the broader Southeast Asian region: Bangkok Kunsthalle, Delfina Foundation (London), M Art Foundation (Hong Kong, Singapore) and Art Outreach (Singapore). The result is a dynamic program that stretches far beyond the fair’s walls, spilling into the city and embracing the region at large. The aim? To expand the fair into an indispensable regional platform for exchange, education and promotion of a South Asian art scene that’s not just vibrant but increasingly vital—and to connect with the growing wave of local art collectors.
The film section, ART SG FILM, will be curated by Stefano Rabolli Pansera, director of Bangkok Kunsthalle, with the theme “By Artists, On Artists.” The program presents films and video works made by artists alongside films exploring artists’ lives—a mix designed to entertain and educate. Film programs, Renfrew explains, are strategic tools for engaging the younger generation, making contemporary art less intimidating and far more accessible. It’s a notion echoed by Angelle Siyang-Le when discussing Art Basel Hong Kong’s film programming. “We want to be an inclusive fair and to encourage the younger generations to participate, but also, for everybody, to see different art forms and have the opportunity to learn more about some of the artists through the documentaries,” Renfrew says.
Concurrently, ART SG is fostering the next generation of art professionals. Its partnership with Art Outreach (Singapore) has been a linchpin in training young talent, offering hands-on opportunities to those eager to gain experience in the international art world. “We give them an opportunity to experience what it’s like to work at an international art fair and to work with international galleries,” Renfrew explains. “It’s an ongoing process; we’ve been doing that since last year, and we found that some galleries have maintained those contacts and will collaborate with the same people for this edition. It’s a great way of connecting people.”
Additionally, ART SG will team up this year with London’s Delfina Foundation for a series of talks aimed at fostering effective collecting and philanthropic practices in Singapore—a hub with significant untapped potential for cultivating a deeper collector base among high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). The catch? Many require mentorship and education to navigate the art industry with confidence. “In a context where we’re looking to expand the audience, it is important to offer those opportunities. Those talks will allow us to share considerable experiences about best practices among collectors and to look at different modes of collecting,” explains Renfrew.
In other words, Singapore may have an impressive concentration of HNWIs, but getting them to open their wallets for art is the real challenge. Renfrew, however, is equal parts pragmatic and optimistic: “You’re quite right that money does not necessarily mean market, but it’s also true that no market means no market… I’ve been seeing an increase in collecting in Singapore itself, partially stimulated by new arrivals who had also previously been collecting, and I think that’s adding very much to the discourse and the dynamism.”
While growing and educating the local collector base is a clear priority, Renfrew circles back to the broader ambition of establishing ART SG as a platform for promoting art across the entire region. “I think education is incredibly important in both directions,” he clarifies. “We also want to provide visitors from outside Southeast Asia the opportunity to learn about the different cultural scenes of Southeast Asia.”
When asked about ART SG’s strategic positioning within Art Assembly’s portfolio of regional fairs, Renfrew is quick to underscore Singapore’s role as a key hub: “All of our different fairs really play to the strengths of the particular locations in which they take place. We launched ART SG to serve a different audience, to a degree that’s really to help to broaden the audience, mainly in Southeast Asia, but also to allow people to rediscover some of the great things happening in Southeast Asia.”
Renfrew’s conviction about Singapore’s potential is unwavering, especially as the focus has shifted from Asia Pacific to Indo-Pacific. “If it couldn’t really claim to be the capital of the Asia Pacific, it’s the absolute de facto hub for the Indo-Pacific,” he says. “Historically, it’s always been the stop-off on the Maritime Silk Route between India and China.” It’s Singapore’s unique history, layered with centuries of cultural and economic exchange, that positions it as a cosmopolitan linchpin. “I think that Singapore is on a very positive trajectory in general. And I think that the art markets within Singapore will benefit from that broader Singapore rising story, which I’m sure will continue over the next five or 10 years.” He points to Singapore’s neutrality as a particularly strategic advantage amid rising U.S.-China tensions.
Of course, no art hub thrives on optimism alone. South Korea offers a clear lesson: a successful transformation requires strong cultural policies and robust public support. In this respect, ART SG has spent the past three years cementing relationships with key government agencies that share its vision for growing Singapore’s cultural scene. “We are very grateful for the warm welcome we’ve been extended and for the spirit of collaboration that all government agencies, the Tourism Board, the National Arts Council—also, all institutions who have been very welcoming to our visitors,” Renfrew added. “I think that there’s a real sense that we’re all pulling in the same direction for a common purpose, to raise the profile of Singapore and Southeast Asia.”