The Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize takes a snapshot of contemporary art works in the Asia Pacific region every 3 years. It is organised by the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) with presenting sponsor APB Foundation (yes, related to Tiger Beer!). Being held only for the second time this year, there were already 130 works from 24 countries vying for the Grand Prize of SGD 45,000. Will a Singapore art work win it again? You too get to vote for the winner of the People’s Choice Award worth SGD 10,000.
This year’s nominated artworks, cover a wide range of media, including video art, photography and prints and performance art created between 2008 and 2010. The independent art professionals and curators who selected them had to justify in writing why they considered the works ground-breaking or note-worthy.
The nominators invited by SAM for Singapore were Ms Joanna Lee, art consultant and independent curator, and Ms Audrey Wong, Programme Leader of the MA Arts and Cultural Programme at LASALLE College of the Arts. Art works by 7 Singapore artists, Mr Heman Chong, Ms Lucy Davis, Mr Khairuddin Hori, Ms Jane Lee, Mr Michael Lee, Mr Sherman Ong and Vertical Submarine, are now being judged by the international panel of jurors.
A Short Story About Geometry, performance art work, by Mr Heman Chong
Together Again (Wood: Cut) Part I NATURAL HISTORY and Together Again (Wood: Cut) Part II MAGIC, by Ms Lucy Davis
Reconstructing Sentol, by Mr Khairuddin Hori
Status, by Ms Jane Lee
Second-Hand City, by Mr Michael Lee
Banjir Kemarau (Flooding in the Time of Drought), video projection, by Mr Sherman Ong
The Garden of Forking Paths, by Vertical Submarine
When the 15 finalist art works are announced on 1 October 2011, you can start voting online for the winner of the People’s Choice Award. We highly recommend that you experience the actual art works first at the exhibition which will open at SAM on Friday 11 November 2011. You can also vote there.
The Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize 2008 Grand Prize winner was A Day Without a Tree, by Mr Yeo Chee Kiong.
