In the spirit of reinforcing bilateral relations between Taiwan and Singapore through cultural exchange, the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore opened an art exhibition entitled “Future Allegories: An Exhibition of Taiwanese Contemporary Arts” on 26 October 2017, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.
At the opening reception, Representative Francis Kuo-Hsin Liang welcomed distinguished guests and friends from Singapore’s arts, culture, academia, and media. He also applauded the Ministry of Culture’s Art Bank program, an initiative aimed at promoting artistic creation as well as the art market and artists in Taiwan.
In his address, Representative Francis Liang highlighted the close relationship between Taiwan and Singapore. Singapore is Taiwan’s sixth largest trade partner and fifth largest export market. In 2016, the number of visitors between the two countries exceeded 720,000. Cultural exchange is also growing with the holding of five joint exhibitions this year by both Taiwanese and Singaporean artists in Taiwan and Singapore. To date, close to 100 artists have called on Representative Francis Liang at the Representative Office to discuss and exchange views on cultural networking and collaboration. The “Future Allegories” art exhibition is, therefore, a vivid testimony to the deep friendship and cooperation between Taiwanese and Singaporean artists and marks an important milestone in bilateral cultural exchange between the two countries.
The “Future Allegories” art exhibition, on display through 26 October 2017 to 27 October 2018 at the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore, features 37 art pieces by 29 Taiwanese artists. Under the Art Bank program, artworks are purchased from Taiwanese artists and leased to government agencies and private organizations for display in public areas. Aside from beautifying the spaces and stimulating people’s appetite for art, the Art Bank program provides a platform for cultural exchange and for Taiwanese artists to develop and display their creativity. As an important New Southbound Policy partner country, a key gateway to Southeast Asia and home to a flourishing Nanyang Arts movement, Singapore is an ideal base to successfully launch the art exhibition.
