President Tony Tan takes in Singapore art at Palais de Tokyo

PARIS — Palais de Tokyo may be the largest contemporary arts centre in Europe, but equally impressive is what you see as soon as you enter the museum—a 20-metre-long street-art mural done by Singaporean Farizwan Fajari, who is also known as Speak Cryptic. It is one of many artworks showcased as part of the Secret Archipelago exhibition.

Palais de Tokyo was President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s first stop on his seven-day state visit to France. He and his wife, Mrs Mary Tan, and other Singaporean delegates were taken on a tour of the exhibition by its curator, Mr Khairuddin Hori. It features the works of more than 35 Southeast Asian artists, 14 of them Singaporeans.

The exhibition is part of a bigger, three-month-long Singapore Festival in France, which ends on Jun 30. The festival was organised by agencies from both countries to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic ties, as well as celebrate Singapore’s 50th year of independence.

Mr Khairuddin, who is also deputy director of the Palais de Tokyo, said the exhibition has opened doors for artists and changed the way Singapore’s contemporary art is viewed. He believes more international exposure for local artists will help the Singapore arts scene to thrive over the next 50 years.

“I recently came back from the Venice Biennale, and after being here for seven months, I have a new perspective on what we mean when we say ‘being international’ or ‘being presented on international platforms’,” said Mr Khairuddin. “And I think our artists need more of this—they need more exposure and opportunities to play at this level, to engage their peers, to engage curators and professionals. So I hope Singapore will provide more opportunities to our artists.”

Mr Khairuddin also revealed that Palais de Tokyo aims to do more projects in Singapore, and have more cultural exchanges using Singapore’s connectivity to the region. CHANNEL NEWSASIA