I was truly in my happy place exploring the many galleries in the National Art Gallery.
This is truly an incredible building architecturally speaking and it houses an equally impressive modern visual art collection. The finest in South East Asia. There are other galleries here too devoted to the history of art in Singapore & the region, exploring the deep connections between the changes in Singapore and their impact on wider culture and the art scene. I learned so much this morning as this is only my second visit to Singapore and my first with my partner.
This is where today’s visit was so special. I love art and have done so for many decades, simply put, my partner is not as interested in it as I am. Yet this visit triggered something. What I thought would only be a 1-2 hours at most visit before my partner became restless turned into a half day visit where quite often we wondered off in different directions exploring on our own only for me to discover my partner intently viewing modern works & sculptures and taking lots and lots of photos of the architecture of the amazing building too.
When I asked what was different, the response was simply it did not feel like a normal art gallery and the layout and architecture all combined to create an inviting space for exploration & discovery. I hope this is the start of something new for us. Thank you National Gallery Singapore!