NATIONAL GALLERY, Introduction

Hi, my name’s Rick, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Singapore National Gallery.

The Singapore National Gallery has the largest collection in the world of art from Singapore and Southeast Asia, made up of over 8,000 works.

Over the last two decades, Singapore has cultivated its artistic and cultural scene with great care, with growing interest in festivals such as the Singapore Biennale, the Singapore Arts Festival and the Singapore Art Show. These events helped prompt the government to convert two historical buildings into a new national gallery giving the city a leading role in the Southeast Asia art scene.

The National Gallery is located in the former Supreme Court and the City Hall buildings, both national monuments.

The former Supreme Court building was constructed in 1939 on the site of what was once the Grand Hotel de l'Europe, one of the most luxurious hotels in Southeast Asia, demolished in 1936. Designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, it is a marvelous example of British colonial architecture, composed of four blocks of offices and rooms arranged around a rotunda in the center with a dome that was originally used as a law library....