Singapore Is No Longer Waiting for Hong Kong's Permission
In 2024, Singapore became the fifth-largest global art importer, with a 74% surge in import values to nearly USD 1.7 billion. A year earlier that number would have been a footnote. Now it is the headline.
In 2024, Singapore became the fifth-largest global art importer, with a 74% surge in import values to nearly USD 1.7 billion. A year earlier that number would have been a footnote. Now it is the headline.
Hong Kong gallerist Catherine Kwai opened her first overseas outpost of Kwai Fung Hin in Singapore in January, citing the city’s potential. Kwai has noticed an influx of wealthy Indonesians, Vietnamese, mainland Chinese, and Taiwanese settling in Singapore over the past five years, many of whom have established family offices.
Her read on the market is sharp and slightly unflattering: Southeast Asian collectors “have the money but don’t have the confidence yet,” she says, noting they hesitate at works priced above USD 2 million. That confidence gap is the story. It is also the opportunity.
ART SG this year hosted S.E.A. Focus under its roof for the first time, with regional collectors flying in from Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, and Hong Kong. The geography of who is buying is shifting. The geography of who is being bought is shifting faster. The conversation is no longer about whether Singapore can be a serious art hub. It already is. The question is whether the collectors in it will start believing that at scale.