Showcase
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
The Monocle Singapore Survey conducted by London-based business magazine, Monocle, has ranked LASALLE’s Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Mr Milenko Prvacki, and Dr Ian Woo, Programme Leader for Post-graduate studies the first and second place respectively under the category of Top 5 Artists of the year. The nation-wide survey was commissioned by the Singapore Economic Development Board and published in the Monocle September issue.
Monocle is distributed 10 times a year over 50 countries, covering international affairs, business, culture and design, It is targeted at a cosmopolitan audience who wants access to information across a variety of sectors. As an editorial brand it also runs online editions. The Monocle Singapore Survey is the second country-wide survey they have issued, and in which they had full editorial control.
Mr Pvracki and Dr Woo have been practising art for 38 and 21 years respectively, and have witnessed the development and transformation of the arts landscape in Singapore.
Said Mr Pvracki, “The art scene in Singapore may not be as vibrant as compared to some other cities but we’ve got an amazing variety of visual languages and working methods here in Singapore. When I first started producing art in Singapore 18 years ago, Singapore was nothing but a “culture desert”. Right now, we’ve got a lot of galleries, museums; the number of artists has also increased with such fantastic speed”.
Dr Woo, a LASALLE lecturer of 12 years added that, “These days, information on art is also readily available especially with digital resources and the emergence of research institutions. But being a relatively young nation that is coming to terms with its relationship to art, I feel it’s still in its transition stage in terms of art appreciation. The love of art should not always come easy, it is complex and it needs total emersion and it needs to be worked at.”
Other notable awardees include curator and artist Heman Chong, video artist Ming Wong, the first Singaporean ever to win a Special Mention at the 2009 Venice Biennale, and Henri Chen KeZhan, who uses traditional Chinese brush painting for his abstract ink and wash works.
With the aim of unveiling the distinctive and unique sides of Singapore, Monocle’s national survey highlights the forces shaping the country, such as governance, finance, logistics, the media, retail/fashion, architecture, urbanism and tourism.
