The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) has announced that Eugene Tan will take up the role of director from 1 April this year. He will continue his current position as the director of National Gallery Singapore, where he has in the past completed several exhibition partnerships with international museums including Tate, Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT). He most recently curated the shows Reframing Modernism: Painting from Southeast Asia, Europe and Beyond and Minimalism: Space. Light. Object. The Chair of the SAM Board, Edmund Cheng, has said in a statement, ‘We are delighted to have Eugene Tan come on board as the Director of SAM. We are at an important juncture for our museum’s development as we undergo a major revamp of our premises. We have great confidence in his ability to make a positive impact and advance SAM’s role as a leading museum of contemporary art through a shared vision and strong collaboration with our curators, programmers, and SAM team.’ Tan has said, ‘SAM has an important and distinct role to play as the beacon of creativity and inspiration for our publics in Singapore and Southeast Asia, by leveraging on the power of contemporary art and demonstrating the possibilities that art and creativity holds for our societies today. I look forward to contributing to this exciting future for SAM to become a globally leading contemporary art museum for the 21st Century, to play a role in defining global discourses on the nature of art and its role in our societies, and to using my roles as Director of SAM and National Gallery Singapore to engage our publics and the arts community in Singapore in a more holistic way.’
21 March 2019
