Situated at the birthplace of modern Singapore, in the heart of the Civic District, the Gallery is housed in two national monuments – City Hall and former Supreme Court – that have been beautifully restored and transformed into this exciting 64,000-square-metre venue.
The Gallery aims to be a progressive museum that creates dialogues between the art of Singapore, Southeast Asia and the world to foster and inspire a creative and inclusive society.
It oversees the world’s largest public collection of Singaporean and regional art of the Eastern world, specifically of Southeast Asia, with a collection of more than 9,000 items.
The Gallery’s Collection comprises part of Singapore’s National Collection, managed by the National Heritage Board. The beginnings of the Gallery’s Collection can be traced to the donation of over 110 artworks in 1960 by art philanthropist Dato Loke Wan Tho. Over the years of collection, the number of works in the collection has increased significantly to about 8,000 pieces by 2010.
The collection now spans from early-20th-century naturalistic paintings to contemporary video installations. The collection also holds pieces from Southeast Asian artists of international standing, such as Affandi (Indonesia), Latiff Mohidin (Malaysia), Le Pho (Vietnam), Montien Boonma (Thailand), Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (Philippines) and Raden Saleh (Indonesia).
In 2020, the Gallery was the only museum in Southeast Asia that received a ranking in The Art Newspaper’s annual global survey of attendance at art museums, taking 20th place. It was the first museum in Asia to receive the Children in Museums Award by the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums in 2018.
According to Wikipedia and nationalgallery.sg
