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Private Wealth, Public Good: A Conversation on Collectors, Art and Community Saturday, 28 April 2007 Free Admission Art collecting on the part of individuals is often perceived as an intimately private undertaking. In fact, private art collections find their way into public domains through a variety of means ranging from loans and donations to museum and exhibitions and the establishment of private museums and publications. In particular instances, such collections contribute to public understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts. How may the seemingly divergent interests of the 'private' and the 'public' complement one another? What are the mutual benefits that may arise out of their engagement? Can private collections be more than an indicator of connoisseurship and contribute to cultural discussion of communal and national significance? The discussion will bring together several noted private collectors of Southeast Asian art whose collections are publicly accessible to share their perspectives on collecting and discuss some of the intricacies, considerations and effects of private art collections in public domains. It will be conducted on an informal way, through a series of conversational questions and answers moderated by a chair. Panelists: Moderator: About the Panelists: Dr. Oei Hong Djien is a retired physician and entrepreneur who owns one of the most important Indonesian art collections in the world belonging to either a private collector or institution. His private museum in Magelang, Indonesia numbers over 1,000 artworks and is an important reference for the study and collecting of Indonesian art. Selected works from his collection have been compiled into a publication, Exploring Modern Indonesian Art – The Collection of Dr. Oei Hong Djien by Dutch art historian Helena Spanjaard. Mr Koh Seow Chuan, founder, DP Architects, helped to put Singapore on the philatelic map of the world. He brought prestigious exhibitions and competitions to Singapore and mounted important exhibitions. These included the late President Ong Teng Cheong’s letters, as well as the 117th IOC Stamp Exhibition. He is the Chairman of the Singapore Art Museum as well as Deputy Chairman of the National Art Gallery Steering Committee. He had recently donated a group of art works by Wong Keen to the Singapore Art Museum. Mr Teo Han Wue graduated with a Masters' degree in Chinese Studies from University of Malaya in 1971. He was an art critic and editor of the Bilingual Section, and head of the translation section of The Straits Times in the 1980s. He was a director with the National Arts Council taking charge of a wide range of responsibilities including arts development, coummunity outreach, research and publication. In 2004 he joined Art Retreat as its Executive Director. Apart from organising exhibitions at the private art museum, he has been active working an editor/translator for a number of publications such as Legends: Soo Bin's Portraits of Chinese Ink Masters and Guardian of the South Seas: From Thian Hock Keng to Hokkien Huay Kuan. Art Retreat Museum, Singapore’s first private museum of modern Asian and European art. It was established in 2003 by Mr Kwee Swie Teng, an Indonesian born businessman. A non-profit organization established to encourage the public display of private collections, Art Retreat has the support of the National Heritage Board, National Arts Council and Singapore Tourism Board.
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