Gilman Barracks (Singapore)

A Singapore attempt to make a '786 Art District' out of its 'vacant space'

I paid a visit to Gillman Barracks this week..

HISTORY
Basically a former military camp left by the British, taken over by the Singapore Armed forces and then left vacant. The Singapore Government, National Arts Council & Economic Development Board decided to do something with this space. Here's what they have done.

Pragmatic Solutions from my personal observations:

• Most economic and efficient way to re-purpose the old barrack spaces
• Turn the entire place into an Art district (reference 786 Art District of Beijing & SOHO NYC)
• Proximate the space to some of the wealthiest expats in Singapore. (Singapore rank top in the world)
• Attract (with possibly cheap rent) and congregate the space with top international Art galleries.
• Seed in Singapore based Galleries when there's a crowd of international galleries and patrons. 
• Fuse Singapore Artists into the scene, to generate visibility and demand among the international players/patrons.

Beautiful colonial buildings turned into gallery

 1) Proximity to the richest and "most probable" patrons

They were wise to locate this space because it is closest to the residency of some of Singapore's Wealthiest Expat

Knowing that Singaporean aren't patrons to the Arts. They were wise to proxmiate the location to some of the wealthiest in Singapore. Sentosa Cove happens to be the only plot of Singapore land that foreigners can invest in (landed property). Some of the wealthiest in the world have property here. With disposable income, these are most likely the clientele to high valued Art. Great location, for sure.

2) Attract the finest galleries here

Some really high end galleries reside at Gillman Barracks

I am not sure how much incentives the authority threw in. Maybe free or highly subsidized rent ? None the less, they managed to attract some mega galleries into town. Partners and Mucciacia, for instance has been representing Picasso and many heavy-weight Artist. Why do this ? This is a simple strategy commonly used in retail. e.g Some pay to place their products beside higher-end products to be 'perceived' as being the same caliber. In the case of this, placing 10 top galleries with 1 Singapore gallery, automatically provides leverage to a Singapore gallery. This has been a proven strategy in retail and sales. The same strategy is deployed here and very much needed by Singapore Art.

With some of the richest expatriates in Singapore, it made sense to bring 'their' shops closer to them.

3) Artificial Art District 

Gillman Barracks, Beautiful space with barely any visitors on the weekdays.

768 Art District of Beijing ( China)

Unlike the 768 Art District of Beijing, China or SOHO of New York City. Gillman Barrack is a little contrived.  768, for instance was a natural progression from a group of Artists who founded studio space in abandoned factory space.. its growth and formation was organic, spontaneous and almost accidental. Gillman Barrack lacked that bit of charm. Honestly, what is an Art District without the soul of Art ?

Gillman Barracks

Some Artwork in Gillman's Gallery

Beautiful district with independent gallery.

 

Street Art at Gillman Barracks

International Artists Sponsored by Singapore Tourism Board to be here :)

What do I think ?
I think its great initiative for the Singapore Government to actually pay attention to the Arts. Gillman Barrack is a playground for the world of Contemporary Arts. .
Though I am not sure if the strategy will work, its defiantly good effort and there were some serious business brains behind this. I poked around and was just curious to find out who patron these galleries. Looked through the contact list and business cards that were dropped into their bowls here. As expected. Lawyers and bankers were the usual suspects :)