Next year’s Singapore Art Week (SAW, 22 to 31 January 2026) is poised to look very different from its predecessors. The bijou fair S.E.A. Focus, which has run since 2019, will now be managed by the concurrent international fair Art SG, launched in 2023. S.E.A. will leave its venue at Tanjong Pagar Distripark and take place within the Marina Bay Sands complex that houses Art SG.
“This is a strategic arrangement designed to enhance S.E.A. Focus’s prominence and strengthen its value propositions,” says the gallerist Emi Eu, who founded and has directed S.E.A. Focus since it began. Eu will remain involved as artistic consultant. John Tung, S.E.A. Focus’s curator since 2023, will retain that role for the 2026 edition. Both fairs are due to take place from 23 to 25 January.
The move “provides expanded market access and networks by bringing Art SG’s significantly larger visitor numbers”—including many of the international collectors and industry professionals that attend the fair—to S.E.A Focus, Eu says. The combined event will “cement both platforms as a mega-anchor for SAW, expanding opportunities for Singapore to grow the Southeast Asian art market on a global scale.” Regarding any financial aspects related to the takeover, a spokesperson for Art SG told The Art Newspaper that Singapore’s National Arts Council—which commissions the fair—would provide it with some funding to organise S.E.A. Focus, but that other details were confidential.
The two platforms have until now been around a 30-minute drive from each other, and the geographical distance has been a headache to SAW participants. An Art SG spokesperson adds that the single-ticket admission to both events provides further audience convenience, “creating an expanded and integrated experience.”
In the announcement, Tay Tong, the director of visual arts at Arts Ecosystem Group—which is part of Singapore’s National Arts Council—highlighted “the growth of S.E.A. Focus since its inception”, with the event having initially been held in tents at the gallery cluster Gillman Barracks. “With Art SG assuming stewardship of S.E.A. Focus, we look forward to Art SG building on the good work of STPI to continue to develop S.E.A. Focus as a major showcase dedicated to contemporary art in Southeast Asia,” Tong said. “As commissioner, NAC is proud to work with our partners to surface high quality art works by Southeast Asian artists.”
