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MULTIPLE IDENTITIES VIA THE GLOBALIZATION OF ART, MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE 125Like the region itself Singapore and Southeast Asia isdiverse, dynamic and multifaceted, possessing its owndistinctive aesthetics and artistic traditions shaped bydifferent approaches to art-making and practices. Withthis in mind, SAM has been building a stellar collectionof contemporary Southeast Asian art. SAM’s acquisitionspolicy devotes 80% of funds to Southeast Asian art, andthe remaining 20% to the wider Asian region, such asChina, India, Korea and Japan to provide a broadercultural context for the core collection.An artwork is acquired for its artistic merits andinnovation, as well as what it may reveal or reflect ofwider developments in art and society. The artistsrepresented in the SAM collection fall into three broadgroups: the “pioneering” contemporary artists or onesassociated with avant-garde practices, mid-career artists,and emerging practitioners. Through its acquisitionpolicy and continued funding support from thegovernment, individuals and corporate donors, SAM isable to include iconic works of art in its collection,encourage artists to create important new works throughartist commissions and showcase the best incontemporary art from the region.This collections objective targets SEA but does nothowever provide itself with a direction other than ageneral amassing of works. Upon observation, it maywell be found within the context of Singapore’sincessant drive to fashion itself into a hub, not only asfinancial and economic, but also into one whereinculture is allowed to flourish. Certainly, throughSAM’s efforts, the National Art Gallery, which is set toopen in 2014, has become its logical off-shoot. Thecollection will then be divided between the twoinstitutions. As to how the collection will beapportioned to give each institution a specific identity,is something that will have to be seen when the doorsof the National Art Gallery of Singapore open.2. Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern ArtQueensland Art Gallery (QAG) is the oldest of all theinstitutions mentioned, with its history dating back tothe 1800s, its initial collection a set of loans from aprivate collector. While its history is mostly checkeredby the search for a permanent home (they finallysettled on the Brisbane River at South Brisbane), QAGcollecting history is also slightly less focused. From itswebsite, we learn that,“… (it) houses a significant collection of more than 14000 Australian and international paintings, sculptures,decorative art objects, multimedia installations, andworks on paper”.A search through its collection search engine shows acataloguing of artworks across a wide range of areas:Indigenous Australian Art to Queensland Heritage toContemporary International Art to International Art.There is of course Asian Art that is differentiated fromContemporary Asian Art and Contemporary PacificArt.The Collection text continues: “… the past 20 years thefocus has shifted towards the representation of modernand contemporary cultures. As a result, the QueenslandArt Gallery is now distinguished for its growingcollections of contemporary Australian art, IndigenousAustralian art, and the art of the Asia-Pacific region”.In 2006, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) openeda new building and gallery that effectively split thedemands on Queensland Art Gallery’s resourcesregarding exhibitions, programs and collectiondisplays. With new GOMA next door, the newgallery’s focus was to look at art produced during the20 th - and 21 st -centuries.Before GOMA’s building opened in 2006, the Asia-Pacific Triennial was launched in 1993. It became amajor event in Australia and the rest of the region,placing Brisbane as an important city for culture andthe arts. It started QAG’s role as a major SEAcontemporary art collector as most of the works shownand/or commissioned by QAG were absorbed into thecollection.QAG, upholds, and rightly so, that the APT “..is theonly major series of exhibitions in the world to focusexclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacificand Australia”. 12 The APT exhibitions becameopportune moments for acquiring important pieces.The APT also pushed their curators to develop deepties in the countries where their specific research wastaking place (this was the case for the Philippines forthe first three APTs). The work that was shownproved to be of a quality and significance worthy ofconsideration for acquisition. This acquisition schemehas been modified with sharper scrutiny before anartwork is acquired into the collection: “an ongoingelement of the APT series is the commissioning of newworks in tandem with an acquisition program for theGallery’s permanent Collection”. 13The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows