The second edition of the Singapore Art Fair, which was due to launch this winter (14-15 November), has been cancelled. The fair, which focuses on contemporary art from the Middle East, North Africa and southeast Asia, was inaugurated in 2014 by Laure d’Hauteville and Pascal Odille, the founders of the Beirut Art Fair.
They teamed up with the Singapore-based company MP International to launch the fair, founding a new company to oversee the event called Orchilys Pte Ltd. But according to our sister paper, Le Journal des Arts, the partnership has run into difficulties. Jason Ng, the director of MP International, says: “There are more and more fairs in Singapore. We must devise a fair plan that meets the needs of the market [here].”
D’Hauteville could not be reached for comment, but told Le Journal des Arts: “I am in discussions about the 2016 edition. We have disagreed about several issues which must be resolved before launching a new edition.” The new fair was positioned as a competitor to Art Stage Singapore, a contemporary art fair launched by Lorenzo Rudolf, the former director of Art Basel, in 2010.
UPDATE: After this article was published, Laure d'Hauteville contacted us and clarified that: "We have very good relations with our partners in Singapore. We are all working together to a build a great new fair with new ideas. This is why we prefer to have the fair in 2016."
