DPM Gan Kim Yong at the Singapore Biennale 2025: pure intention Opening Ceremony

Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman of the Singapore Art Museum and Chair of the Singapore Biennale Committee,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

Good evening to all of you and a very warm welcome to the 8^th Singapore Biennale, especially our friends visiting from abroad.

Let me begin by thanking the Singapore Art Museum and the National Arts Council for your hard work in putting together the latest edition of the Singapore Biennale. I had the chance to view some of the exhibits, some of the highlights, just before this opening. The range of artworks on display is really impressive – imaginative, thoughtful and original. I especially enjoyed how works by local artists from our national collection, such as “View from Mount Faber” by Lim Mu Hue and “Filem-Filem-Filem” by Ming Wong, are displayed alongside newly commissioned works from international artists.

As Edmund and the curators shared earlier, the theme of this Singapore Biennale is “pure intention”.

From the beginning, Singapore’s story has been one of intention. When we became independent in 1965, we faced many challenges and had very few natural resources. Every major decision in our development over the past six decades was the result of deliberate choices and collective efforts – how we built homes for our people, invested in education and skills, grew our economy, and created opportunities for all Singaporeans. Singapore is, in many ways, a city built by design – planned with care, guided by foresight, and driven by the conviction that we could shape our future. The same spirit of intention continues to define us today. It allows us to adapt, open to new ideas, and to keep evolving.

The Biennale in our SG60 year is a timely reflection of that enduring ethos – that progress, creativity and nation-building all begin with clarity of purpose and intention.

Our Place in the World

As a small country, we have always had to define our place in the world, and could never take it for granted. For centuries before our independence, our island has been a crossroads for the movements of goods, people and ideas. That openness drew communities and enterprises from around the world. Many of them stayed and contributed to building the Singapore we know today. That spirit of connection remains central to who we are. Today, Singapore is a hub for trade, talent and services. This makes us well-positioned to be a Global-Asia node, connecting East and West to tackle shared challenges. The ability to bring people together, to bridge perspectives and connect ideas, has always been one of Singapore’s strengths. It has enabled us to stay relevant and competitive. It has also shaped our economy and our society – and just as importantly, our identity and our cultural vitality.

A Global Creative Hub

In that same spirit, we want to be just as intentional in developing Singapore into a global creative hub – a city where ideas around the world converge, and where creativity drives collaboration and exchange.

Over the years, the Biennale has become a valuable platform for such connections. Since the first edition in 2006, the Biennale has brought together artists and arts organisations from Singapore, the region and beyond. This year’s Biennale features more than 80 artists from over 30 countries, with 40% of the artworks on display by artists from Southeast Asia. This diversity of voices and expressions strengthens Singapore’s position as an open and globally engaged arts city. For our artists, these collaborations broaden their horizons, and spark new ways of thinking about art and creation. For our audiences, they offer fresh encounters – new perspectives, new ways of engaging with art, and new ways of seeing the world.

Art and the Singapore Identity

Beyond creative exchanges, the Biennale also reminds us that art plays a deeper role in strengthening our shared identity and our sense of place.

By situating artworks across different venues – including malls, historic areas, green spaces and MRT stations – the Biennale brings art closer to everyday life. It invites all of us to pause, reflect and reimagine our surroundings.

Many of the artworks this year capture this beautifully. At Wessex Estate, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi’s “Gate: 3” is an installation comprising a thousand strands of beads made in workshops with local community groups in Singapore and New York, reflecting how art can connect people across cultures and experiences. At Fort Canning, Orchard and Harbourfront MRT stations, Debbie Ding’s “Rules for the Expression of Architectural Desires” will invite commuters to imagine new possibilities in shaping our city together.

The Biennale brings art into daily life, and strengthens the bonds that hold us together as a community.

As we look ahead, we must continue to be intentional about strengthening our arts, culture and our shared identity, so that as Singapore develops and evolves, our sense of who we are grows deeper and stronger too. I encourage all of you, in Singapore and beyond, to visit the Biennale over the next five months. And for my fellow Singaporeans, good news. You can buy tickets to the Biennale using the SG Culture Pass that we have launched last month, thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Conclusion

Let me once again congratulate the National Arts Council, Singapore Art Museum, as well as the four curators and many artists who have worked hard over many months to bring this Biennale to life.

Through your hard work, you remind us the Singapore’s story and our future will always be shaped by intention: the intention to build, to connect, and to create better.  

As we look to the next 60 years of the Singapore Story and beyond, may this Biennale inspire all of us – as artists, as audiences, and as citizens – to continue imagining and building Singapore with pure intention, and do so together as one people.

Thank you, and I wish all of you a pleasant evening and a successful Biennale ahead.