Congratulations on the great success of the third edition of Art Stage Singapore!

artbahrain: You were a lawyer by profession, what was your personal motivation to start an art fair?

Lorenzo Rudolf: I was deeply inspired by the evolving contemporary art scene in my hometown; I became increasingly engaged by art, and in particular, the groundbreaking curatorial work of Harald Szeemann, the godfather of curation, and the inventor of the modern-day format for museum exhibitions. Szeemann, who was the Director of the Kunsthalle Bern at the time, gave Christo and Jeanne-Claude their first opportunity to fully wrap a building, the Kunsthalle Bern in 1968. This was a pivotal moment for me, which led me on a path into the arts world. Organizing an international art fair is a role which combines my professional background as a lawyer and international PR major and my personal passion for contemporary art.

ab: Having initiated and created the ArtBasel, Miami Beach, as well as ShContemporary in Shanghai, and three years ago you started Art Stage Singapore, how do the countries compare in promoting the local and international art industries?

LR: Every place offers you different levels of challenges and experiences; you have to adapt yourself to local social reality and by doing that you learn about the culture Basel possesses, which is a century old cultural industry; the first public museum started there in the middle ages. There’s a long tradition of wealthy local families supporting, nurturing and promoting the local art scenes.

Miami on the other hand, is a young and fancy place where you can see the influence of the New York Art School and also the multi-disciplinary development among art, design, fashion and music.

Shanghai is an up-and-coming city in the booming Chinese art scene and economy. Chinese contemporary art was the first non-western art scene to forge a global taste for its works.
Singapore is the multicultural destination in Asia. In Europe and America, there are art centres like Berlin, London and New York but nothing equivalent in Asia. Asia needs a place where various national markets can come together for cultural exchanges; Singapore has a unique advantage not only because of its geographical advantage, but also its strong base for private wealth management.

ab: How does Art Stage Singapore distinguish itself from the other art fairs in terms of concept, program, gallery selection, etc.?

LR: Our Unique Asian identity differentiates us from other fairs. Asian galleries and artists need an internationally competitive platform in the global scene. Art Stage has been playing that role to promote the best of Asian art, match-making galleries, artists, collectors, professionals and art lovers from around the world. Up to 75% of the galleries participating at Art Stage are from Asia-Pacific, the remaining 25% are international galleries. Apart from the typical galleries section, we introduced other initiatives like Project Stage, Singapore Platform and Indonesian Pavilion to feature emerging artists and art scenes in Southeast Asia. In our 2013 edition, we also launched a series of education programmes to help visitors get a better understanding on Asian contemporary art, as well as, Art Stage+, the first online replica of a physical fair in Asia to reach broader, global audience.

ab: Would you say that Art Stage Singapore is already integrated into the international art market circuit?

LR: Art Stage is probably the only art fair which has earned an international reputation in its third edition; we have obtained wide support from local, regional and international galleries but there’s still a long way to go to make the fair one of the very top. Our ultimate goal is to make Art Stage an absolute art destination for a global audience as well as a unique match making platform for the new scenes from China to Southeast Asia, from Australia to the Gulf States.

ab: Are you happy with the outcome of Art Stage Singapore so far?

LR: We are pleased with what we have achieved in just three years

ab: Do you think the Asian art market is still influenced by the Western markets, or has Asia earned its autonomy?

LR: I think both of these are happening…. contemporary art is not a national thing, there’s always an exchange of dialogue between the East and the West. The western markets are still stronger but both artistic and economic forces are being shifted to Asia, rapidly increasing in the last couple of years. We are starting to see a more balanced global market.

ab: Art Stage Singapore features big international names alongside local talent – is that a system that works and how do they complement each other?

LR: International art fairs should find the right balance for the promotion of both emerging and established artists. Art Stage emphasizes the importance of presenting contemporary art in a historical context; this is how we educate as well as build up the markets.

ab: Do you have a favourite piece in the last art fair?

LR: Too many…one of my favourites is Zhang Huan’s Berlin Buddha. The installation was created in 2007 but first shown in Asia via Art Stage. It features two massive Buddha statues facing one another, one made from aluminium, the other from casted dry ash; this unique installation was designed as a representation of the cycle of life. As each mould is unique, the ash Buddha is left to absorb the environment, as a symbolic visual representation of the passage of time, and in turn changes its shape and form through exposure to the elements. Another favourite of mine is Arne Quinze’s Breeding Life, a site-specific piece created specially for the fair.

ab: Finally, what have you learned from other art fairs around the world and what are your plans to make Art Stage Singapore one of the important events in the art world calendar?

LR: Whenever I visit other fairs or other galleries, exhibitions, museum, I learn! I am always curious to see new things and I am also inspired by some of these great showcases of art I have encountered  ab