SINGAPORE ART WEEK 2019 - JANUARY 17-20, 2019 TOUR LEADER: ROBERT VEEL - Academy Travel
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SINGAPORE
ART WEEK 2019
JANUARY 17-20, 2019
TOUR LEADER: ROBERT VEEL
‘The Paradox of Beauty’, oil on canvas, Myoung Jo Jeong
SINGAPORE Overview
ARTS WEEK 2019
In the last 20 years the island-nation of Singapore has transformed itself
Tour dates: January 17-20, 2019 from a bustling commercial city into a vibrant cultural one – a leading
Asian centre of art, music and design. It boasts remarkable museums and
galleries, a fine symphony orchestra and an energetic and outward-
Tour leader: Robert Veel
looking culture. Our new tour has been timed to coincide with Singapore
Art Week, held every January. The itinerary combines Singapore’s
Tour Price: $2,650 per person, twin share complex heritage, tropical gardens, the visual arts and live performances.
Single Supplement: $780 for sole use of Singapore Art Week takes place at multiple venues, including the recently
double room opened National Gallery of Art, a comprehensive survey of Southeast
Asian art housed in a vast structure that combines heritage architecture
Booking deposit: $500 per person with brilliant contemporary design. We also visit a converted army
barracks and the contemporary art fair, held at the impressive Marina Bay
Sands complex. Singapore’s historical and artistic heritage is also
Recommended airline: Singapore Airlines covered, with a visit to the excellent Asian Civilizations Museum, the
Peranakan Museum and the World War II remains at Fort Canning.
Maximum places: 20
Also included is a concert by the excellent Singapore Symphony
Itinerary: Singapore (3 nights) Orchestra and visits to some of Singapore’s best gardens. Five-star
accommodation is provided at the Fullerton Hotel, converted from the
Date published: March 28, 2019 colonial-era post office and a short walk from many of the venues we visit.
Your tour leader
Robert Veel has a BA and M.Ed from the
University of Sydney, where he taught for
many years before co-founding Academy
Travel in 2004.
Robert is a cultural historian with over 20
years’ experience leading tours to Italy, South
East Asia, the USA, Scandinavia and Turkey.
He has a strong personal interest in the visual
arts, architecture and music, and has designed
and led more than 50 tours for Academy
Travel. More recently Robert led the first offering of Academy Travel’s
tours to Tasmania and New Zealand.
He has travelled to Singapore many times and is familiar with all the
venues visited on this tour. Robert attended Singapore Art Week in 2017.
“Robert was very personable, very knowledgeable and nothing
was a trouble to him, an excellent leader in every way.”
Enquiries and
– New York: Music, Theatre, Art & Food, March 2017.
bookings
“Our tour leader Robert Veel was humorous, very knowledgeable
For further information and to and had an attention to detail that was quite exemplary. He was quite
secure a place on this tour meticulous and extremely well organised. One of the best tour leaders I’ve
please contact Kathy ever had the pleasure of travelling with.”
Wardrop at Academy Travel – Palermo and Naples, January 2018.
on 9235 0023 or 1800 639
699 (outside Sydney) or email
kathy@academytravel.com.au
Tour Highlights
SINGAPORE ART WEEK
In seven short years the Singapore Art Week has emerged as
one of Asia’s leading fine arts events. Like Art Basel it
combines exhibitions in public and private museums with
commercial shows from leading galleries around the world. The
Singapore Art Week takes place at multiple venues around the
city, including the National Gallery, the Singapore Art Museum,
the Marina Bay Sands Complex and Gillman Barracks.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF SINGAPORE
Opened in 2015 the National Gallery of Singapore is an
architectural marvel. The colonial-era, classical-style Supreme
Court and Municipal building have been joined together within
a contemporary shell created by the French architectural firm
Studio Milou. The Gallery has a beautifully displayed historical
collection, housed in the former courtrooms, and schedules
major international exhibitions to coincide with Art Week.
ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS MUSEUM
Ranked among the top 10 museums in Asia, Singapore’s Asian
Civilizations Museum takes visitors on a journey through the
diverse cultures and civilizations from which the ethnic groups
of Singapore trace their ancestry – China, Southeast Asia, the
subcontinent and West Asia. Highlights of the museum include
a large haul of Chinese Tang Dynasty ceramics found in a
shipwreck off the Malaysian coastline, and a textiles gallery.
PERANAKAN MUSEUM
Peranakan is the name given to the ‘straits Chinese’,
descendants of the 16th and 17th-century immigrants from
China’s coastal regions who settled in the period of Dutch and
British colonisation. Although ethnically Chinese, their
language is a mix of Hokkien and Malay and their dress,
architecture and design are heavily influenced by Indonesian,
Malay and Indian cultures.
SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra has
established itself as Southeast Asia’s leading ensemble, thanks
to enthusiastic official support and Singapore’s excellent
education system, which includes music. Each year the
orchestra attracts top international soloists, and has appeared
at the Berlin Philharmonie, the BBC Proms, the Lincoln Center
in New York and in Beijing.
Detailed itinerary
Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D.
Tour start & finish time
The tour starts on Thursday 17 January at 6.00pm, at the
Fullerton Hotel, Singapore.
The tour ends on Sunday 20 January at Singapore Changi
Airport at approximately 6.00pm.
Thursday January 17
Arrive Singapore
Many day flights from Australia arrive in the late afternoon. Meet
your fellow participants and tour leader over drinks at the bar of
the Fullerton Hotel, then proceed to dinner on the banks of the
Singapore River, adjacent to our hotel. Overnight Singapore (D)
Above: The annual Light to Night festival takes place during
Singapore Art Week
Friday January 18
Heritage and art
Below: The orchid garden at Singapore Botanic Gardens; and
Singapore Art Museum focuses on contemporary painting, design We begin our program with the Asian Civilisations Museum,
and film housed in the historic Empress Building close to our hotel. A
curator introduces us to the main collections of the museum and
any special exhibitions which are showing. After a break we
head to the National Gallery of Singapore for the first of two
visits. Our initial investigation covers the permanent collection,
located in the court rooms of the former supreme court building.
These galleries not only showcase the visual world of the region
in the 18th and 19th centuries, but also contain important
historical displays relating to colonial Singapore. On the roof of
the museum there are elegant bars and restaurants with great
views over the city. After lunch we visit the Peranakan Museum,
generally regarded as the best museum of its type in the region.
The collection is a delightful journey through a unique culture,
surveying decorative arts, domestic architecture and design. In
the early evening we head to Gillman Barracks, about 30
minutes out of the city centre. These former army barracks have
been converted into a contemporary art precinct. During
Singapore Art Week they host exhibitions from leading
European and regional commercial galleries. Overnight
Singapore. (B)
Saturday January 19
Orchids and orchestras
Early this morning we head to the Singapore Botanic Gardens,
carved out of a remaining section of Malay forest not far from
the city centre. Our visit concentrates on the fine orchid garden.
We then return to the National Gallery to inspect both the
Singapore Art Week galleries and the visiting international
exhibition timed to coincide with the fair (details expected
September-October 2018). We enjoy lunch at one of the
restaurants atop the Gallery. This afternoon there is the option
of visiting the Singapore Art Museum, housed in a historic
building near Raffles Hotel. During Singapore Art Week, this
museum is usually dedicated to film and contemporary art. This
evening we attend a performance by the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra, either in the Victoria Hall or the visually striking
Esplanade Theatre. (B, L)
Sunday January 20
History and happenings
After checking out of the Fullerton Hotel, we head to Fort
Canning Park to visit the Fort Canning Bunker, popularly known
as the Battle Box. The complex includes a telephone exchange,
signals and operations rooms, sleeping quarters and a cipher
room for coding and decoding messages. It was used from 1936
right up to the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in World War II.
We then head to the Marina Bay Sands complex, another
striking piece of contemporary architecture. The main
commercial galleries of Singapore Art Week are to be found in
the exhibition halls here, and there will be time to explore them
and have a light lunch. If you prefer you can visit the remarkable
(if somewhat vulgar) Gardens by the Bay, directly outside the
Marina Bay Sands. In the afternoon we head to Changi Airport.
Depending on the time of participants’ flights, there may be time
to visit the small museum on the site of the notorious former
Japanese POW camp at Changi before arriving at the airport.
(B)
The Fullerton Hotel
The Fullerton Hotel was commissioned in 1919 as part of the
British colony’s centennial celebrations. The neo-classical style Above: Street art commissioned for Singapore Art Week; and old
building was opened in 1924 and housed the General Post and new blend seamlessly in Singapore’s built environment
Office, the Exchange, the Singapore Club, the Marine
Below: The Marina Bay Sands, home to the commercial gallery
Department and the Import and Export Department. Today it is a shows at Singapore Art Week
five-star hotel and is perfectly located within walking distance of
the major galleries and museums which form the core of our
itinerary. The hotel has numerous cafes, bars and restaurants,
an outdoor pool, fitness centre and spa.
www.fullertonhotels.com/the-fullerton-hotel
Tour Price Fitness Requirements
The tour price is $2,650 per person, twin share (land content of THIS tour
only). The supplement for a single room is $780 per person.
A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to GRADE ONE
secure a place on the tour.
It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that
you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this
Tour Inclusions tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness
required to participate on our tours, we have given them a
Included in the tour price star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature
extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater
Three nights’ accommodation in the five-star Fullerton fitness than coach touring. We ask you instead to consider
Hotel carefully your ability to meet the physical demands of the
All entry to Singapore Art Week and other sites tour.
Best available tickets to a performance by the Singapore
Symphony Orchestra Participation criteria for this tour
All breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner, including drinks This Grade One tour is appropriate for travellers in good
All land travel around Singapore by private coach and health with good mobility. You should be able to comfortably
taxi participate in up to three hours of physical activity per day on
All tipping at for group meals and activities most days, including walking at an easy pace, sometimes on
Local guides and services of experienced tour leader uneven terrain, climbing stairs and standing in galleries.
throughout You should be able to:
Not included keep up with the group at all times
walk for 2-3 kilometres at a moderate to slow pace with
International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) only short breaks
Travel insurance
stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and
Meals not mentioned in itinerary museums
Expenses of a personal nature
negotiate stairs and bridges
get on and off a coach, ferry or boat with steep stairs
Air travel OPTIONS unassisted
move your luggage a short distance if required
The tour price quoted is for land content only. For this tour we
recommend Singapore Airlines which offer several daily A note for older travellers
flights from most Australian cities. Please contact us for If you are more than 80 years old, or have restricted mobility,
further information on competitive Economy, Business and it is likely that you will find this itinerary challenging. You may
First Class airfares. Transfers between airport and hotel are have to miss certain activities and may not get the full value
included for all passengers booking their flights through of the tour. Before submitting your booking form, please
Academy Travel. These may be group or individual transfers. contact Academy Travel to discuss your situation and the
exact physical requirements of this tour. While we will do our
best to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of all
Enquiries & bookings group members, we reserve the right to refuse bookings if
we feel that the requirements of the tour are too demanding
For further information and to secure a place on this tour
for you and/or if local conditions mean we cannot reasonably
please contact Kathy Wardrop at Academy Travel on
accommodate your condition.
9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email
kathy@academytravel.com.au
Weather on Tour
Singapore has a tropical climate, 24-32 degrees and humid
year-round. Wear lose, comfortable clothing and bring an
umbrella and comfortable walking shoes. All indoor sites are
well air-conditioned, so a light jacket may also be handy.
You can also read
