Singapore has opened a maximum-security vault for art, gold and valuables signaling the city-state's ambitions to match Hong Kong and and Beijing as an Asian centre for art. Singapore FreePort has 30,000sqm of strongrooms, which are inside Changi airport allowing non-resident collectors to store valuables without paying tax or filing customs forms. FreePort also has exhibition space launched with a by-appointment exhibition presented by a Geneva-based art dealer.
Tommy Koh, Chairman of the National Heritage Board, which runs Singapore's museums decribes the FreePort as "a golden link in the value chain to promote Singapore as a centre for art, culture and antiquities and for the storage and sale of such high value items."
Lorenzo Rudolf says "It's like Fort Knox." Rudolf also appears to be a prime mover in the plan to position Singapore as a regional art hub linked to the international art market. The former director of Art Basel, ShContemporary and creator of ArtParis+Guests has launched ART STAGE SINGAPORE, a new art fair scheduled for 12 - 16 January 2011.
Image: Singapore FreePort designed by Swiss architects Benedicte Montant and Carmelo Stendardo
