The Long and Short of it

The Arts are covered in this issue in typical Portfolio fashion – from different points of view. We began with an interview with ceramic artist, Ms. Delia Prvacki, in her studio out in the West. Shortly afterwards, we got an offer from the National Arts Council to interview some recipients of the annual Patron of the Arts awards, which includes Mr. Cem Azak, Mr. Christopher Ho & Ms. Rosy Ho, and Ms. Paige Parker & Mr. Jim Rogers. We thought the issue was shaping up nicely, so we went a little father and explored arts spaces of the future, including the 20,000 square-foot exhibition space called Color Factory in NYC, whose unusual features include built-in selfie machines, and the 200,000-squarefoot, eight-level arts space called The Shed, a US$500 million building currently under construction where the High Line meets Hudson Yards also in New York City.

But we felt it wouldn’t be complete if we did not reach out to the people who run and determine how art spaces are used – an idea that brought us to Mr. Alan Oei, artistic director of The Substation, Mr. Khairuddin Hori, curatorial director and partner at Chan + Hori Contemporary, and Ms. SueShan Quek, founder of Telok Ayer Arts Club. They have different agendas (and temperaments), but they are all committed to looking after the physical space as much as to developing strong communities of audiences and stakeholders. Even our contributing editors gamely shaped their articles around the arts. Mr. Keef Wong selects thee timepieces with exquisite dials that employ art-like crafts, and Ms. Wendy Long writes about presenting oneself as a form of art. Ars longa, vita brevis. Make sure one illuminates the other.