Dr Eugene Tan: Holding sway in the art world

The suave Eugene Tan, 52, is a regular on arts power lists—not just in Singapore, but also globally.

- Clement Yong

In 2024, the world's leading international contemporary art magazine Art Review ranked him 24th on its ardently watched "Power 100," an indicator that he is one of the most influential people right now deciding the sort of art that gets made and seen.

The continued rise in the ranks—he was 29th in 2023—comes as he was promoted to double-hat as chief executive of both the National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) after Ms Chong Siak Ching stepped down in April.

He was already director of both institutions, and still holds both positions.

He has also been handed Ms Chong's other portfolio as head of the Visual Arts Cluster, comprising the two museums and STPI—Creative Workshop & Gallery, which focuses more on the mediums of print and paper.

Over lunch, Dr Tan is keen to set the record straight.

In the art world, he says, it is not unusual for a person to be both chief executive and director of a museum; financial and curatorial decisions are intrinsically linked in galleries.

What is less common, however, is that a single person would be appointed to take on this mantle in two cornerstone national institutions. "It was a strategic decision to harness the synergies of both organisations," he says. "To bring them closer and make sure they collaborate, but, at the same time, give them distinct identities."

For the doubters, a major test he applies is greater public understanding of what National Gallery and SAM individually stand for—helped, no doubt, by SAM's move out of the Civic District to Tanjong Pagar Distripark for a more rugged brand.