Arbiter of Art

Between different countries and cultures, lawyer and philanthropist Tai-Heng Cheng finds common ground in art—and his support goes beyond collecting works, but giving artists and talents access to equal opportunities across the ecosystem

- Hashirin Nurin Hashimi

In his work as an international lawyer and arbitrator, Tai-Heng Cheng represents clients and their interests spanning various industries including energy and infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. The global co-head of American law firm Sidley Austin’s international arbitration and trade practice and co-managing partner of its Singapore office is also a trusted adviser to companies, boards and governments across the globe on issues beyond business disputes.

So you can say that Cheng, who spends on average a week every month in Singapore, making the nearly 18-hour commute from New York where he is based, is adept at managing differences, whether they are commercial- or investment-related, or even cultural—and he considers art as a bridge to foster empathy and understanding. “I’ve always been interested in art but like any field of connoisseurship, the more you learn about it, the more you appreciate it,” he says.

“As someone who has lived in multiple countries and experienced various cultures, I’ve found art to be a way to help me access and find common ground between different countries and cultures. I think this is crucially important today as people become more brittle and tribal.”

The rise of Asian hate crimes in the US and the Black Lives Matter movement spurred Cheng to create a fund for graduate internships at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC, in January last year. The Cheng-Harrell Graduate Internship—named after Cheng, and his husband Cole Harrell, who is a specialist in traditional art from Africa and Oceania—helps support five paid graduate interns annually over five years.