The annual January art-week rush in Singapore is about to get a little more crowded in all the right ways, as ART SG returns to Marina Bay Sands from 23–26 January 2026, and for the first time it will fold S.E.A. Focus into the same venue and ticket, bringing a larger, more integrated programme to theSands Expo and Convention Centre.
Now in its fourth edition, ART SG is leaning into a clear premise: Singapore’s collector base and cultural calendar have grown quickly enough to support a fair that is both regional in focus and outward-facing in ambition. This year’s edition positions Southeast Asia as the point of departure, while widening the conversation through expanded partnerships, fresh curatorial initiatives, and a broader sweep of participating galleries with 106 exhibitors from more than 30 countries and territories.
That widening is most visible in the arrival of S.E.A. Focus, a platform previously experienced in its own orbit during Singapore Art Week. Its debut within ART SG is designed to make movement between sections feel more fluid for visitors, while giving galleries and artists an immediate audience that includes international collectors and institutions. The platform will retain its distinct curatorial spine under the 2026 theme The Humane Agency, framing Southeast Asian artists as “agents of compassion” responding to contemporary pressures, from conflict and the pull towards peace, to accelerating ecological crises and shifting communities.
A roster of participating galleries for S.E.A. Focus includes Richard Koh Fine Art, Silverlens, ISA Art Gallery, STPI, ShanghART, ara contemporary, Gajah Gallery, Mizuma Gallery, Wetterling Teo Gallery, and others, with presentations set to feature artists such as Tang Da Wu, Arahmaiani, and Nicole Coson. Curated by John Tung, with artistic consultation by Emi Eu, the platform is intended to feel editorial rather than encyclopaedic: fewer sweeping claims, more pointed propositions, and room for visitors to sit with them.
Alongside the expanded fair floor, ART SG 2026 introduces several headline initiatives that speak to where the event wants to place its weight. ART SG and UBS are launching the ART SG FUTURES Prize presented by UBS, a USD 10,000 award recognising an outstanding emerging artist in the fair’s FUTURES sector. UBS, as Founding and Lead Partner, is also bringing a notable performance work to the public-facing programme: at the UBS Art Studio (Level 1), the UBS Art Collection will present Melati Suryodarmo’s I Love You (2007), a five-hour single-channel performance video that uses repetition and physical pressure to turn a simple phrase into something thornier.
The fair is also continuing to strengthen its relationship with institutions and public collections. Returning for its second year, the SAM ART SG Fund will allocate SGD 150,000 towards acquisitions from ART SG 2026 for the Singapore Art Museum’s international contemporary collection, guided by a Southeast Asian perspective. The 2025 fund supported acquisitions including works by Kim Yun Shin, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Lêna Bùi, proving that the initiative is not interested in safe bets alone, but in building a collection that can hold differing geographies and artistic languages without smoothing them into one neat narrative.
A new set of partnerships widens the programme beyond Southeast Asia without distracting from it. A first-of-its-kind cultural sponsorship, the TVS Initiative for Contemporary Indian and South Asian Art, curated by Studio Public Memory and led by Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, will spotlight practices from India and South Asia through a dedicated pavilion and curated activities. Another collaboration brings Shanghai into the frame through working with Rockbund Art Museum (RAM), ART SG has appointed X-Zhu Nowell, RAM’s Executive Director and Chief Curator, as Film and Performance Art Curator, marking the introduction of a Performance Art sector at the fair, including work by Singaporean artist John Clang.
If you prefer your art-week itineraries with detours, the RAM collaboration also extends into the city via Wan Hai Hotel: Singapore Strait, an evolving exhibition model that will transform The Warehouse Hotel at Robertson Quay into a hybrid setting for film and video, installations, performances and artist encounters. It is designed to blur the lines between viewing and lingering, a useful antidote to the brisk pacing that art fairs often demand.
ART SG’s co-founder Magnus Renfrew framed the 2026 edition as part of a wider regional shift. “We are immensely proud to present the fourth edition of ART SG,” he said, noting the fair’s aim to provide “an integrated platform for galleries, artists and institutions to connect and engage,” particularly as collecting and cultural ecosystems in the region continue to mature. UBS Singapore’s Jin Yee Young echoed that forward-looking tone, pointing to optimism among Singapore-based collectors and announcing the fair’s new prize as part of UBS’s continued support for emerging artists across Asia Pacific.
ART SG 2026 takes place at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, with VIP Preview and Vernissage on 22 January. Public opening hours run 23 January (12 pm –7pm), 24 January (11am–7pm), and 25 January (11am–6pm), with the fair continuing through 26 January.
For visitors, the appeal is not only the scale, but the range of entry points, from a fair floor spanning international and regional galleries,to a strengthened curatorial programme, new performance strands, and citywide activations across Singapore Art Week. If you are planning a January weekend in Singapore with art on the agenda, this is the one to mark!
Tickets available at artsg.com/tickets
