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By Karen W Lim
THE public is invited to catch a first and last glimpse of the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings before they are transformed into the future National Art Gallery of Singapore.
Inside the former Supreme Court and City Hall
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These two iconic and historical buildings - which are also the last classical buildings in Singapore - will soon undergo conservation and adaptive reuse to be transformed into a new visual arts institution.
Situated in front of the Padang grounds, the future National Art Gallery will be the world's largest public collection of modern Southeast Asian and Singapore art.
It will also feature masterpiece exhibits from around the world and works from the Asia region. Details of exhibitions and artwork within the National Art Gallery are still in the pipeline.
The former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings have never been opened to the public before and a two-day event in October will allow visitors to trace the route of many historical moments before the buildings are closed for construction work.
Upon signing up for these specially developed tours, more than 2,500 members of the public can catch a rare glimpse of the Chief Justice's Court Room, his private chambers and even the holding cells of inmates which are located beneath the courtrooms and away from public sight.
In the City Hall building, visitors can witness the grandeur of Singapore's "grandest room", where the first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his cabinet took their Oaths of Allegiance. This is also the venue where many illustrious leaders in Singapore's history were sworn in.
But one of the most notable historical moment that the City Hall played host to is the surrender of Japanese troops to the Allied Forces during World War II. Visitors who attend these tours will get to stand in the same room in which history was rewritten.
The 90-minute tour will not only retrace the history of the two buildings and its uses, the tour guides will also give a brief introduction of the new developments for the future art gallery.
Influenced largely by museums overseas, such as the Tate Modern and many others, the $320 million conversion of the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings will be the main gallery that will house Southeast Asian works from the 19th century right up to the present day.
The current Singapore Art Museum (SAM) at Bras Basah Road will eventually change its focus and collections when the new art gallery opens.
Mr Walter Lim, the director of Corporate Services and Marketing Communications at The National Art Gallery, highlighted the differences between SAM and the future National Art Gallery at a press conference on Wednesday.
"In the future, the SAM will focus on experimental art and newly groomed artists, while the National Art Gallery will be centred around 20th century works from around the region," said Mr Lim.
The National Art Gallery is slated to be completed by 2013.
Limited spaces are available for the guided tours on October 9 and 10.
To find out more about the events, activities and contests during the open house, visit http://www.nationalartgallery.sg/openhouse/reg.
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