ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands forms Advisory Board

Six leading international museum professionals will be lending their expertise and vision to the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands by forming its first-ever International Advisory Board (IAB).

The board members - from Singapore, France, Japan, England, and the United States - have been asked to further develop and refine ArtScience in the context of the Museum and develop concepts for delivery of the ArtScience message through programming and exhibitions at the museum while building relationships with local, regional, and International partners.

The Board members were selected based on their various areas of expertise in relation to ArtScience, ranging from artifact conservation to exhibition designing. Their backgrounds include important work at internationally-acclaimed museums such as the American Museum of Natural History, Mori Art Museum, Schlumberger Museum, and London's Natural History Museum.

The board members are:

• Stephane Pennec, Conservator, UNESCO expert, will lead the board bringing over 24 years of conservation experience, having worked in various museums ranging from the Schlumberger Museum to the French National Centre of Research. Pennec was also the chief of conservation of objects recovered from the Titanic wreck site.

• Michael Koh, Chief Executive, National Heritage Board, Singapore, who brings 18 years of experience, including overseeing 10 museums and heritage institutions in Singapore. Koh plays a key role in positioning and developing NHB as the industry leader in the field of heritage conservation and promotion.

• David Harvey, Senior Vice President for Exhibition, American Museum of Natural History. Mr. Harvey joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1997, and is responsible for the redesign of the permanent halls, including the new Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins.

• Nanjo Fumio, Director, Mori Art Museum, Japan, who has been with the museum since 2002. Fumio curated numerous art projects and was the commissioner of the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1997) and artistic director of the Singapore Biennale (2006). He is also a jury member of the Golden Lion Prize, the Venice film festival's highest award.

• Sharon Ament, Director of Public Engagement, Natural History Museum, London, who is a communications and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. She specialises in areas of science, wildlife, conservation, culture, and tourism.

• Tom Zaller, President & Chief Executive, Imagine Exhibitions, who is a 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry, and has been instrumental in creating, producing, and marketing some of the world's most popular quality museum exhibitions and attractions, which have been seen by nearly 40 million people around the world.

• Nick Dixon, incoming Executive Director, ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. Dixon has more than 25 years of experience in the museum sector, gained as a curator, museum leader and as a cultural sector consultant. Trained in archaeology, Mr. Dixon has worked at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture in Saudi Arabia and the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Explaining the introduction of the Advisory Board, Marina Bay Sands President and Chief Executive George Tanasijevich states "with each board member's expertise in the fields of exhibition and curatorial work from renowned museums around the world, our visitors can look forward to an ArtScience Museum that will not only educate, but intrigue the curiosity of the visitors and promote the ArtScience movement within Singapore and the world."

Boasting an iconic lotus-inspired design, the world's first ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is poised to be the heart of the growing ArtScience movement. The ArtScience Museum is the premier venue for major international touring exhibitions from the most renowned collections in the world. Featuring 21 gallery spaces, totalling 4,600 metres2, the latest addition to Marina Bay Sands delivers an impressive array of exhibits that embrace a spectrum of influences from art and science, media and technology, to design and architecture.

Images: Gallery space at the ArtScience Museum (top) and the attraction illuminated at night (below).

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