Visitation exceeds expectations during early weeks of National Gallery Singapore’s opening

The National Gallery Singapore has announced that 170,000 visitors viewed the Gallery’s exhibitions and participated in a diverse program of art-related activities during its two-week opening celebrations.

Exceeding initial expectations by over 40%, the ‘Share the Hope’ art carnival stood out as a crowd favourite with more than 20 free events and activities during the two weeks.

The multi-sensory art extravaganza attracted more than 86,000 visitors to the Padang and into the Gallery when it was held from 27th to 29th November. The Keppel Centre for Art Education, the region’s first dedicated art education facility also proved popular and received 21,000 visitors.

Welcoming the visitation, National Gallery Singapore Chief Executive Chong Siak Ching stated “we are heartened and thankful that so many visitors from all walks of life including families and friends, Singaporeans and tourists alike, came to celebrate the opening of the Gallery with us.

“The response and participation of the public is extremely encouraging as we strive to deliver a truly unique experience for all our visitors, to make this the people’s museum.”

The Gallery Explorer app also received wide interest among the Gallery’s visitors with close to 7,000 users having downloaded the mobile app since it was launched on 18th November.

Created in collaboration with the Gallery’s Innovation Partner Accenture, the app enables intelligent indoor navigation across the 64,000 metre² of the total area of the Gallery, proactively giving information on the art in the vicinity. The app, which is available in four languages: English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, is also integrated with social media capabilities, allowing users to share their experiences with friends and create conversations about the art at the museum.

Following the conclusion of the opening celebrations, Singapore citizens, permanent residents and children (six years and under) will continue to enjoy free admission for the two permanent galleries DBS Singapore Gallery and the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, the Keppel Centre for Art Education, the Wu Guanzhong and Chua Ek Kay exhibitions as well as selected exhibitions. 

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