SINGAPORE — Telecoms company Singtel became the latest corporate giant to come on board as a sponsor of the National Gallery Singapore. It will donate S$20 million to the museum and, in turn, receive naming rights to the museum’s special exhibition gallery on the third floor, comprising 20,000 sqm and spanning three areas.

The Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery will present two international shows a year, with the first slated for April next year. The shows will see international artworks alongside those from the region. Instead of popular travelling exhibitions, the aim is to create new shows, which will be done in collaboration with internationally renowned art institutions to create a “dialogue between art from Singapore and South-east Asia with art from other parts of the world”, said National Gallery Singapore’s chief executive Chong Siak Ching.

“We will actively ignite interest in South-east Asian art by co-organising and co-curating a series of special exhibitions under a collaborative framework with our partners,” she continued.

Singtel’s donation is not just a gift to art, but to the nation in its special jubilee year, said Singtel group CEO Chua Sock Koong. “Art provokes dialogue and connects people regardless of culture and country,” she added. “We hope to facilitate even more connections and conversations with the exhibition presented at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery.”

The telcoms company follows other corporate sponsors United Overseas Bank Group and DBS Bank, which have also received naming rights to the museum’s South-East Asian Gallery and City Hall Courtyard spaces, and the Singapore Gallery, respectively. The National Gallery has also forged partnerships with companies such as Keppel Corporation for its Keppel Centre for Art Education, and technology firm Accenture, which will help develop its digital technologies.