SINGAPORE — Thinking about getting a painting but unsure of where to start? Affordable Art Fair (AAF) Singapore thinks you should go on a date.

This year’s spring edition of the popular fair — the first of two it holds every year in Singapore at the F1 Pit Building — is bringing back its Gallery Speed Dating Tours. Here, visitors who sign up get an intense five minutes or so each at around five to six galleries to allow them to get their bearings at the fair.

After all, with 41 galleries showcasing more than 300 artists, and artworks priced between S$100 to S$10,000 (with the majority under S$7,500), things can get a bit overwhelming. Especially if you’re a first-time visitor (which accounts for half of the fair’s visitors each time), or among the 30 per cent who have never bought a work of art.

“(Speed dating) works well to connect you to gallerists if you’re nervous,” explained Camilla Hewitson, the international fair brand’s regional managing director for Asia.

But these speed dating tours, which take place at 3.30pm this weekend, are not the only tour programme the AAF has lined up to make buying art (or simply just appreciating it) as experiential as it can be. It has introduced new #ARTHAPPY Tours, which comprises thematic tours to selected booths. Friday’s tour, for example, zoomed in on “hot new talents”; while over the weekend, there will be tours that focus on “finds under S$1,000” (today) and artworks about Singapore or those done by Singapore artists (tomorrow).

“We thought, even if we had an Under S$1,000 Wall (where all the art on display costs under S$1,000), it would also be good to pick out these things (at the gallery booths),” said Hewitson.

Shy types can also take self-guided tours via the Affordable Art Fair X ArtHop app, which is available on Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Finally, the fair has also upped the ante with personalised “art shopping tours”, where fair director Alan Koh himself will be leading an individual (and their families or date) throughout the fair on a 35-minute tour.

All these are done to ensure a less intimidating approach to art-buying, so that people would know what questions to ask and how to navigate the fair, said Koh. “People do feel more confident if they go around with somebody.”

Aside from the tours, there are other events and programmes for everyone. One of the highlights is Dutch artist Max Zorn, the current artist-in-residence at the fair, who creates lightbox artworks using packing tape. The presence of F&B options, a special section for children, and a Charity Feature Wall are back, too. Artworks by some 40 artists — all priced at S$500 each — are being sold, with half the money raised going to the Woodbridge Hospital Charity Fund (WHCF) and the other half to the artists themselves. There will also be WHCF activities onsite, such as silkscreening on totebags. Also, S$1 from every admission ticket sold is going to the fund.

“(Mental health) is a topic that we felt we should highlight,” said Koh, who pointed out how art therapy has been used at the Institute of Mental Health.

Affordable Art Fair Singapore runs until April 24, 11am to 8pm (Saturday) and 11am to 6pm (Sunday) at the F1 Pit Building. Tickets from S$15 (online) and S$18 (at the door). Free entry for children under 16. To sign up for tours, drop by the Information Desk in Room A (there is a S$20 sign-up fee for the exclusive personal art shopping tour). For more details, visit http://affordableartfair.com/singapore.