SINGAPORE CLAY FESTIVAL '26 COLLECTORS TALK

Dive into the world of ceramics and hear from top collectors about their coolest finds and stories on Nov 6 Fri (7pm-8pm) @ SCCC - Level 7
About this Event

Collecting Ceramics in Singapore

Bernadette Rankine, Kim Tay, David Chew, moderator Seah Tzi-Yan

Our conversation sets a ‘who, what and why’ probe into collecting Singapore ceramics. Here, Singapore collectors David Chew and Bernadette Rankine, former Bonhams Southeast Asia director, and art advisor Kim Tay chat about who they collect, how they see ceramics as a vital area of the visual arts, and the value of owning ceramics. Listen in for insights to exciting and important clay makers on the local scene, and how our ceramics fixation is taking over!

The Speakers

Bernadette Rankine

Bernadette Rankine ran galleries in Singapore for twenty years before joining an international auction house in 2014 to open its Singapore office as Director of Southeast Asia. Her own ceramics are wide-ranging and cheerfully unruly, from Sueharu Fukami and Akiko Hirai to buncheong plates by Huh Sang Wook, with a recent detour into majolica. Each was bought because it made her smile.

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David Chew

David Chew has been collecting works by Singapore ceramic artists since 2004, driven by an enduring fascination with clay as a medium and its diverse artistic expressions. He has worked across Singapore’s arts and heritage sector for over two decades, as an arts writer, curator and cultural policymaker. He is currently heading the development of Mindef’s latest project, the National Service Gallery, at Marina Bay slated to open in 2029. 

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Kim Tay

Kim is the Co-Founder and Gallery Director of The Artling and a long-standing founding member of the team. Kim manages The Artling’s online platform, where she oversees an online inventory of over US$2b, working with artists, designers and galleries from all over the world. She also leads the company’s various consultancy projects across the globe, sourcing and commissioning artworks for private and corporate clients, ranging from the Google offices in Singapore to luxury hotel Capella Taipei.

She joined The Artling in 2014 upon returning to Singapore after spending a number of years in the United States and Russia. She has a degree in Art History and Government from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.