SINGAPORE ART SCENE SOARS TO GREATER HEIGHTS WITH HITS - THE NOKIA SINGAPORE ART 2001

Singapore, February 07, 2001

Singapore, 7 February 2001 - Art enthusiasts brimming with ideas and burning inspirations can rejoice as Nokia announces the debut of the Nokia Singapore Art 2001, a biennial national visual art exhibition sponsored by Nokia and jointly organised by the National Arts Council, Singapore Art Museum and National Heritage Board. Second year running, the festival will see the winning works of aspiring, talented artists on display at the historical Singapore Art Museum and other prominent art centres end of this year.

The Nokia Singapore Art 2001, embracing a new theme called Histories/Identities/Technologies/Spaces (HITS): Singapore Art Today, is organised with the objective of promoting art appreciation, innovation and stimulating artistic visions within the community. It underlines Nokia's corporate philosophy of Connecting People in an all -embracing world of easy communications through the development of Human Technology by delivering innovative and user-friendly products, solutions and services that enhances the lives of individuals.

Said Mr Alan Nicklos, General Manager of Nokia Pte Ltd, "Innovation, freedom of expression, originality and human needs are key to our business and its constant evolving growth. By embracing art and the imaginations of the artists, we are creating a common platform with which people can explore their ideas and communicate. In doing so, we hope to bring the arts closer to the community as part of Nokia's corporate philosophy in Connecting People."

The Nokia Singapore Art 2001 exhibition will be held from 8 December 2001 to 3 February 2002. The large-scale visual art event will showcase a series of curated works by individual artists or independent curators, art societies, academics and galleries who will be invited to express their creativity on the evolution of art in Singapore in relation to histories, identities, technologies and spaces through their works. These artworks will subsequently be exhibited at strategic locations which also include outdoor areas such as Fort Canning Park and Raffles Place.

In addition to the curated works, the public will also get the opportunity to view the works of the five Singapore winners of Nokia Arts Awards - Asia Pacific 2001, details of which will be announced at a later date. The Nokia Arts Awards is an art competition initiated by Nokia with the vision of celebrating innovation and artistic visions amongst youth. Held annually, and in conjunction with the Nokia Singapore Art 2001 this year, the event takes place in local markets across the Asia Pacific region which subsequently culminates to a regional competition.

The Nokia Arts Awards held last year had the theme Playground of Your Imagination, in which youths between 17 - 25 years old were invited to give full play to their creativity. The art competition was a big success and drew more than five thousand impressive entries across 14 markets, a more-than-three-fold increase from 1999. Coming up tops were participants from the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and China. Two Singapore winners, both students from the LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, were awarded Certificates of Merit for their creative visionary concepts.

The Nokia Arts Awards for this year, due to make its debut soon with a new, refreshing theme, promises yet another round of excitement for all young and passionate art enthusiasts. (Details of the competition will be released at a later date)

Invitations are now open to all artists to submit their works for the Nokia Singapore Art 2001.