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ABOUT THE ROTUNDA LIBRARY & ARCHIVE COLLECTION
National Gallery Singapore was established in 2015 as a leading visual arts institution overseeing the world’s largest public collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. Guided by its curatorial vision to present the art histories of Singapore and Southeast Asia; reflexively (re)write the art histories of Singapore and Southeast Asia; and examine these art histories in relation to the global history of art, the Gallery has developed a significant collection of artists’ archives and a reference library focusing on Singapore and Southeast Asian art.
The Gallery’s Rotunda, located at the heart of the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery (Level 3, Supreme Court Wing), is a site of historical importance. During the building’s former life as the Supreme Court of Singapore, the Rotunda served as the Law Library. Housed in this historical space, the Rotunda Library & Archive extends the memory of this site while serving a new function as a research hub for the study of art history in Southeast Asia.
WHERE TO FIND US
Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Rotunda Library & Archive
National Gallery Singapore
1 St Andrew's Road, Singapore 178957
OPERATING HOURS
The Rotunda Library & Archive is accessible at the following timings.
Monday to Friday
10am-12.30pm and 2-5pm (closed on public holidays).
*The hours may change, please check out our admission page for the latest updates on the operating hours.
For further assistance or enquiries, please write to library.archive@nationalgallery.sg. You may also access a large selection of materials in our Library & Archive collection on our Collections Search Portal.
HOW TO USE THE ROTUNDA LIBRARY & ARCHIVE
Please click here for frequently asked questions about accessing and using our library & archive and Collections Search Portal.
CONTACT
Phone: +65 6690 9446
For any enquiries, please write to library.archive@nationalgallery.sg
Explore the Rotunda Library & Archive in this photo carousel.
The Rotunda Library & Archive has been building partnerships with artists, artist estates, art communities and institutions in Singapore and Southeast Asia to digitise rare archival materials. Below are some highlights from our archive.
The Rotunda Library & Archive aims to be a leading library housing one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Singapore and Southeast Asian art-historical resources from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Our collection currently holds over 20,000 physical and digital items, including rare publications, exhibition catalogues, ephemera and digital archives, made possible through generous donations, publication exchanges with various art institutions in the region, and partnerships with the estates of Southeast Asian modern art pioneers, such as Georgette Chen and Lim Hak Tai (Singapore), S. Sudjojono (Indonesia) and Kalaw Ledesma Foundation (the Philippines).
Most archival acquisitions are conducted through loans or donations from the archives’ owners (artists, artists’ families, estates and art communities). The Library & Archive preserves the donated physical archives and digitises loaned archives.
A large selection of materials in our Library & Archive collection is searchable here (You will be redirected to our Collections Search Portal). Due to copyright restrictions and levels of permission from the archive owners, some items are only available for viewing onsite. You can view these items in the Collections Search Portal with our digital viewing facility at the Gallery’s Rotunda Library & Archive.
Contine exploring the largest public collection of modern art from Singapore and Southeast Asia
