Rachel Teo, co-founder of The Private Museum, and Robb Report Singapore Gala 2024’s Patron of the Arts award recipient on cultivating a passion for arts and culture
The premise for The Private Museum is a simple one: to provide a space and curated platform that encourages private art collectors to exhibit their pieces. But far from an indulgent exercise pandering to a closed group of aficionados, the non-profit museum hopes to push the boundaries and spark dialogue for art appreciation and, in doing so, inspire a new generation of artists, audiences and patrons.
“I remember asking one collector, ‘Why do you collect art?’ He replied, ‘Because art moves my soul.’ So I said, ‘Please help me move more souls by sharing your collection with the public’,” says Rachel Teo, who co-founded The Private Museum in 2010 with her father, Daniel, a renowned architect, philanthropist and real estate developer who is himself an avid art collector and enthusiast.
The Private Museum, which is free to visit and is open to the public seven days a week, has grown from a niche museum that sparks curiosity, to a veritable institution that is ingrained in Singapore’s arts ecosystem. Besides staging shows that embrace a spectrum of disciplines from paintings to poetry readings (the museum has organised almost 55 shows at last count), it also seeks to engage the community with public outreach programmes.
Teo recalls an early show, Thoughts of Gulag, by artist James Holdworth, as being demonstrative of The Private Museum’s ethos. “It featured some pretty gruesome scenes, which would not have been possible for a commercial gallery to show. But it was important for an artist to be able to do an exhibition on the topics they feel strongly about (that is) not just about making a sale,” she says.
Growing ambitions
In 2021, The Private Museum relocated from its original space at Waterloo Street to a two-storey colonial villa on Upper Wilkie Road. Moving from a 1,500 sq ft unit to an 8,000 sq ft building not only suggests that the museum has grown in stature, but also demonstrates its ambitions to reach out to more people.
Since the move, the museum has been staging larger exhibitions. This year, it held a 15-strong collector show featuring more than 50 works, as well as As One Thing Flows To Another, which showcased works of eight visual artists and featured collaborations with music charity Teng Company as well as photographer and women’s group advocate Dr. Chua Yang.
There is a sense of inevitability with Teo’s involvement with the arts. Growing up in a household that champions creative expression— Teo’s mother, Goh Soo Khim, is the awardwinning ballerina who co-founded Singapore’s first professional dance company, the Singapore Dance Theatre, in 1988—she probably had the most comprehensive arts education that anyone could’ve asked for.
“I grew up surrounded by art in varying media. Memorabilia from our travels would typically come in the form of an art work or a sculpture. My father’s love for conservation and preservation has been a lifelong admiration of mine,” she says.
Teo’s parents’ influence has certainly made a lasting impression. Beyond inculcating in her a love for all kinds of art, the close interactions among the collectors, artists, audience and patrons provoked deeper questions on what she could do to support the community. In the 1990s, her family had started working with local schools by giving scholarships to Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts students. A few years ago, an artist approached Teo to tell her that his art career started because of the scholarship.
“That was one of the experiences that made me realise the importance of giving back to the community,” says Teo.
“When I mention patronage, I am referring to everyone who has walked through our exhibitions,” she adds. “It helps keep our culture and heritage alive. If, in 20 years, someone tells me that he was inspired to be an artist, curator or patron after visiting The Private Museum, I’d say that we have done our job.”
