• Situation

National Gallery Singapore houses the largest collection of modern art in Southeast Asia. But there isn’t an appreciable museum-going culture amongst Singaporeans. This is partly due to a perception that art is a sophisticated and intimidating subject for many. Since 2019, visitorship has declined by almost 65%, largely due to the pandemic and its restrictions on international travel, as tourists made up a large part of visitorship.

• Brief

We were tasked to extend the exposure of art beyond the walls of the museums and show locals what National Gallery Singapore has to offer. To do this, we had to first make art accessible to people of all ages and walks of life, and appeal to a nation that is indifferent to art.

• Objectives

Drive locals to view the full collections of artwork at National Gallery Singapore and increase membership signups.

To appeal to a nation that is indifferent to art, we brought art to where it couldn’t go unnoticed – their homes. 83% of Singaporeans live in public housing that share a distinct feature – void decks. Empty public spaces beneath every flat with untouched walls.

Utilising its blank walls that resemble those found in museums, we transformed these sterile spaces into modern art galleries, injecting them with colour and culture through vivid design elements and intriguing AR artworks. Through AR technology, we were able to bring prominent artworks from National Gallery Singapore to the walls of humble neighbourhoods.

Apart from viewing the artworks, visitors were treated to a suite of interactive features often found in museums such as audio guides and video aids.

All visitors needed were their smartphones.

We designed the campaign with the aim of reaching the average Singaporean. People from all walks of life who never really considered art as part of their culture, let alone visit a museum. For them, art has no place in their daily lives. That's why we decided to change that and bring art to where it couldn't be ignored – their homes.

To make art more accessible to everyone, the campaign was communicated through ‘Singlish’– a flavourful colloquial bastardisation of the English language used by 100% of Singaporeans. This debunked the misconceptions that art is highbrow, making the art galleries less intimidating and more approachable for people, even the older generation found it engaging and relatable.

Visitors could also toggle between the 4 main languages used in Singapore.

To launch this campaign, we collaborated with town councils across the nation, ensuring that the galleries are just a stone's throw away from everyone regardless of where they reside. Through independent research and surveys, we identified key void decks in these neighbourhoods that had high footfall to increase the exposure of the campaign. And overnight we transformed 27 void decks into interactive AR art galleries with simple QR codes.

The QR codes also gave us the flexibility that permanent street art lacked. Over the campaign's 3-month timeline, we were able to schedule weekly artwork rotations to keep the experience novel for returning visitors.

The campaign was initially scheduled to run for 3 months, but due to overwhelming response, town councils have made it a permanent fixture in void decks.

We launched the campaign with 27 void decks in 5 different towns across the entire nation, but because of demand, 13 new galleries have been added, including one at a shopping mall in the city centre.

Since the launch of the campaign, there have been tangible results seen through a significant uptick in Gallery memberships signups.

The Gallery also saw a shift in the demographics of visitors with locals forming about 60% of its total visitorship.

The campaign generated $1.4 million in earned media and $475,000 in AVE.