Singapore is fantastically modern.  The city-state offers many attractions for the savviest world travelers, and anyone looking to keep up with contemporary culture will surely find some interesting threads to follow here.  It’s been a few steps ahead of the rest of the world for fashion, and for its knowledge of, and ability to invent, pop culture, for some time now.  It has some of the most interesting new visual art in the international arena, and great performance culture.  For food lovers, the best Singapore restaurants are also a cut above the rest, catering to a very discerning public.

You’ll love sampling some of the best of the best, and after every meal here you’ll be reminded of why Singapore has such a splendid reputation for cuisine.  Its cultural diversity helps to make its art and its food culture some of the best in the world, blending the exceptional elements in every cuisine to make excellent new creations.  There are also classical tastes here that find a perfect home, where the master chefs are as schooled in tradition as much as innovation.  A fine meal is the perfect beginning, or even ending, to a perfect evening.  While you’re out sampling the exquisite foods, you’ll certainly find your head turning at the immense visual appeal of the place, and this is the perfect time to have a look at the local art.  Try to arrange for some time at Linda Gallery where you can see some very interesting and challenging art from the region.

One of its artists, Wu Shaoxiang has some incredible sculptural works as well as paintings that are deceptively intriguing.  At first glance, they will appear to be reconfigurations of classical Asian works, as well as iconic shapes, such as hearts and ladders.  On closer examination, they are constructed entirely out of coins or bills.  The not-so-subtle statement becomes much more complex when looking at the works in their entirety, when a larger cultural critique begins to surface, and we start to see his genius at work.  Wu Shaoxiang is one of China’s leading avant-garde artists, and a major figure in its New Wave Art Movement.  He’s part of a larger trend in the Asian art world, which is just beginning to show its ability to stand very tall in the international art scene, and is also beginning to influence the next generation of artists in the world.