Kevin Lim

National Gallery Singapore is an exciting platform showcasing Southeast Asian visual arts to a global audience.  The Gallery spans around 64,000 sqm, occupies the neoclassical buildings of former Supreme Court and City Hall, and aims to be a world-class art institution featuring both permanent collections and changing exhibitions that places Singapore on the world stage of visual arts.

As a half a billion dollar start-up (largely the cost of conserving the buildings), the government sees National Gallery Singapore as a major step forward in helping to establish the visual art ecosystem necessary to support the cultural needs of our citizens, regional neighbors and beyond. To do so, a creative tension exists where the twin goals of the Gallery seeks a) to promote artistic excellence among cultural peers, yet to do so b) in an accessible and engaging way for the general public. Finally, to achieve all this in a sustainable fashion.

To enable this, Kevin kickstarted several areas at the Gallery, including:

1. Coordinating the Gallery’s vision and mission to help set the institution’s strategic direction
2. Audience segmentation, visitor journeys and feedback systems to assess how Gallery could better serve our community
3. Leveraging tools such as Wifi, iBeacons, and Data Visualization to study our visitors’ traits and preferences
4. Developing interactive features (eg Gallery Explorer App) which enables visits to take self-guided tours and navigate to key artworks through iBeacon and QR Codes.

Kevin Lim graduated with a doctorate from the State University at Buffalo, New York and his work has revolved around the reflexive nature of communication technology and social networks, in particular:

1. PhD Dissertation
   Internet Control & Anti-Control – An Examination of Public Deliberation through Networked Media on Civil Sovereignty in China (Aug 2009, available at http://antictrl.com)

2. Master’s Thesis
   Social Capital among online non-profit organizations (2006, available upon request)