Singapore - Galleries focusing on art outside of Asia, Western Europe and the United States - such as a newly opened Russian art gallery - are adding to Singapore's flourishing visual arts scene.

What makes these galleries interesting is not just their unusual country focus or their commitment to show art from a seemingly exotic part of the world, but also the strong statement their art makes.

Take Sana Gallery in Blair Road, owned by Mr Assaad W. Razzouk, a British- Lebanese clean energy and climate change entrepreneur.

The gallery's recent exhibition titled Ordinary Lives featured Lebanese- American photographer Rania Matar's award-winning images of women in Middle Eastern war zones and private spaces.

Speaking to Life! on the telephone from Texas, where he is travelling, Mr Razzouk, 48, says: "I am trying to raise a small cultural flag to counter what you hear in the news or see on television. The Middle East, steeped in culture and history, has a horrific public relations image and I find it unfortunate that we do not get to talk about more than oil and gas or the violence."

When the entrepreneur moved to Singapore from London in 2009, he found the perfect cultural and gallery space in a Blair Road shophouse. "I was not competing with anyone and there was a chance to offer a platform for new images and ideas about the Middle East and to look at the connections between art and politics."

It is still early days to talk about sales, he says, as his focus in the initial years is to "raise awareness".

To do this, he has picked artists who address a cross-section of issues in the Middle East, ranging from politics to education to women's rights.

Similarly, at new gallery 11.12, strong socio-political undercurrents run in the ongoing exhibition, a solo by Russian contemporary artist Max Bashev.

This is the first South-east Asian gallery opened by Russian couple Alexander Sharov and Elvira Sharova. They were drawn to the city when they visited in August last year. They have two other galleries - one in Moscow and another in Arizona.

Mrs Sharova relocated here with their two children, aged 14 and 10, while her husband commutes between the three cities.

The soft-spoken Mrs Sharova, 39, says: "We felt international art has a fairly low profile in Singapore compared to local art. Given the country's location, it has a huge pool of possible collectors who have not been exposed enough to Russian art."

The couple saw a few spaces in the Orchard and Tanglin area before settling on Armenian Street. They moved into a 1,050 sq ft, fourth-floor space in a heritage building in November last year.

"I liked the loft-like feel of this space," says Mrs Sharova. "Being on the ground floor would have been ideal but we get to see the Peranakan Museum across the street from here."

As for ReDot Fine Art Gallery in Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a specialist in Aboriginal art, it is practically an old-timer on the scene. It opened in May 2004 and marks its 10th anniversary next year.

Run by banker-turned-gallerist Giorgio Pilla, it is today the largest space outside of Australia for ethically sourced Aboriginal works. It represents many of the top names in the Aboriginal art world including Makinti Napanagka and Naata Nungurrayi.

Mr Pilla, 43, says the decision to stick to this art form was simple as he had been collecting it for 10 years before he opened a gallery space.

"It was the art form I knew most about. I wanted to bring a depth and knowledge to the gallery that would encourage and make people buying the art in Singapore comfortable knowing that what they were being sold was good and on a par or even better than what they could source in Australia.

"By focusing on something that was not being shown by anybody else, I had a niche in the market and I could have a much bigger impact on the art scene here in Singapore," says Mr Pilla.

Over the years, relying on word of mouth and what he calls "strategically placed advertising", he has built up a loyal client base. Some of his collectors even fly in to view artworks often ranging in price from $3,000 to more than $100,000.

The gallery, he says, has grown significantly from the early days when it was in a shophouse and opened only by appointment. It has quadrupled in size both in sales and in physical space, and the clientele has become much more diverse.

Mr Pilla attributes this change to a greater awareness about art as well as the entry of art fairs such as Art Stage and Affordable Art Fair.

People are now open to art from other parts of the world, even though Asian art remains a big draw.

With other new gallerists moving in, Mr Pilla says: "It is a matter of education and art education is happening fast here."

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