Singapore may not have a pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year but it made its presence felt at the prestigious art show with a delegation of nine artists, curators and administrators who were there recently on a pilot networking and exposure programme.

The three-day mission was introduced by the National Arts Council as part of plans by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to pave Singapore's return to the next edition of the biennale in 2015.

The council's director of visual arts Paul Tan, 42, says: "The trip is intended for them to understand and experience the scale and demands of the Venice Biennale even early on in their careers.

"We would like some of these artists and curators in this group to develop the potential for large-scale commissions in the future. It will expand the pool of talent for the commissioning process for the next few editions."

The group comprised artists such as Debbie Ding and Tan Guo-Liang and curators and administrators such as Joleen Loh and Charmaine Toh. The artists were picked for their strong body of work and representation in public, while curators and administrators who are active in the field and show potential were selected.

The delegation was led by Dr Charles Merewether, director of the Lasalle College of the Arts' Institute of Contemporary Arts. They visited a host of exhibitions and pavilions and met members of the international arts community that had gathered in Venice for the biennale.

Dr Merewether says: "This initiative is important, especially since Singapore is not participating in the Venice Biennale this year.

"It allows young Singapore curators and artists to see what is going on internationally, what contemporary artists in other countries are doing, and improve ourselves through such comparisons."

For artist Ding, 28, her maiden visit to the biennale was a "great learning experience" that offered inspiration for her practice.

Ding, a nominee of this year's Sovereign Asian Art Prize, says: "The scale of the works presented at the biennale and the monumental vision of some of the artists at the pavilions underscore how far an artist and curator producing a national pavilion would need to go in order to produce a work for the biennale."

She adds: "It would be an awesome challenge to show at the Venice Biennale but I think it would be a little more time before I would be ready for such an endeavour."

For artist Tan, 32, the trip was a valuable opportunity to gain "broader critical perspectives on the workings and impact" of the international art show through discussions with other artists and curators.

He adds: "It is encouraging to know that the National Arts Council sees the importance of Venice as a platform for our artists and remains invested in participating in future editions of the biennale."

Last year, the council said it would not set up a pavilion at this year's biennale because it was reviewing its participation and evaluating whether the cost was worth its while. Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong, however, said in Parliament earlier this year that the ministry has "reviewed this, and decided that our participation in international platforms such as the Venice Biennale is important in profiling our artists internationally".

The council also organised a networking event over brunch on the periphery of the biennale, attended by international arts professionals including critics, curators and members of the press. At the event, the council shared plans for the upcoming Singapore Biennale in October, as well as the opening of the National Art Gallery Singapore in 2015.

The council's Mr Tan says: "We see great value in leveraging on this relatively low-cost opportunity to market Singapore's upcoming visual art initiatives, and to profile and network our young artistic and curatorial talents to the international art world's luminaries."

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