Mr Kwee Liong Keng, Chairman, Singapore Art Museum,

Mr William Adamopoulos, Vice President/ Managing Director - Asia of Forbes Inc.,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

The Singapore Art Museum and FORBES Global deserve our commendation for their collaborative effort in bringing The FORBES Magazine Collection of Fabergé objects of art to Singapore. The horrendous and callous acts of terrorism in New York and at the Pentagon had affected the arrangements for this exhibition. It was through the goodwill and resourcefulness of the Forbes Global staff that they were able to overcome the tragic circumstances and made it possible for the exhibition to proceed. In a small way, it epitomizes the spirit of the American people and their resilience in the face of inhuman acts of terrorism. Forbes Global staff, despite what must surely be deep sorrow and grieve, carried on with their work. I would like to specially thank them for the effort and to express my deep sympathy and condolences to all the victims and their families who had suffered grievously from the terrorist attacks.

The Exhibition Fabulous Fabergé is an example of the happy confluence of art and the corporate arena of collecting and sponsorship. In our vision to be a cultural Renaissance City, Singapore acknowledges the role which international artists, impresarios and corporate collectors can contribute to a vibrant cultural life in our country. The subject of the exhibition � the House of Fabergé and its exquisite objects of art � could well offer food for thought on art and business, patronage and cultural wealth.

St. Petersburg of imperial Russia was a cosmopolitan city attracting many foreign investors and talents that contributed to the vitality of the Russian economy and cultural life. The House of Fabergé was a sparkling phenomenon in the Russian cultural world before the First War and the final collapse of Russian imperial rule. Imagine for a while the epochal brilliance of Russian arts around the turn of the 19^th century: in music, it was the era of Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky; in dance, there was choreographer Michel Fokine and dancers Nijinsky and Pavlova; the era also belonged to literary giants, such as Chekhov, Gorky and Tolstoy; and spawned the Russian school in visual arts with Tatlin, Malevich, Chagall and Kandinsky. When imperial Russia collapsed, many of these now famous artistes whose names were etched in the canons of the world art continued to produce and perform in the West, enriching the cultural life and developments in the cities and disciplines they adopted and espoused. Their great works had contributed to global cultural heritage. We would have been culturally poorer without these artists and their creative energies.

In the field of the decorative arts, Fabergé�s contributions were no less significant. Its legacy of exquisite objects of art ranks with Cartier�s and Tiffany�s own. The success of the House of Fabergé may be attributed to many factors. Certainly the fact that the firm enjoyed the patronage of the imperial family more than any other of its competitors was a significant factor. But the entrepreneurial Peter Carl Fabergé, the firm�s patriarch, was fundamental in steering the firm to unrivalled growth and prestige. Fabergé employed craftsmen from all parts of Europe. In this light it is perhaps not at all surprising that Fabergé objects were characterised by a stylistic eclecticism that saw influences ranging from classical European elements to contemporaneous design trends, and from indigenous Slavic traditions to aesthetic traditions of Japan and China. Fabergé�s stylistic eclecticism appealed to a sophisticated international clientele, yet the firm was concurrently able to produce objects more suited to localised tastes in Moscow where workshops were opened to serve the growing class of wealthy industrialists and merchants. While Fabergé reflected the tastes of its clients, it was also singularly quick in responding to contemporaneous technological advances that impacted on their lifestyle expressions. To service its global clientele, Fabergé had an office in London, built trans-national partnerships, published sales catalogues and operated sales runs to reach its clients. In short, the firm�s business strategy was amazingly modern.

Although the historical House of Fabergé ceased operations with the passing of the Russian imperial order, Fabergé objects of art continue their inspirational appeal to contemporary connoisseurs and designers. While the sumptuous creations of Fabergé were decidedly symbols of power and wealth in its time, belonging strictly to the elite circles of the aristocracy and the moneyed class, such elitist distinctions are now eroded by time and history. Vast numbers of Fabergé objects are now in public collections in America and Europe, or as in the case of The FORBES Magazine Collection, they are displayed in galleries where the public has access to view them. Indeed, Fabergé objects are now very much in the public domain, accessible if not physically through exhibition displays, then certainly through print and the mass media, as well as licensed merchandise in every conceivable form. Fabergé continues to exist as a trademark owned by Uni-Lever, and we continue to see contemporary productions of objects in the style of the historical Fabergé by licensed designers.

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