Constance Sheares
Constance Alice Chengliu Sheares is a Singaporean arts administrator, curator, and writer. Sheares helped establish the National Museum Art Gallery in 1976, curating its inaugural exhibition and other major exhibitions. Through exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions initiated at the Museum, Sheares helped to shape the basis of art institutions and art historical discourse in Singapore.
She was a curator at the National Museum of Singapore between 1971 and 1976, and 1982 to 1988, and later an independent curator and consultant for various organisations. In 2025, Sheares was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.
Early life
Born in Singapore in 1941, Sheares grew up in a Singapore recovering from World War II. Sheares is the daughter of Benjamin Sheares, a doctor at Kandang Kerbau Hospital who later became the second president of Singapore in 1971, and Yeo Seh Geok Sheares.She attended the Raffles Girls' School from 1947 to 1958. In 1959, she moved to the United Kingdom to attend the private boarding school, Roedean School, until 1960. Between 1962 and 1966, Sheares attended the Courtauld Institute of Art, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in European art history, later obtaining a master's degree in Asian art history from the University of Singapore, studying there from 1967 to 1970. Sheares would write her master's thesis on Southeast Asian textiles, with her later fieldwork and acquisitions for the museum serving as one of the most valuable resources on the subject matter. In 1971, she went to work at the National Museum, where she was the curator of anthropology.
Career
Further curatorial work in the 80s
Sheares was involved in the design and display of the Southeast Asian Gallery when it was renovated in 1982, and in the transfer of exhibits from the teaching collection of the then University of Singapore to the museum. During her time as curator, Sheares would bring in half a million dollars' worth of contemporary art for the museum, through public funding and private donations. Sheares was one of the visitors to the first exhibitions at The Artists Village in Ulu Sembawang, an artist commune in a farming area founded by performance artist Tang Da Wu. Works by Tang, Vincent Leow and Wong Shih Yeow would be acquired soon after her visit.Since the early 80s, Sheares and the museum would lobby for a larger space for the display and storage of artworks. In 1987, after six years of lobbying and discussions, it was announced that the National Museum Art Gallery would take over the St. Joseph's Institution building at Bras Basah Road, what would eventually launch in 1996 as the Singapore Art Museum.
In 1988, Sheares would leave the National Museum Art Gallery, continuing to promote art and acting as a consultant to art buyers, also lecturing on art history. She acted as consultant to Deutsche Bank in their acquisition of Singapore artworks for their local offices, and also curated exhibitions of the artists they supported, such as Henri Chen KeZhan, Eng Tow, Goh Beng Kwan, S. Chandrasekaran and Jimmy Ong.
Later curatorial work
Sheares was art consultant for the Land Transport Authority's Art in Transit programme, which integrated public art into the Mass Rapid Transit stations along the North East line that began in 1997 and started operation in 2003, the most geographically extensive public art project in Singapore. Sheares would recommend and work with artists most likely to create works that could integrated within the architectural structure of the stations, featuring works by Singapore artists such as Tan Swie Hian, Chua Ek Kay and Milenko & Delia Prvački, the Art in Transit programme would continue on for future MRT lines in Singapore.Sheares was also on the acquisition committees of the Singapore Art Museum and the National Museum of Singapore, also involved in the acquisition of art for Changi Airport Terminal 3, and is further credited for the art exhibited at locations such as The Istana and Parliament House. In 2025, she was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.