Affordable Art Fair Singapore returns to the F1 Pit Building from 26 to 29 November 2026, and advance tickets cost S$24 until 22 November. If you’ve ever wondered whether owning an original painting is something people your age can do, this 19th edition puts 97 galleries, workshops and giant inflatables in one building.
The organisers have built the fair around their See Art, Love Art, Own Art theme, and the 2026 programme leans hard on the middle step. “People often think they need to know something about art before they can engage with it”, when it usually starts with “seeing something that catches your attention and wanting to understand why.” That’s a reassuring thing to hear if your current art collection is a framed concert poster from Shopee.
Let’s Talk About the Price Tag
The word affordable is doing a lot of work here, so walk in with a firm budget in mind before a gallerist starts telling you about the artist’s process.
The Living With Art listing includes the etching Flight at S$700 and the mixed-media piece Blue Moon Papaver at S$900. Over at The Art of Noticing by Moleskine, four Singapore artists (Justin Lee, Yong Wee Loon, Quek Kiat Sing and Paul Koh) each reworked the same Moleskine notebook, and the signed, framed originals start from S$900. Yong Wee Loon’s Kaya Toast, First Class 2026 and Paul Koh’s Can lah Soup (that’s “lah”, the Singlish word that turns “can” into a confident yes) are both listed at that price, and they’re the most Singaporean way to start a collection we’ve seen in a while.
There’s a quality bar too: the organisers say galleries submit details of each artist’s practice and materials months ahead, and editioned works must be limited runs. Plenty of people take the plunge, since the 2025 edition hit a record S$5.7 million in art sales across 95 galleries.
Meet the Inflatable Zoo
The headline act is UTOPIA, a Special Project by South Korean sculptor Kim Woojin, presented by gallery FRAME BLUE across Level 3, Room D and Room F. Kim dreamed of becoming a zookeeper as a child, and he usually builds bright animal sculptures from stainless-steel units that he likens to cells. For this fair, he has blown that idea up, literally, into two inflatables: Dog, listed at 130 x 230 x 240cm, and Cat.
The fair describes the colours as being like a child’s crayon drawing, which sounds like a dream for your camera roll. If you loved the giant blow-up art at the Balloon Museum’s Pop Air, these inflatables may be worth a look.
Three Stops Worth Your Time
With 97 galleries across two floors, it helps to have a plan, and three spots on the programme stand out for first-timers.
Living With Art by Kelly Reedy (presented by INTERSECTIONS at Stand 3E-01) is the one to hit first. It’s a free drop-in drawing session where you respond to colour, line and texture on instinct, and the fair pitches it as a way to figure out your own taste before you spend a cent. Your piece then hangs on the workshop wall during the fair before you take it home.
Threads of Memory by Greek artist Ellie Lasthiotaki (Kalliston Art Gallery with Gallery 1819, Stand 3E-04) suspends fragments of old paintings and threads above sand, and visitors can leave a temporary mark in the sand below. The installation itself is priced at S$9,800.
The Director’s Cut in Level 2, Room A is Alan Koh’s personal pick of works from across the galleries, and you can buy straight off the wall. Think of it as a shortcut when 871 artists feels like too many. Elsewhere, British-Nigerian artist Damilola Odusote’s Go with the Flow pours colourful squares out of an oversized tap in the Level 2 stairwell, and his Café Takeover spills into the Group Therapy café.
Make Something
The hands-on programme sits mostly in the Creative Hub, Level 3, Room F. NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) runs The Workshop through its Centre for Lifelong Education, with sessions covering techniques like collage, watercolour, printmaking and leather craft. The full daily schedule lives on the fair’s What’s On page.
The Caregiving Welfare Association (CWA), the fair’s charity partner, runs A Little Sunshine, a sunflower painting activity on a mini canvas, every day of the fair. Its guided version, Draw Your Own Garden, runs on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November at 1pm to 2.30pm and 4pm to 5.30pm, you sign up at CWA’s stand, and walk-ins depend on space. Proceeds support CWA’s work with caregivers and seniors.
Bringing younger siblings? The Children’s Art Studio by Art Wonderland and Republic Polytechnic offers a free 10-minute puppet-making activity and Ready, Set, Play!, a S$15, one-hour game-making workshop for ages four to 12.
Friday Night Is the Move
On Friday 27 November, the fair stays open until 10pm for Art After Work, which the organisers describe as an evening of art, music, food, drinks and activities, all included with General Admission. Between 6pm and 9pm, NAFA runs a leather craft class where you make your own bag charm, and Moleskine gives a free notebook charm with a qualifying purchase that evening, while stocks last.
CWA’s Friday raffle asks for a suggested donation per entry, with one entry per person, and the prize is a small artwork by Ferlyn, its eight-year-old volunteer artist, handed over by Ferlyn herself. Food comes from Group Therapy, Chimichanga, Si Chuan Dou Hua, Good Boy George and Khao, plus a Wine Bar. Since a single ticket allows multiple entries across the fair, you can scout on Friday night and come back on the weekend once you’ve slept on that painting.
Who’s in the Room
This year’s 97 galleries come from 20 countries, and 80 of them are from Asia, according to the organisers. Singapore brings 28 galleries, while South Korea jumps from 21 galleries in 2025 to 29 this year. Local gallery Art Forum is presenting Kamalakannan Srimalan and Eugenia Tan, a husband-and-wife duo who started out as collectors and only began painting after buying their first work in 2021, which is about as encouraging an origin story as a first-time buyer could ask for.
🗓️ Date: 26 to 29 November 2026 (Thursday 26 November is the Private View)
⏰ Time: Thu 26 Nov, 2pm to 10pm (Private View); Fri 27 Nov, 12pm to 10pm; Sat 28 and Sun 29 Nov, 10am to 7pm
📍 Location: F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore 038975
🎟️ Tickets: S$24 advance until 22 Nov, with concession tickets available
🔗 Details: Affordable Art Fair Singapore
The smartest move is to lock in the S$24 advance ticket before 22 November, block out Friday evening, and go in knowing your budget, because that S$700 etching might end up meaning more than another pair of sneakers. Grab your tickets and check the daily workshop schedule on the Affordable Art Fair Singapore website, and maybe start clearing a wall in your HDB now!
Photos courtesy of Affordable Art Fair.
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