Three Singaporeans up for Sovereign Asian Art Prize, richest art purse in Asia

Three Singapore artists - Boo Sze Yang, Robert Zhao Renhui and Debbie Ding - are among 30 finalists vying for a major regional art prize.

The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, with a prize purse of US$30,000, is the largest regional award for arts. It was founded in 2003 by the Sovereign Art Foundation, which is set up by a global group of financial companies.

Both conceptual artist Ding, 28, and painter Boo, 47, are first-time finalists of the prize. For artist Zhao, 30, however, it is his second-consecutive year as a finalist.

The prize drew a record number of entries this year with 300 nominated artists from 25 countries.