Singapore - Beginning in 2017, the Singapore Art Museum and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Qagoma) will begin a five-year collaboration which will see both art institutions exchange expertise on curatorial, research, training and programming matters.

The cooperation, which may be extended, will also result in a jointly curated contemporary art exhibition to be held in both countries from 2019.

The partnership was formalised today (Oct 28) with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two art institutions.

Qagoma is a key Australian art museum with a collection of more than 17,000 works of historical, modern and contemporary art. It also has a long-standing focus on the contemporary art of Australia, Asia and the Pacific region.

This collaboration will be the Singapore Art Museum's longest and most significant partnership with an art institution since its corporatisation in 2013.

The memorandum of understanding is also Qagoma's first wide-ranging formal agreement with an institution in Asia.

The Singapore Art Museum curatorial co-head Joyce Toh said in a press statement that the partnership is "forged on common interests to promote and advance the art of this region".

Similarly, Qagoma's director Chris Saines, said it is "delighted" to partner with the Singapore Art Museum, with whom it shares "the vision of presenting the most thought-provoking contemporary art from our region."

Earlier in June and last month, Qagoma hosted two groups of staff from the Singapore museum to learn about its collections and operations.