EIGHT artists are going back to school, literally, for the opening show of 8Q sam, the hip new wing of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

The new space for contemporary art is a four-storey former school building at 8 Queen Street, a stone's throw from the main SAM building in Bras Basah Road.

Hip, edgy and experimental are the buzzwords for this building, which devotes its space to all things contemporary and arty, and pitches itself to a younger crowd.

It will showcase new art forms such as installation, video, performance and sound art, which will fill the six galleries of this 3,500 sq m space.

The first show is 8Q-Rate: School, which features eight artists, chosen by eight curators.

The artists have made works based on a school theme, inspired by the fact that the 8Q building used to be Catholic High School until 1987.

Incidentally, SAM is housed in the former St Joseph's Institution.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!