MANY people go to Singapore for the food, for the shopping, for the lush, spotlessly clean parks and for the nightlife. What many people don’t know is that Singapore is also a city for art lovers.

At the National Museum of Singapore, there is a room filled with green balloons. It is an installation work created by British minimalist Martin Creed, who won the coveted Turner Prize in 2001. The London artist uses whatever medium is at hand, and entitles his works with numerals. His “Work No. 262: Half the Air in a Given Space” fills half a room with lime-colored balloons.

The installation piece at the National Museum of Singapore is one of 34 works selected from more than 26,000 artworks at the French Regional Collections of Contemporary Art for an exhibition called “What Is Not Visible Is Not Invisible.” It’s the first time works from the French collection are on display in the city.

Singapore is feeding its ambition to be an Asian artistic and cultural hub with an array of attractions, including diversified exhibitions and events at both public and private museums. Last year alone, the island state hosted 1,041 visual arts exhibitions.

The city boasts more than 110 art museums and galleries, including the National Museum, the Singapore Art Museum, the ArtScience Museum and National Gallery Singapore.

The 2016 edition of the Singapore Biennale, which runs through February, is underway now. It’s entitled “An Atlas of Mirrors,” exploring the shared histories and contemporary trends in Asia and beyond. According to curators, it provides viewers with “unexpected ways of seeing the world and ourselves” through contemporary art. It features the works of more than 60 Asian artists.

The biennale is spread across five institutions, including the National Museum and the Singapore Art Museum.

Established in 1887, the National Museum is oldest in Singapore. Designed in a neo-Palladian and Renaissance style, the building itself is an attraction to see. It has undergone redevelopment several times in the last century, adding a modernist extension in glass and metal.

The Glass Passage, a must-see, rises about 11 meters off the ground and is one of the world’s largest existing outdoor self-supporting glass structures.

The museum has a naturally lit rotunda, topped with a dome of 3,000 zinc fish-scaled tiles. The rotunda now features an installation of used aluminium vessels suspended from the ceiling with strings. Its creator is Indian artist Subodh Gupta. The thought-provoking installation is entitled “Cooking the World,” a highlighted of the biennale.

The Singapore Art Museum, opened in 1996, is housed in a renovated former Catholic boys’ school built in 1855. It specializes in contemporary art.

The museum’s central building houses galleries resplendent with space, a glass hall for exhibition openings and special events, a chapel used for seminars, film screenings and lectures, and the Waterloo Wing and Queen Street Wing for art exhibitions.

Among the works for the biennale are three pieces by young Chinese artist Ni Youyu. A work entitled “Dust” is based on a photo picturing the night sky above Singapore.

The museum provides free daily guided tours in a selection of languages.

The ArtScience Museum is another attraction in Singapore that draws big numbers of visitors. It opened in February 2011. It is designed in the shape of a lotus and sits in the popular Marina Bay Sands area, just outside the casino and a shopping mall. The museum features 21 gallery spaces covering 6,000 square meters.

Its current major exhibition is entitled “Journey to Infinity: Escher’s World of Wonder.” For those interested in mathematics, there are more than 150 original artworks by M.C. Escher, a graphic artist and master of mathematical representation. Interactive activities such as the Tessellation Puzzle, Escher’s Relativity Room and the Tessellation Print Workshop will delight children as well as adults.

To experience Singaporean and Southeast Asian art, head to the National Gallery Singapore.

This gallery just celebrated its first anniversary, a distinguished year featuring art programs, interactive activities, live performances and educational workshops.

Occupying two iconic buildings — the former Supreme Court and City Hall — the gallery boasts over 8,000 pieces of art from Singapore’s national collection. It is the largest venue of visual arts in the city.

The gallery has joined hands with the Tate in London to present an exhibition entitled “Artist and Empire: (En)countering Colonial Legacies.” It runs through March, featuring about 200 works from both regional and international collections spanning from the 16th century to the present.

Apart from major public art museums, Singapore has many smaller galleries and studios worth a visit.

Gillman Barracks, the former British military barracks, now house a cluster of galleries, including FOST, ShanghART and the YEO Workshop, along with the Nanyang Technological University’s Center for Contemporary Art and a few art organizations such as Playeum’s Children’s Center for Creativity.

Sometimes you don’t even have to venture beyond your hotel to appreciate art in Singapore.

The Pan Pacific Singapore has teamed up with the Dahlia Gallery for an exhibition entitled “Fate.” It features a collection of pomegranate-inspired paintings by Malaysia-born artist Koh Hwee-khoon.

Some local galleries, such as the STPI Creative Workshop & Gallery and the Instic Art Space, also organize workshops, art fairs and public programs.

Last but not least, if you love piano music, you will find “Play It Forward” a unique experience. Its originators have placed old, donated pianos in various public locations for anyone to play.

• National Museum of Singapore

Address: 93 Stamford Rd

Opening hours: 10am-7pm

Current exhibition: “What Is Not Visible Is Not Invisible” (through February 19)

• Singapore Art Museum

Address: 71 Bras Basah Rd

Opening hours: 10am-7am (Saturdays-Thursdays), 10am-9pm (Fridays)

Current exhibition: “Singapore Biennale 2016” (through February 26)

• ArtScience Museum

Address: 10 Bayfront Avenue

Opening hours: 10am-7pm

Current exhibition: “Journey to Infinity: Escher’s World of Wonder” (through February 26)

• National Gallery Singapore

Address: 1 St Andrew’s Rd

Opening hours: 10am-7pm (Sundays-Thursdays), 10am-10pm (Fridays-Saturdays)

Current exhibition: “Artist and Empire: (En)countering Colonial Legacies” (through March 26)

• Gillman Barracks

Address: 9 Lock Rd

Current exhibition: “Artefact: Unearthing Relics of the Future” (through February 26)

“Welcome to Birdhead World Again – Singapore @ ShanghART” (through January 22)

Upcoming events in Singapore

Singapore Art Week

Date: January 11-22

Venue: various locations

Website: www.artweek.sg

Art Stage Singapore

Date: January 12-15

Venue: various locations

Website: www.artstage.com

Singapore Design Week

Date: March 3-12

Venue: various locations

Website: new.designsingapore.org/sdw (information not updated yet)

I Light Marina Bay

Date: March 3-26

Venue: Marina Bay Waterfront

Website: www.ilightmarinabay.sg