Director’s Message

DIRECTOR’S

MESSAGE

Dear friends,

At the Gallery, we are constantly looking to showcase the dynamism of art from our region and beyond, and reveal how artists have always embraced journeys of growth and change. Four new exhibitions and a film festival opening in the coming months all speak to this aspect of artistic practice, presenting exciting new avenues for our audiences to explore.

Happening in July, Painting with Light, the Gallery's festival of international films on art, will present a diverse range of films and programmes that respond to the theme "Interventions in Space," examining how artists have constantly sought to interrupt established patterns in the world around them.

The next chapter in our exploration of Wu Guanzhong's highly established, decades-long career likewise commences in July. This exciting new exhibition is a first for the Gallery, having been co-created by some of the Gallery’s longest serving docents. Their curatorial take on Wu’s life and work brings fresh perspectives on Wu's artistic practice, also demonstrating his continuous personal and artistic evolution.

The end of July brings Nothing is Forever, the first major sculpture show in three decades. Nothing is Forever delves into the development of sculpture since the 19th century, going beyond traditional forms to explore the medium’s spiritual, performative and even participatory facets. At its heart, the show aims to surprise audiences by challenging the very definition of sculpture.

August will see a new exhibition in our experimental space, Dalam Southeast Asia, located within the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery. Titled Familiar Others, the exhibition focuses on the works of three Southeast Asian modern artists who journeyed to places such as Papua in Indonesia, Cordillera in the Philippines, and Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. By tracing their journeys, Familiar Others illustrates how these artists explored and represented cultures both familiar and unfamiliar.

As September draws to a close, don't miss the chance to see the largest showcase of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in Singapore, Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia. The exhibition celebrates the vast and diverse range of artistic practices in the region and draws relations between past and present as well as Australia and Southeast Asia.

Through all this and much more, we look forward to welcoming you to the Gallery for many new and illuminating journeys with art.

Eugene Tan

Director, National Gallery Singapore