Long-Term Exhibitions

CITY HALL: IF WALLS COULD TALK

Ongoing | City Hall Wing, Level 3, City Hall Chamber

Experience City Hall: If Walls Could Talk online at nationalgallery.sg/cityhall.

City Hall, formerly known as the Municipal Building, has had a rich and colourful history since its completion in 1929. From colony to city-state, the monument has witnessed key moments in the country’s history, such as the surrender of the Japanese in 1945 and the swearing-in of Singapore’s first cabinet in 1959. City Hall: If Walls Could Talk takes visitors through the pivotal moments that happened within the walls of this building. The exhibition brings history to life through captivating multimedia projections, interactive content and rich storytelling.

Aneka Ragam Rakyat at City Hall Steps. Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

SCAN TO VIEW THE ONLINE EXHIBITION

LONG–TERM EXHIBITIONS

SIAPA NAMA KAMU? ART IN SINGAPORE SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY

Ongoing | City Hall Wing, Level 2, DBS Singapore Gallery

The Gallery’s long-term exhibitions feature over 800 Singapore and Southeast Asian artworks, and are constantly evolving. Every year, visitors can discover over 200 new pieces.

These updates to our long-term exhibitions allow us to display our artworks in new and exciting configurations, enabling us to tell different stories and introduce new perspectives. Each gallery has a distinct focus, which may be a specific medium or subject matter, or tracing an impulse shared by various artists at a particular moment in time.

Refreshing our exhibitions also allows us to showcase works that we have recently acquired alongside our latest research, thereby continually expanding and enriching the narratives of art in the region.

The DBS Singapore Gallery is made possible with the support of DBS Bank.

Chen Wen Hsi Returning from Market 1960s Oil on canvas 91.3 x 106.6 cm

Chen Wen Hsi draws on his study of Chinese ink painting and influences from Cubism in his scene, composed of a mixture of bold lines and geometric blocks of contrasting colours. The women appear to be having a conversation as they return from the market, clothed in colourful dresses with intricate patterns. Chen is known for his experimental ways of depicting local subject matters—like the ubiquitous market—with painting styles from diverse art movements.

On display in DBS Singapore Gallery 1.

Yusman Aman Structure l 1972 Batik 114.8 x 89.5 cm

Yusman Aman was a self-taught artist who was known for his inventive approach to batik. Structure l demonstrates the artist’s innovative use of the medium to develop abstract forms. In this painting, Yusman exploits the opacity of dyes to create a complex composition of interlocking angular shapes. Yusman practiced actively in Singapore, and this work was exhibited at the seminal artist-run space Alpha Gallery as part of his solo show there in 1973.

On display in DBS Singapore Gallery 2.

BETWEEN DECLARATIONS & DREAMS: ART OF SOUTHEAST ASIA SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY

Ongoing | Supreme Court Wing, Levels 3–5, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery

Nhek Dim Village Scene 1960 Oil on canvas 55 x 75.5 cm

Nhek Dim was the most celebrated painter in Cambodia during the 1960s, when the nation became embroiled in Cold War conflicts. Village Scene was featured in a 1961 exhibition organised by the United States Information Service in Phnom Penh, and subsequently reproduced in Free World, a magazine published by the United States in several Southeast Asian languages and distributed widely. The warm colours and flattened forms are typical of Nhek Dim’s work. The work evokes a sense of tropical abundance, a trope often employed by modern artists in Southeast Asia to describe peasant life.

On display in UOB Southeast Asia Gallery 13.

This is an extremely rare painting of General Aung San, the key architect of Myanmar’s independence from British colonial rule and father of Aung San Suu Kyi. Likely painted from a photograph, this vividly realistic yet heartfelt portrait was painted by U Ngwe Gaing, a leading modernist painter of the period.

On display in UOB Southeast Asia Gallery 6.

U Ngwe Gaing. Portrait of General Aung San, c. 1950−1967. Oil on cardboard support lined on pre-primed cotton fabric. 50 x 39.5 cm. This acquisition was made possible with donations to the Art Adoption & Acquisition Programme.

The UOB Southeast Asia Gallery is made possible with the support of UOB.

LONG–TERM EXHIBITIONS

LISTENING TO ARCHITECTURE: THE GALLERY’S HISTORIES AND TRANSFORMATIONS

Ongoing | City Hall Wing, Level 4, ArchiGallery

Zai Tang. Resident Frequencies: A Brief Aural History of National Gallery Singapore, 2017. Eight-channel sound installation, 36:00 mins. Commissioned by National Gallery Singapore. Image courtesy of the artist. The architecture of the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings may be imagined as an ongoing conversation between different generations across time. The inaugural exhibition at the ArchiGallery offers insights into the enduring histories and architectural designs of the two national monuments and their dramatic transformations into a home for Southeast Asian art. It also features never-before-seen artefacts excavated from the Gallery’s grounds, and a commissioned sonic artwork by artist Zai Tang that draws on the historical, social and spatial memories created in the buildings.

LAW OF THE LAND: HIGHLIGHTS OF SINGAPORE’S CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS

Ongoing | Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, Chief Justice's Chamber & Office

Organised by the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) and the National Library Board (NLB), this exhibition explores the history of Singapore’s constitutional development from a British settlement in 1819 to its emergence as a sovereign republic in 1965. It presents a selection of 23 rare documents from the NAS and NLB's collections, each capturing a key moment in Singapore's legal history and journey to independence.

Third Charter of Justice, 1855

This document affirmed the reception of English law in Singapore and provided the settlement with its own professional judge (then known as a Recorder).

UNREALISED

Ongoing | Accessible only via the Gallery Explorer app

unrealised is a virtual experience, developed in dialogue with three artists—Heman Chong, Ho Tzu Nyen and Erika Tan. It tests the potentials of the digital image within the physical spaces of the Gallery’s long-term displays. To access unrealised, please download the Gallery Explorer app at the App Store and Google Play store or borrow a device from Visitor Services at Level B1.

Made possible with the support of the Gallery’s Innovation Partner Accenture.

For more information, please visit nationalgallery.sg/unrealised.

SCAN TO DOWNLOAD APP Left to right Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. | Yusof Ishak Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. | Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. | The Hebblewhite Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. Please note earphones are required to experience unrealised.