Singapore Curators' Cut: Important Contemporary Art Exhibitions

Singapore Curators’ Cut Important Contemporary Art Exhibitions

Supported by Mr & Mrs Adrian & Dawn Lee, and, the National Arts Council Singapore

Introduction, p1 Seng Yu Jin, p2 Timeline for a Brief History of Exhibitions that Mattered in Singapore – Seng Yu Jin, p4 Savita Apte, p12 Ho Rui An, p16 Charmaine Toh, p20 Louis Ho, p24 Timeline Of Exhibitions/ Publications, p28 Index Of Exhibition Spaces and Organisers, p30 Acknowledgement, p33

Singapore Curators’ Cut: Important Contemporary Art Exhibitions Yeo Workshop is pleased to publish a resource that highlights 50 iconic and important exhibitions in Singapore dating from 1953 till 2014. These represent local exhibitions as chosen by five current and prominent Singapore-based curators: Savita Apte, Louis Ho, Ho Rui An, Seng Yu Jin, and Charmaine Toh. These curators were invited to participate based on the diverse perspectives they offer from one another and their rigorous and active commitment to the arts, as evidenced by their curatorial direction. Each was asked for up to 10 exhibitions in the history of exhibitions in Singapore which would form the basis for future research whilst also serving as a scripted archive.

This publication is by no means, an attempt to consolidate all contemporary art exhibitions that occurred in Singapore. Though it hopes to, at the very least, scratch upon its surface; providing relevant information on the five curators’ chosen catalogues, as well as the exhibition information on the occasion, which they were published. Also included, are the five curators’ personal notes on their selection: Singapore’s art history, through their eyes. Seng Yu Jin who chose a fastidious way of seeing this history, begins with the Bali Trip Exhibition in 1953 and ends with Singapore’s first Biennale Belief in 2006. While Savita Apte, who is not from Singapore (but who has made her home here), selected important international exhibitions like The Singapore Art Museum’s Terms & Conditions, which previewed contemporary art from the Arab region and Singapore Tyler Print Institute’s Honesty Printed on Modesty – Haegue Yang’s solo exhibition (a result of her residency in Singapore). Louis Ho’s interests lie largely in the alternative, performative and abstract, and included pioneers of local art (Amanda Heng, Anthony Poon and Lee Wen to name a few) among his picks, while Charmaine Toh, whose work and passion delves deeply in the oft-elusive mediums of photography and film, showcased this emergent section of Singapore’s contemporary art history.

Finally, Ho Rui An, who not only represents the bloom and boom of this island-city as an artistic force to be reckoned with, but the myriad creative potential born on our shores-provided us with a list that added a fresh perspective and even, gamely acknowledged having attended only one of the exhibitions in his selection.

It is my hope that through their own studies, this publication can be a starting point for those who want to pursue further research on our unique contemporary art history. I also hope, that the information contained here, will be as helpful for you as it has been for me, in learning about the past from which we came, and for future art histories, to be imagined.

Audrey Yeo, Yeo Workshop Editor.

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Seng Yu Jin Seng Yu Jin is currently pursuing his PhD at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He worked as a Senior Curator at National Gallery Singapore, Singapore and a Lecturer in the Faculty of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Masters Asian Art Histories and Fine Arts Degree programmes. He is currently researching on artistic activities and their histories, focusing on the history of exhibitions as sites of discourses and artist collectives within the larger framework of how the different artworld systems operate in shaping artistic production, reception, and dissemination. He has curated exhibitions such as From Words to Pictures: Art During the Emergency, Affandi: A Painter of Genius, and co-curated FX Harsono: Testimonies, Sudjojono: Lives of Pictures, and Cheong Soo Pieng: Bridging Worlds.

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Vehicles: Exhibitions that Mattered in Singapore Art historian T.J. Clark outlined the task of art history to make “connecting links between artistic form, the available systems of visual representation, the current theories of art, other ideologies, social classes, and more general historical structures and processes� (T.J. Clark, Image of the People). Exhibitions are the very vehicles that manifest what Clark has outlined as the task of art historians in connecting these links that a history of exhibitions will reveal and illuminate as they emerge from particular moments, contexts and historical conditions.

These 12 selected exhibitions have been organised by art societies, artist collectives, and art institutions, reflecting the plurality of sites and motivations from which exhibitions are made in Singapore. Different exhibitionary formats include the solo exhibition and group art exhibitions that emerged from the history of modern art, the thematic exhibition that has come to dominate museum shows to time-based and site specific curatorial experimentations that emerge from new artistic practices located within the context of contemporary art.

Collectively, these exhibitions are selected based on how they have shaped scholarship, influenced artistic practices, pushed the boundaries of exhibition making, and provoked debates on the meaning of art and its significance in culture and society. It is a selection and does not claim to be the final word on the history of exhibitions. Rather, it presents a start to engender discussions on the history of exhibitions as a field and the curating as a practice.

Exhibiting these catalogues and related archival materials and a brief time line of exhibitions in Singapore aims to broaden our study of art history from the study of artworks to the exhibition with due attention to its social and historical specificity.

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Japanese Occupation 1942 – 1945: Malaya falls under Japanese Occupation.

Post War Road towards Independence

1948 Outbreak of Malayan Communist Emergency on the Malayan Peninsula; British administration prepares to grant self–governance to Malaya. Rise of political parties and nationalist and independence ideologies which the British endorse to counter Communist ideology. Malay picked as the National Language by Malayan political parties with eventual self–governance in mind.

1946 British Military Administration ends in April. Singapore returns to civilian rule as a Crown Colony, separate from Malaya.

1949 Multiracial Singapore Art Society formed: Richard Walker, Liu Kang, Suri Mohyani, Dr Gibson–Hill.

Society of Malay Artists was also formed in this year.

Independence and nationalism are set as alternatives to the ideals of the Malayan Communist Party.

1951 Emergence of art market and collecting; Cheong Soo Pieng becomes one of the first professional artists in Singapore. Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia is launched, donations were provided by Commonwealth nations for education, health aid and training programs among other things, allowing artists to study in Europe and North America.

1952 Liu Kang, Chen Chong Swee, Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng embark on a sojourn to Bali.

1953 Bali Trip exhibition organised by the Singapore Art Society This exhibition was the culmination of four artists’ sojourn to Bali in 1952. These four artists, namely, Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng, Liu Kang and Chen Chong Swee will later exhibit in the 1953 Bali Trip exhibition, canonised as the seminal exhibition that coalesced into what we now recognise as the Nanyang Style that hybridised local subject matter with the styles, pictorial formats and techniques from the School of Paris and Chinese ink practices within the context of their social, cultural and political experiences stemming from shifting contexts as diasporic Chinese immigrants when they first arrived in Singapore and began exploring the diverse cultures and traditions of Southeast Asia.

1955 Singapore sends delegates to the Bandung Conference.

1956 Equator Art Society is founded, together with the Arts Association of Chinese High School. Artists were sensitive to post–war Chinese developments and the need to address societal conditions through social realist depictions of the social and political conditions of the people.

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Timeline for a Brief History of Exhibitions that Mattered in Singapore Early 20th Century: Various art groups are formed by private initiatives, such as the Amateur Drawing Association (1909).

Many of these arts group are in turn influenced by the ideology behind politics in China. The 1911 Chinese Revolution and the May Fourth Movement (1919) introduces Western Art concepts to China.

Many Chinese students go abroad to study Western Art with the view to modernise China. Local art groups, such as the United Artists Malaysia (1929), are formed to promote Chinese culture and the Arts.

1934: Japan begins occupation of Northeast China. The Singapore Society of Chinese Artists is formed partially in 1935 in response to that event. The eruption of Sino–Japanese War in 1937 sees Chinese Art figures visit Singapore to raise funds for the anti Japanese efforts, including Xu Beihong. Artists like Liu Kang also migrated to Singapore.

1938: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is formed; founded by Lim Hak Tai based on models of art schools in Shanghai.

Lim actively stressed the importance of establishing regional orientations and the need to reference art against realities and conditions of the times.

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1956 Chuah Thean Teng’s solo Batik Painting exhibition organised by the Singapore Art Society (3) Batik Painting was heralded as a Malayan and even Southeast Asian modern art form that embodied the cultural identity of the region. The use of the wax-resist technique of batik textiles was reinvented into a pictorial easel format depicting local subject matter that could be considered as part of the Nanyang Style.

The reinvention of tradition into a modern art form signalled continuities between the old and the new as Singapore, which was part of Malaya in the 1950s till 1965, searched for a new Malayan identity within the context of decolonisation after the Second World War. Batik Painting was for those who looked for a new identity, the manifestation of multiculturalism as it was invented by the Chinese artists adapting from a craft tradition claimed to originate from this region. Not surprisingly, this exhibition was organised by the Singapore Art Society, which was the first multicultural art society established in 1949 that was open to all races and across artistic disciplines that included the following organisations:

1957 Independence of Malaya

1. The British Council 2. Society of Chinese Artists 3. Malay Art Society 4. Indian Art Society 5. Y.M.C.A. Art Club 6. Singapore Camera Club 7. Singapore Institute of Architects 8. Singapore University 9. Teacher’s Training College 10. Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts 11. China Society 12. Friends of Singapore 13. The Art Superintendent, Singapore (As ex-officio member) The Singapore Art Society also organised the Annual Works by Local Artists exhibition that became an exhibition platform for the most successful and influential artists to exhibit and sell their works that determined the prices of artworks in an emerging art market dominated by expatriates with the exception of some local art patrons like Loke Wan Tho, and inadvertently created a hierarchy of artists from the senior artists like Liu Kang, Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng who commanded the highest prices and often sat in the selection committees of these Annual Exhibitions to other less established artists and art students with much lower prices.

1958 Debate between Ho Ho Ying and Chen Fan on Abstraction vs Realism

1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 First of Six Equator Art Society Exhibitions The Equator Art Society (1956 to 1974) The Equator Art Society was the largest artist collective that was formed in 1956 and organised six exhibitions before it was given the order of dissolution in 1974 by the Registry of Societies, Singapore, which effectively meant that it had to cease all activities. At its height, the Equator Art Society had more than 800 members that were organised into different aspects of cultural production such as Fine Art, Literature, Theatre, and Music. The Equator Art Society promoted Social Realism in Singapore and Malaya, stressing the need for art and artists to serve society by raising awareness of social injustices faced by the working classes and to elevate morality through beauty in art. The Equator artists challenged the Nanyang artists whom they criticised for depicting picturesque and romanticised scenes of Singapore and Southeast Asia that are disconnected from actual social and political realities and contexts such as the Malayan Emergency (1948 – 1960) due to a communist insurgency that resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers.

1959 Singapore gains self–governance.

1960s 2nd generation artists study abroad. A year later, Ten–Men Art Group initiated by leading artist of this generation Yeh Chi Wei, revisit Bali and embark on fieldtrips to seek inspiration.

1963 Formation of Modern Art Society, after the Modern Art Exhibition, founded by Ho Ho Ying.

1965 Singapore separates from Malaysia after a short merger lasting three years. Economic, political and military survival becomes foremost in the State’s priorities.

Post Independence Singapore

1962 Merger between Singapore and Malaya APAD (Society of Malay Artists of Various Means)

1966 Responding to the Modern Art Society’s concerns for “beauty of form, harmony of rhythm and creativity”, Equator Art Society calls for “works to reflect or expose the very root of the reality of life”.

1970s As the State begins to stand on firmer economic and political footing, attention is turned to the development of cultural resources. Dominant artistic expression: Formal aesthetics; Abstract Expressionism.

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1972 The 1972 Modern Art Society exhibition The 1972 Modern Art Society exhibition occupies a defining moment in Singapore’s art history as the exhibition that ‘rejected’ Cheo Chai Hiang’s 5’ x 5’ (Singapore River), a work comprising a set of instructions delivered by mail from London where Chai was studying to the Modern Art Society in Singapore. The instructions were to draw on the wall and the floor a square, 5 feet by 5 feet in dimensions and call it the ‘’Singapore River”. Its subsequent ‘rejection’ has come to represent the rejection of conceptualism by a conservative Singapore art world by the Modern Art Society that purported to be the most avant–garde artist collective in Singapore. However, the 1972 Modern Art Society catalogue shows a work titled, Singapore River in the listing of artworks under Cheo that calls into question if this work was actually ‘rejected’ or a myth perpetuated by art history writing.

1979 Cultural Medallion instituted

by Ministry of Culture.

1980s Private enterprise support for the arts: UOB Group’s Painting of the Year Competition. Emergence of new generation artists, including women artists.

1976 National Museum Art Gallery is established.

1984 Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts (then named St Patrick’s Art Centre) founded

by Brother Joseph McNally.

1988 Trimurti exhibition organised by Salleh Japar, S. Chandrasekaran and Goh Ee Choo Trimurti was organised by three artists who graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, namely Goh Ee Choo, Salleh Japar and S. Chandrasekeran. This exhibition pushed the boundaries of art making beyond formalism that was predominant in Singapore towards art making as an ‘expanded field’ by forwarding the concept of “Total Art” to include installations and performances besides paintings and sculptures.

They also drew on philosophies from Hinduism, Islam and Taoism into their works to create syncretic and hybridised works embedded in Singapore’s multicultural condition.

1988 Tang Dawu establishes The Artists Village at Ulu Sembawang Lorong Gambas.

1990 – 1991 The Time Show organised by The Artists Village

1992 The Space at Hong Bee Warehouse

Organised by The Artists Village in 31 December 1990 – 1 January 1991, The Time Show broke new ground in rethinking the concept of time–based works as a part of artistic strategy and concept. This exhibition was organised over duration of 24 hours at The Artists Village, Ulu Sembawang Lorong Gambas space, which was a farm that was transformed into artist studios and exhibition spaces. This exhibition was also inter–disciplinary in nature involving rock bands, poetry and time–based artworks from different media and practices.

The Space at the Hong Bee Warehouse organised by The Artists Village could be conceived as Singapore’s first Biennale that included artists outside Singapore such as Japan and the Philippines to create works based on the theme of Space. The artists responded to the site of the Hong Bee Warehouse itself that was eventually demolished soon after the exhibition was over, a testimony to Singapore’s rapid erasure of the country’s history in the name of progress and urbanisation.

1996 The opening of the Singapore Art Museum with two inaugural exhibitions namely, Channels and Confluences and Modernity and Beyond: Themes in Southeast Asian Art

1997 Financial crisis in Asia

2003 Berita Harian exhibition at the Substation that focused on Malay issues in Singapore

2004 Crossroads: The Making of New Identities organised by the NUS Museums Crossroads was significant for casting a much needed reappraisal of the generation of artists after the Nanyang artists, Cheong Soo Pieng, Georgette Chen, Liu Kang, Chen Ching Swee, Chen Wen Hsi and Lim Hak Tai. This exhibition proposed new ways of examining the institutional structure of the Singapore art world from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the 1980s that was driven and shaped by artists through exhibitions, the activities of the art societies that they formed, as well as their art education both at home and abroad.

2006 The International Monetary Fund Meeting in Singapore

2006 The first Singapore Biennale 2006 on the theme of Belief The first Singapore Biennale in 2006 had Belief as its theme. This exhibition was organised as part of Singapore’s hosting of the International Monetary Fund Meeting (IMF) to project Singapore as a cultural and global hub to the world. Artworks were located in religious sites such as Buddhist and Hindu temples, synagogues and churches, as well as sites of institutional power such as the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings. Singapore as a multicultural society that was open to artistic interventions that blurred boundaries between art and life through the location of artworks in religious and historical sites opened possibilities for dialogue between artists and the public, as well as artworks and cultural spaces.

2006 Telah Terbit (Out Now) organised by the Singapore Art Museum

2006 Cubism in Asia: Unbounded Dialogues in 2006

Telah Terbit (Out Now) frames the emergence of conceptualism in Southeast Asia centred on the activities and manifestos of artist collectives and exhibitions. This was a groundbreaking exhibition that proposed conceptualism in the region as a practice embedded in the social and political conditions of the various countries in Southeast Asia. In doing so, this exhibition proposed global conceptualism as multiple points of origins that do not necessarily privilege the Euro–American art historical narrative of Conceptual Art.

Cubism in Asia was a collaborative exhibition between the Japan Foundation, the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Singapore Art Museum, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea that travelled to Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Paris. This exhibition examined cubism not as a style that is derivative of the West but opened up multiplicities of cubism, reframed as artistic strategies that was adopted and creatively adapted by artists in Asia through appropriation, translation and even misunderstandings filtered by their own local contexts and knowledge.

Terms such as “Cubistic” were proposed as possible ways to differentiate Cubism as a style that emerged from social and cultural conditions in Euroamerica, and how Cubistic adaptations in Asia were the product of local historical and social specificities.

2007 From Words to Pictures: Art During the Emergency organised by the Singapore Art Museum

2008 The Singapore Biennale on the theme of “Wonder”

2011 The Singapore Biennale on the theme of “Open House”

2011 Negotiating Home History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991–2011

2012 Lee Wen: Lucid Dreams in the Reverie of the Real organised by the Singapore Art Museum.

2013 The Singapore Biennale on the theme of “If the World Changed”

2011 Camping and Tramping Through the Colonial Archive: The Museum in Malaya curated by the NUS Museum.

2011 Amanda Heng: Speak To Me, Walk With Me organised by the Singapore Art Museum

2013 Situationist Bon Gun, a solo exhibition by Tang Da Wu organised by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore.

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Batik Paintings By Teng Publisher Singapore Art Society

Year Published

1956

Crossroads, the making of new identities Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published NUS Museum 9810515723 (PBK) · 2004

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

From Words To Pictures: Art During The Emergency, 24 Aug 2007 – 31 Oct 2007 Publisher ISBN Number . Year Published Singapore Art Museum 9789810588380 . 2007

Telah Terbit (Out Now), Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Practices During the 1960s to 1980s Publisher ISBN Number . Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–05–6714–3 . 2007

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

An Exhibition Of Batik Paintings And Other Works

by Chuah Thean Teng of Penang. 15 March – 25 March 1956 Event/Exhibition Venue British Council Gallery

From Words to Pictures: Art During the Emergency.

24 August – 31 October 2007 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

1953 Bali Trip Year Published 1963

Crossroads: Collective Works of 2nd Generation Artists.

July 2004 – July 2005 Event/Exhibition Venue Ng Eng Teng Gallery, NUS Museum

Telah Terbit (Out Now). 1 September – 12 November 2006 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Biennale special exhibition at Singapore Art Museum

Modern Art ‘72 Publisher Modern Art Society Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Year Published

1972

The 1972 Modern Art Society Annual Exhibition

Trimurti Publisher The Institute

Iconoclast Publisher Sculpture Square

Year Published

1988

Year Published

2013

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

A Void: Returning to the River. 15 August – 16 September 2013 Event/Exhibition Venue Date of Event/Exhibition Sculpture Square 15 August – 16 September 2013

Trimurti. 7 March – 12 March 1988 Event/Exhibition Venue Goethe–Institut Singapore

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Trimurti and Ten Years After Publisher Singapore Art Museum

ISBN Number · Year Published 981–04–0778–5 · 1998

Cubism In Asia: Unbounded Dialogues Publisher Singapore Art Museum

978–981–0813–84–0 · 2006

ISBN Number · Year Published

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Trimurti and Ten Years After: A Landmark Exhibition on the History of Singapore Contemporary Art. 20 November 1998 – 21 February 1999 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Cubism in Asia: Unbounded Dialogues. 9 August – 2 October 2005, 11 November 2005 – 30 January 2006, 18 February – 9 April 2006 Event/Exhibition Venue National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (Deoksugung), Singapore Art Museum

Singapore Biennale 2006: Belief Publisher Singapore Biennale Secretariat

The Artists Village: 20 Years On Publisher Singapore Art Museum and The Artists Village

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

978–981–05–8375–0 · 2007

ISBN Number · Year Published

First Singapore Biennale. 4 September – 12 November 2006 Event/Exhibition Venue Various locations in Singapore

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

978–981–0813–84–0 · 2009

ISBN Number · Year Published

The Artists Village: 20 Years On. 9 August – 5 October 2008 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Savita Apte Savita Apte is a Director of Art Dubai, Chair of The Abraaj Group Art Prize, Associate of Serpentine Gallery for Indian Highway and an Art Historian specialising in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art. She is a Director of Asal Partners and Platform Projects, Singapore, and sits on the advisory board of the Sovereign Art Foundation, Asia Art Archive and Para Site. Savita was a consultant expert at Sotheby’s from 1995 to 2001. She was invited to be a correspondent to Daniel Birnbaum for the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009).

She holds a Masters in Post War and Contemporary Art and recently submitted her doctoral thesis.

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I only moved to Singapore three years ago and so the selection I have made from exhibitions between 2012 and 2014, is naturally predetermined and curtailed both by the length of my stay here as well as my viewpoint as a relative ‘outsider’.

The call was for 10 exhibitions, I have not been here long enough to select that many: I chose these nine exhibitions because in some cases they afforded me access to an art history of Singapore and in other cases highlighted the intersections between local and global visual histories.

In each case, the comments annotating the catalogues are directly taken from notes made in my diary after viewing the exhibitions and whilst my impressions were still immediate, I have deliberately chosen not to elaborate on these succinct ‘first impressions’.

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Wonderful and eye opening exhibition of artists working in Singapore and drawing on indigenous and international influences and confluences.

A Changed World, Singapore Art, 1950s–1970s Publisher Year Published National Museum of Singapore 2013 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s – 1970s.

25 October 2013 – 16 March 2014 Event/Exhibition Venue National Museum of Singapore

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A survey exhibition of the multiple loci of creative production in the Middle East highlighting the political concerns of contemporary artists from the region.

Terms & Conditions Publisher Singapore Art Museum

ISBN Number · Year Published 978–981–07–6842–3 · 2013

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Terms & Conditions. 28 June – 8 September 2013 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

63182_ARTWORK_CPS broc PATH 3/1/10 5:24 PM Page 1

The Cheongsam within the political and social context through the decades.

Accessibly didactic.

In the Mood for Cheongsam: A Social History, 1920s – Present Publisher ISBN Number National Museum of Singapore 978–981–4260–92–3 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

In the Mood for Cheongsam: Modernity & Singapore Women.

28 March – 27 June 2012 Event/Exhibition Venue National Museum of Singapore

Encountering Cheong Soo Pieng Publisher NX Gallery

Year Published

2010

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Encountering Cheong Soo Pieng. 5 March – 31 July 2010 Event/Exhibition Venue

Southeast Asian Gallery & NX Gallery, NUS Museum

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A new direction for Yang as she incorporated locally available unique spices, fruit and vegetables to further the narrative of migrants.

Enlightened Ways, The Many Streams Of Buddhist Art In Thailand Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Asian Civilisations Museum 978–981–07–6842–3 · 2012 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams Of Buddhist Art In Thailand.

30 November 2012 – 17 April 2013 Event/Exhibition Venue Asian Civilisations Museum

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Exquisitely didactic and process oriented; the 300 or so works that were exhibited illuminated Warhol’s creative origins as a commercial illustrator.

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Honesty Printed on Modesty Publisher STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery

978–981–07–4952–1 · 2013 ISBN Number · Year Published

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Honesty Printed on Modesty. 23 October – 24 November 2013 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Tyler Print Institute

Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal Publisher The Andy Warhol Museum Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal.

17 March – 21 October 2012 Event/Exhibition Venue ArtScience Museum

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The weaving of the past and present through the material culture of museum artefacts and quotidian objects, archival texts and prints, photography and paintings.

N.A. Year 2012 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Charles Lim, In Search of Raffles’ Light. 24 October 2013 – 27 April 2014 Event/Exhibition Venue NUS Museum

ISBN Number . Year Published

978–981–07–1306–5 . 2012

An absolute eye opener! To be able to witness sculptors whilst they were making their sculptures and then to be able to walk through the finished works.

N.A.

Fort Canning Park Publisher

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Year Published

2013

Han Sai Por as part of the Wood Sculpture Symposium 2013.

27 November – 1 December 2013 Event/Exhibition Venue Fort Canning Park

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In making my selection, I was thinking through the delightful confusion between the “exhibition” and the “catalogue” made by the curatorial brief. We were told to recommend 10 exhibitions by showing 10 catalogues, as if the two — one, an event of such fleeting temporality that it sometimes exists only as a rumour, the other, a bounded, time–crusted artefact sequestered in institutional archives — were somehow fantastically exchangeable.

Indeed, catalogues ensure the longevity of the exhibition beyond its always limited run, over time standing in for it as the supplement that has become essence. Or, an essence outside, from without, that secures the sense of an inside, the sense of an original moment of authenticity that was the exhibition’s ecstatic emergence into presence. It’s telling that of all the catalogues in my selection, I’ve only, strictly speaking, seen one of the exhibitions they have been made to stand in for, due in no small part to the affliction of youth. In spite (or because?) of that, they have constituted some of my most formative encounters with the exhibitionary.

Of the 10, some have served as crucial entry points into pivotal moments in the short history of contemporary art in Singapore — moments often marked by conflict and convergence. Others were not even produced as catalogues per se, but nonetheless maintain a relationship with original (or future) exhibitionary sites. Of these, one journal that nearly did not see the light of day offers a corrective account of a blistering moment in local art history, while another has proved to be a fertile ground where the seeds of later exhibitions were first sown (a catalogue in advance, so to speak).

Equally curious are those that consciously inhabit the form of the catalogue as the exhibition from without; in those instances, the catalogue is no longer a mere addendum to a show, but an exhibition in itself, an attempt to exhibit otherwise.

Ho Rui An Ho Rui An is an artist and writer working in the intersections of contemporary art, cinema, performance and theory. He writes, talks and thinks around images, with an interest in investigating their emergence, transmission and disappearance within contexts of globalism and governance. He has presented projects at the 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serpentine Galleries (London), LUMA/Westbau (ZĂźrich), NUS Museum (Singapore), QUT Art Museum (Brisbane), Para Site (Hong Kong) and Witte de With (Rotterdam). He is the Singapore desk editor for ArtAsiaPacific and has contributed to numerous publications. He lives and works in Singapore.

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Part of “Writing Asian Arts” project.

“Writing Asian Arts” is a project of the Contemporary Asian Arts Centre; its aim is to facilitate new writing and create an archive by publishing existing writings.

Telah Terbit (Out Now), Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Practices During the 1960s to 1980s Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–05–6714–3 · 2007 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

an equation of vulnerability: a certain thereness, being Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Contemporary Asian Arts Centre 981–04–6033–3 · 2002

Telah Terbit (Out Now). 1 September – 12 November 2006 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Biennale special exhibition at Singapore Art Museum

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An exhibition curated by p–10 with Koh Nguang How’s research collection.

The exhibition is based on an error (to be contested), in the book Channels & Confluences: A History of Singapore Art, published by the National Heritage Board/Singapore Art Museum in 1996.

And The Difference Is: The Independence Project

ISBN Number · Year Published Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces 978–1–876817–12–1 · 2008 Publisher

Errata, a collection of articles Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Errata. 15 September – 14 October 2004

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

And The Difference Is: The Independence Project. 12 Dec 2008 – 15 Feb 2009 Event/Exhibition Venue NUS Museum

Natural History Drawings, The Complete Farquhar Collection, Malay Peninsula 1803 – 1818 Publisher ISBN Number . Year Published National Museum of Singapore 978–981–4217–69–9 . 2010 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Seen & Heard in Singapore: Island Ecologies Today and in the Time of William Farquhar. Permanent Collection

The Land Archive Vol.6 Publisher The Land Archive

Year Published

2011

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

The Land Archive. 15 April – 12 May 2011 Event/Exhibition Venue

Event/Exhibition Venue

Earl Lu Gallery, The Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore

National Museum of Singapore

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Art vs. Art: Conflict & Convergence Publisher The Substation

ISBN Number · Year Published

981–00–6826–3 · 1995

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Art vs. Art: Conflict & Convergence. 10 September 1993 Event/Exhibition Venue The Substation

Regional Animalities: Cultures, Natures, Humans & Animals In South East Asia Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published focas Forum On Contemporary 978–981–058–681–2 · 2007 Art & Society

The Artists Village: 20 Years On Publisher Singapore Art Museum and The Artists Village Looking At Culture Publisher Artres Design & Communications

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

ISBN Number · Year Published

981–00–6714–3 · 1996

ISBN Number · Year Published

978–981–0813–84–0 · 2009

The Artists Village: 20 Years On. 9 August – 5 October 2008 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Charma Toh Charmaine Toh is currently a Curator at National Gallery Singapore where she researches on art in Singapore from the 1970s to the present as well as photography from Southeast Asia. Recent exhibitions include Earth Work 1979 by Tang Da Wu and Siapa Nama Kamu?: Art in Singapore since the 19th Century. Previously, she was the Programme Director at Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film where she played a pivotal role in revitalising the gallery programme and initiated plans for documentation and research of lens– based art practice in Singapore. Charmaine is also the founder of The Art Incubator, an independent organisation that facilitates the development of new work via residencies. She was one of the curators for the 2013 Singapore Biennale and the 2012 Light Festival.

aine

“

When first invited to present a selection of catalogues for this show, I chose to focus on video and photography–related exhibitions, more specifically, exhibitions that were significant in expanding our appreciation of the medium in Singapore. Subsequently, I also set myself the additional constraint of choosing only catalogues from my own small collection, making it a personal selection that has informed my individual research and curatorial practice. From small solo exhibitions like Robert Zhao Renhui’s The whiteness of a whale (Jendela, 2010) and Chow Chee Yong’s 30th Feb (Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery, 2008) to bigger survey shows such as Twilight Tomorrow (Singapore Art Museum, 2004) as well as international presentations such as Ming Wong’s Life of Imitation (Singapore Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2009 and Singapore Art Museum, 2010), I hope this wide–ranging selection will provide an entry point towards understanding the very rapid development of photo and video practice in Singapore, especially in the last decade.

The earliest catalogue in the selection is from the Seven Men Photo Exhibition from 1965, which at first glance, might appear out of place among the other contemporary publications. Featuring seven photographers from the Photographic Society of Singapore who had been awarded Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in London, it is a rare and important record of the photographic work being made in the mid–20th Century.

It is also the most significant document showing the rise of modern photography in Singapore and presents a starting point to trace modern and contemporary lens–based practice. While such work continued to be shown and presented in various small group exhibitions, it is only 40 years later that we see a larger–scale focused exhibition in Twilight Tomorrow.

The startling contrast in the type of work presented and the lack of catalogues in the intervening years reveal much about the lack of research and documentation of this particular area of art practice.

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The Cloud of Unknowing Publisher National Arts Council

ISBN Number . Year Published

978–981–08–8510–6. 2011

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

The Cloud of Unknowing for the Singapore Pavilion at the 54th International Biennale of Art, Venice. 4 June – 27 November 2011 Event/Exhibition Venue Venice Biennale

Pictorial Photography Publisher Photographic Society of Singapore Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Year Published

1965

Seven Men Photo Exhibition. 6 March – 7 March 1965 Event/Exhibition Venue Victoria Memorial Hall

Islanded: Contemporary Art from New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore 981–05–4843–5 · 2005 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Islanded: Contemporary Art from New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.

16 June – 8 August 2005 Event/Exhibition Venue Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts

The whiteness of a whale Publisher The Institute of Critical Zoologists Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Year Published

2010

The whiteness of a whale by Zhao Renhui & Satoshi Kataoka.

3 August – 22 August 2010 Event/Exhibition Venue Jendela (Visual Arts Space), Esplanade

Retro Specks Future Pixs: The Book Publisher Asimages

ISBN Number · Year Published

978–981–05–6428–5 · 2006

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Retro Specks Future Pixs. 17 December 2004 – 27 February 2005 Event/Exhibition Venue Sculpture Square

Video, an Art, a History, 1965 – 2010, A Selection from the Centre Pompidou and Singapore Art Museum Collections Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–08–8493–2 · 2011 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Video, an Art, a History, 1965 – 2010. 10 June – 18 September 2011 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

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Twilight Tomorrow Publisher Singapore Art Museum

ISBN Number · Year Published

981–05–1160–4 · 2004

Transportasian, Visions Of Contemporary Photography From Southeast Asia Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–08–3548–4 · 2009 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Twilight Tomorrow. 20 May – 26 September 2004 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Transportasian, Visions Of Contemporary Photography From Southeast Asia. 30 May – 11 August 2009 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Ming Wong: Life of Imitation Publisher Singapore Art Museum

30TH Feb, Chow Chee Yong Publisher Chow Chee Yong

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

ISBN Number · Year Published

978–981–08–5546–8 · 2010

Ming Wong: Life of Imitation. 22 April – 22 August 2010 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

30th February. 19 February – 15 March 2008 Event/Exhibition Venue Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery

ISBN Number · Year Published

978–981–05–9965–2 · 2008

Louis Ho Louis Ho is a Curator at Singapore Art Museum. He is an art historian, critic, and co–editor of an upcoming journal of Southeast Asian art history, Remote. He has contributed articles and reviews to various publications, including books, journals and magazines, and also teaches art history at a number of local institutions. His recent published writings include “The Non–Affirmative: Jason Wee, Photography, Scopophobia” in Reflect/Refract, “Loo Zihan and the Body Confessional” in Archiving Cane, and “Yue Minjun: Iconographies of Repetition” in Modern Chinese Language & Culture. He also reviews for a number of art periodicals.

“

The publications that I selected for Yeo Workshop’s exhibition, Curators’ Cut, run the gamut. There are a number which deal with those whom I consider pioneers in the field of the contemporary in Singapore: Anthony Poon, one of the earliest practitioners of geometric abstraction hereabouts, if not the earliest; Amanda Heng, whose performance works are absolutely vital to the trajectory of feminism in the visual arts; Redza Piyadasa, a Malaysian conceptualist who nonetheless looms large, very large, in our art history; and Cheo Chai–Hiang, a groundbreaking figure whose teasing, allusive sensibility and elusive presence is represented by a catalogue of his rejected ideas. Lee Wen, another significant individual, is included by way of the Future of Imagination performance festival: he plays a crucial role not just as an artist, but as a curator, archivist and organiser as well.

And then there are those titles which address the history of art history: the catalogue for the very first exhibition staged at the then newly inaugurated Singapore Art Museum, Modernity and Beyond (curated by T. K. Sabapathy), as well as for Negotiating Home, History and Nation, a more recent show that attempts a socio–historical approach to the phenomenon of Southeast Asian art.

I’ve also included a number of publications that deal more narrowly with various histories here: Malayan Exchange by Green Zeng is a series of currency works that feature images of political detainees and other demonised figures; The End of History was the swan song of Huang Wei (the artistic alter ego of local curator and artist Alan Oei), whose paintings may be read as art historical interventions; and Loo Zihan’s Archiving Cane, which attempts to recuperate the fraught, contested terrain that is the fallout from the Josef Ng controversy of the mid–1990s.

Finally, last but most certainly not least, we have Sabapathy’s Road To Nowhere: The quick rise and the long fall of art history in Singapore, which, as the title suggests, tells the tale of art and its history in the little island state that I call home. This is the man who almost singlehandedly kept the flame alive through those dark decades of general neglect and public disinterest, and the present exhibition may not be an inappropriate platform to acknowledge the role of those who – against the odds – bequeathed to us what we know.

Inveniet viam aut faciet. (Seneca)

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The End of History Publisher Evil Empire / Salon Projects

Year Published

2013

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

The End of History

Road To Nowhere: The quick rise and the long fall of art history in Singapore Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published The Art Gallery, 978–981–08–5264–1 · 2010 National Institute of Education Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

A slightly expanded version of a paper presented at the National Institute of Education, National Technological University, Singapore, April 14, 2009 in conjunction with Visual Praxis: An Exhibition by Artists & Art Educators at NIE and the official opening of the NIE Art Gallery. 14 April 2009 Event/Exhibition Venue

National Institute of Education (Nanyang Technological University)

Piyadasa, An Overview, 1962 – 2000 Publisher National Art Gallery Malaysia Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Malayan Exchange: Studies of Notes of the Future Publisher Year Published valentine willie fine art 2011 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Malayan Exchange: Studies of Notes of the Future by Green Zeng.

1 March – 13 March 2011 Event/Exhibition Venue The Arts House

Modernity and Beyond, Themes in Southeast Asian Art Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Museum 981–00–7487–5 · 1996 ISBN Number · Year Published

983–9572–40–7 · 2001

Piyadasa, An Overview 1962 – 2000, Retrospective Exhibition.

5 April – 19 August 2001

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

“Themes in Southeast Asian Art” a component of “Modernity and Beyond” Inaugural Exhibition. 21 January – 20 April 1996 Event/Exhibition Venue Singapore Art Museum

Archiving Cane Publisher The Substation

Year Published

2012

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Archiving Cane. 7 December – 16 December 2012 Event/Exhibition Venue

The Substation

Amanda Heng: Speak To Me, Walk With Me, Singapore Contemporary Artists Series Publisher ISBN Number . Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–07–0087–4 . 2011 Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Amanda Heng: Speak To Me, Walk With Me. 7 October 2011 – 7 July 2012 Event/Exhibition Venue

Singapore Art Museum

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Erased, Mislaid, Rejected, Revisited: Cheo Chai–Hiang’s Works 1972– 2005 Publisher ISBN Number / Year Published Sculpture Square 981–05–4568–1 / 2005

Future of Imagination 6, International Performance Art Event Singapore 2010 Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Future of Imagination 6 (FOI6) 978–981–08–5577–2 · 2010

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Light & Movement Portrayed: The Art of Anthony Poon Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Gallery 978–981–08–3545–3 · 2009 (now National Gallery Singapore)

Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991 – 2011 Publisher ISBN Number · Year Published Singapore Art Museum 978–981–08–8104–7 · 2011

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition in Conjunction

Event/Exhibition Venue

Event/Exhibition Venue

Erased, Mislaid, Rejected, Revisited: Cheo Chai–Hiang’s works 1972 – 2005.

13 October – 4 December 2005 Event/Exhibition Venue Sculpture Square

Light and Movement Portrayed: A Tribute to the Art of Anthony Poon.

4 September – 25 October 2009 Singapore Art Museum

Future of Imagination 6 International Performance Art Event, Singapore.

7 April – 11 April 2010 Event/Exhibition Venue Sculpture Square

Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991–2011. 12 March – 26 June 2011 Singapore Art Museum

Timeline Of Exhibitions/Publications

1953 1953 Bali Trip

1988, 7 Mar – 12 Mar Trimurti

1956, 15 Mar – 25 Mar An exhibition of batik paintings and other works by Chuah Thean Teng of Penang, British Council Gallery

1993, 10 Sep Art vs. Art: Conflict & Convergence

1996, 21 Jan – 20 Apr “Themes in Southeast Asian Art” a component of “Modernity and Beyond” Inaugural exhibition

1998 – 1999, 20 Nov – 21 Feb Trimurti and Ten Years After: A Landmark Exhibition on the History of Singapore Contemporary Art

1996 Looking At Culture

2001, 5 Apr – 19 Apr Piyadasa, An Overview 1962 – 2000, Retrospective Exhibition

2004, 20 May – 11 Aug Transportasian

2004 – 2005, 17 Dec – 27 Feb Retro Specks Future Pixs

2006, 15 Jun – 6 Aug Islanded

2006, 4 Sep – 12 Nov 1st Singapore Biennale: Belief

2008, Feb – Mar Chow Chee Yong, 30th Feb

1972 The 1972 Modern Art Society Annual Exhibition

2002 an equation of vulnerability: a certain thereness, being

2004, 20 May – 26 Sep Twilight Tomorrow

2004, 15 Sep – 14 Oct Errata

2004, July Crossroads: Collective Works of 2nd Generation Artists

2005, 13 Oct – 4 Dec Erased, Mislaid, Rejected, Revisited: Cheo Chai–Hiang’s Works 1972 – 2005

2006, 1 Sep – 12 Nov Telah Terbit (Out Now)

2006, 18 Feb – 9 Apr Cubism in Asia: Unbounded Dialogues

2007 Regional Animalities: Cultures, Natures, Humans & Animals In South East Asia

2008 – 2009, 12 Dec – 15 Feb And The Difference Is: The Independence Project

2009, 14 Apr Road To Nowhere: The quick rise and the long fall of art history in Singapore

2009, 4 Sep – 25 Oct Light and Movement Portrayed: A Tribute to the Art of Anthony Poon

2009 The Artists Village: 20 Years On

2010, 7 Apr – 11 Apr Future of Imagination 6: International Performance Art Event Singapore 2010

2010, 3 Aug – 22 Aug The whiteness of a whale

2010, 22 Apr – 22 Aug Ming Wong: Life of Imitation

2010, 15 Dec – 26 Dec Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand

2011, 1 Jun – 25 Sep Sean Lee, Homework

2011, 10 Jun – 18 Sep Video, an Art, a History

2011, 4 Jun – 27 Nov Cloud of Unknowing

2011, 1 Mar – 13 Mar Malayan Exchange: Studies of Notes of the Future by Green Zeng

2011, 15 Apr – 12 May The Land Archive

2010, 5 Mar – 31 Jul Cheong Soo Pieng: Bridging Worlds

2011, 12 Mar – 26 Jun Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991–2011

2012, 7 Dec – 16 Dec Archiving Cane

2012, 17 Mar – 21 Oct A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s – 1970s

2013, 15 Aug – 16 Sep A Void: Returning to the River

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2012 Seen & Heard in Singapore: Island Ecologies Today and in the Time of William Farquhar

2012, 28 Mar – 27 Jun Honesty Printed on Modesty

2013, 23 Oct – 24 Nov Terms & Conditions

2013 – 2014, 24 Oct – 27 Apr Charles Lim, In Search of Raffles’ Light

2012 – 2013, 30 Nov – 17 Apr Han Sai Por as part of the Wood Sculpture Symposium 2013

2013, 8 Nov – 17 Nov The End of History

2014, 25 Oct – 16 Mar In the Mood for Cheongsam: Modernity & Singapore Women

Colour code Seng Yu Jin

Savita Apte

Ho Rui An

Charmaine Toh

Louis Ho

Museums Asian Civilisations Museums The Asian Civilisations Museum is devoted to exploring the rich artistic heritage of Asia, especially the ancestral cultures of Singaporeans. ACM focuses on the many historical connections between the cultures of Asia, and between Asia and the world.

Singapore’s history as a port city that brought people together from all over the world is used as a means of examining the history of Asia. Special exhibitions bring magnificent objects from around the world to our Singapore audience. Programmes like the annual River Nights encourage visitors to connect more closely with culture and the arts. For more information, visit www.acm.org.sg.

Director and Dean Culture Academy: Dr. Alan Chong Address: 1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555 Telephone Number: +65 6332 7798 Website: http://acm.org.sg Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Singapore is a division of LASALLE College of the Arts, dedicated to innovative, experimental and research–based art and curatorial practice.

The ICA Singapore began as the Dr Earl Lu Gallery in 1986. Through its curatorial division, LASALLE College of the Arts has supported the scholarship, patronage and development of the visual arts in Singapore for more than 30 years. ICA Singapore programmes reflect the city’s culturally diverse and international context, and connect with global art movements.

National University of Singapore (NUS) Museum NUS Museum is a comprehensive museum for teaching and research. Focusing primarily but not exclusively on Southeast Asian art and culture, the Museum contributes to and facilitates the production, reception, and preservation of knowledge through collections development and curatorial practice, developing partnerships within NUS, the cultural and heritage industry, and the global knowledge community.

Head/ Senior Associate Director: Ahmad bin Mashadi Address: University Cultural Centre, 50 Kent Ridge Crescent, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119279 Telephone Number: +65 6516 8817 Website: http://www.museum.nus.edu.sg National Museum of Singapore With a history dating back to its inception in 1887, the National Museum of Singapore is the nation’s oldest museum with a progressive mind. Its galleries adopt cutting–edge and multi–perspective ways of presenting history and culture to redefine conventional museum experience. A cultural and architectural landmark in Singapore, the Museum hosts innovative festivals and events all year round—the dynamic Night Festival, visually arresting art installations, as well as amazing performances and film screenings—in addition to presenting thought–provoking exhibitions involving critically important collections of artefacts. The programming is supported by a wide range of facilities and services including F&B, retail and a Resource Centre. The National Museum of Singapore re–opened in December 2006 after a three–year redevelopment, and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2012. The Museum refreshed its permanent galleries and re–opened them on 19 September 2015 for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee.

The ICA Singapore is composed of five galleries that together span 1500 square metres. The institute curates exhibitions, undertakes research, presents lectures and seminars, publishes books and exhibition catalogues, and provides professional development, training and mentorship. The ICA Singapore manages the LASALLE College of the Arts Collection.

Director: Ms Angelita Teo Address: 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897 Telephone Number: +65 6332 3659 Website: http://nationalmuseum.sg

The ICA Singapore fosters educational and creative innovation, and provides tools for students, arts professionals and the wider public to advance their knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art.

ArtScience Museum

ICA Singapore exhibitions challenge preconceptions and present counterpoints, leading to the development of new art and imaginative practices. Exhibitions are programmed in two streams: · national and international exhibitions that are experimental, innovative and exemplary · research–based and curriculum–related exhibitions developed with staff, students and alumni across LASALLE’s eight schools.

Director: Bala Starr Address: LASALLE College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940 Telephone Number: +65 6496 5134 Website: http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/institute–of–contemporary–arts–sg/ Singapore Art Museum (SAM) As Singapore’s museum of contemporary art, Singapore Art Museum has built up one of the most important collections of Southeast Asian and Asian contemporary artworks. It draws from its collection and collaborates with international institutions to present thought–provoking contemporary art exhibitions and programmes.

Contemporary art of the region is also given international exposure through SAM’s travelling exhibitions and collection loans.

Address: 71 Bras Basah Road, Singapore 189555 Telephone Number: +65 6589 9580 Website: http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg

How are our world and society shaped by the intersection of science and art, the synergy of technology and culture? Where do these disciplines separate – if ever they can be?

Explore these questions and be challenged by their answers at the world’s first ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, where programmes of exhibitions, events, performances and education activities strive to illumine the processes at the heart of art and science, and their far–reaching influences on the world we live in.

An iconic presence along the Marina Bay waterfront, ArtScience Museum is a living, breathing embodiment of the ArtScience theme. The museum’s combination of striking architecture, award–winning design, strong curation and intellectual discussions makes it unique internationally.

Featuring 21 gallery spaces totaling 50,000 square feet, ArtScience Museum is also the premier venue for major international touring exhibitions from the most– renowned collections in the world. Since it opened in 2011, ArtScience Museum has been home to some of the most attended and critically–acclaimed exhibitions in Singapore.

Director: Honor Hagar Address: 6 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018974 Telephone Number: +65 6688 8345 Website: http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum.html

Local Institutions National Gallery Singapore National Gallery Singapore is a new visual arts institution which oversees the largest public collection of modern art in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The Gallery is housed in two national monuments—former Supreme Court and City Hall—that have been beautifully restored and transformed into this exciting venue in the heart of the Civic District.

Reflecting Singapore’s unique heritage and geographical location, the Gallery will feature Singapore and Southeast Asian art in its long–term and special exhibitions.

It will also work with leading museums worldwide to co–present Southeast Asian art in a wider context, positioning Singapore as a regional and international hub for the visual arts.

Director (Gallery): Dr. Eugene Tan Address: 1 St. Andrew’s Road, Singapore 178957 Telephone Number: +65 6271 7000 Website: https://www.nationalgallery.sg Objectifs Objectifs is a visual arts centre in Singapore that is focused on film and photography.

Through exhibitions, screenings, workshops, community programmes and developmental platforms, Objectifs promotes Singapore talent and content, offers a space for learning and exchange, and cultivates new audiences.

Co–founder and Director: Emmeline Yong Director: Wahyuni A. Hadi Address: 155 Middle Road, Singapore 188977 Telephone Number: +65 6336 2957 Website: http://www.objectifs.com.sg Goodman Arts Centre Goodman Arts Centre opened its doors in 2011 with a vision to be a youthful and energetic centre providing a wide range of arts offerings, and serves as a place to bring in the different communities to experience and be engaged through the arts in an intimate manner. The largest arts enclave in Singapore, Singapore Tatler calls Goodman Arts Centre ‘a rare artistic hamlet [...]’ – (pg 88, June 2012) Nestled within the culturally rich Mountbatten district, the 7 acre Goodman Arts Centre is a mere 15 minutes drive from the city centre and 5 minutes walk from the nearest Mountbatten MRT Station. Housed within the compound are the National Arts Council of Singapore, two F&B outlets, 42 arts and creatives group as well as over 31 shared facilities for rental to the arts community including a Black Box theatre, Multi–Purpose Hall, rehearsal spaces, ceramic studios, music, art studios, and meeting rooms.

Address: 90 Goodman Road, Singapore 439053 Telephone Number: +65 6342 5790 Website: https://www.goodmanartscentre.sg The Substation The Substation is Singapore’s first independent contemporary arts centre.

Established in 1990 by the late Kuo Pao Kun, it is known for its pioneering and experimental arts programming. Over the years, The Substation has worked with some of Singapore’s most critically acclaimed artists, writers and intellectuals including Ong Keng Seng, Alvin Tan, and Ivan Heng.

The Substation is a recipient of the National Arts Council’s Major Grant 2014 – 2017.

Artistic Director: Alan Oei Address: 45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936 Telephone Number: +65 6337 7535 Website: http://www.substation.org

STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery STPI is an internationally renowned space in Singapore with a gallery and creative workshop focusing on innovative print and paper techniques. We offer a dynamic residency programme for leading artists around the world, where they can experiment and push the boundaries of artistic creation with alternative methods and materials. The combination of a critically acclaimed residency programme, gallery and exceptional workshop expertise makes STPI one of the most cutting– edge destinations for contemporary art in Southeast Asia.

Director: Emi Eu Address: 41 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238236 Telephone Number: +65 6336 3663 Website: http://www.stpi.com.sg National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University Young and research–intensive, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is ranked 13th globally. It is also placed 1st amongst the world’s best young universities.

The university has colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and an Interdisciplinary Graduate School. It also has a medical school, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, set up jointly with Imperial College London.

NTU is also home to world–class autonomous entities such as the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering.

The National Institute of Education, Singapore’s main teacher–training institute, is internationally–acclaimed and provides educational consultancy to countries.

Director, National Institute of Education: Professor Tan Oon Seng Address: 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616 Telephone Number: +65 6790 3888 Website: http://www.nie.edu.sg

Gillman Barracks Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Located in Gillman Barracks, the NTU CCA Singapore is a national research centre of Nanyang Technological University and is supported by a grant from the Economic Development Board, Singapore. The Centre is unique in its threefold constellation of exhibitions, residencies, and research and academic education. The NTU CCA Singapore positions itself as a space for critical discourse and encourages new ways of thinking about Spaces of the Curatorial in Southeast Asia and beyond. As a research centre, it aims to provide visiting researchers and curators a comprehensive study on the contemporary art ecosystem in Singapore and the region. The Centre’s dynamic public programme serves to engage with various audiences through lectures, workshops, open studios, film screenings and Exhibition (de)Tours.

Since the Centre’s inauguration in October 2013, the NTU CCA Singapore has presented several high–profile, first–to–launch exhibitions of leading artists, making it one of the first spaces in the region to present international exhibitions of such a scale. The Centre’s residencies programme is dedicated to facilitating the production of knowledge and research, engaging and connecting artists, curators and researchers from Singapore, Southeast Asia and beyond, and across various disciplines. The Centre’s seven studios support the artistic process in the most direct way – by giving the time and locale to be fully engaged, and the access to an interesting and immersive context to further the space for developing ideas.

Founding Director: Professor Ute Meta Bauer Address (Exhibitions): Block 43 Malan Road, Singapore 109443 Telephone Number: +65 6339 6503 Website: http://ntu.ccasingapore.org

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Gillman Barracks Mizuma Gallery Mizuma Gallery was established in 1994 in Tokyo by director Sueo Mizuma, and since its opening in Singapore in September 2012, aims for the promotion of Japanese artists in the region as well as the introduction of new and promising young talents from South East Asia to the international art scene. The gallery creates a new vector of dialogue within Asia by exchanging art projects between East Asia and South East Asia. Mizuma Gallery has exhibited at important art fairs such as ARCO (Madrid), Armory Show (New York), Frieze (London), FIAC (Paris), Basel Miami (Miami), and Art Basel Hong Kong (Hong Kong).

Director: Sueo Mizuma Address: 22 Lock Road, #01–34, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108939 Telephone Number: +65 6570 2505 Website: http://www.mizuma.sg

Pearl Lam Galleries Singapore Pearl Lam Galleries is dedicated to championing an international roster of contemporary artists who re–evaluate and challenge the philosophies and perceptions of contemporary art through meaningful cross–cultural discourse.

Complementing the critically acclaimed programmes of its Shanghai and Hong Kong spaces, Pearl Lam Galleries Singapore has been strategically chosen to strengthen the core mission of the Galleries: to engage in cultural exchange and provide a platform for rising and established talents from the West and East to meet, interact and engage. Situated at the heart of Southeast Asia both geographically and symbolically, the Singapore gallery, beyond exhibiting art that reflects the indigenous cultures of the region, further seeks to build on its role in generating meaningful cross–cultural dialogue and exploring cultural confluences and contrasts in contemporary art in the region.

Director: Pearl Lam Address: 9 Lock Road, #03–22, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108937 Telephone Number: +65 6570 2284 Website: http://www.pearllam.com

Yeo Workshop Yeo Workshop is a contemporary art gallery that produces a series of exhibitions, represented artists projects, and gallery–based programmes such as talks, symposiums and guiding research. Its aim is to promote the work of contemporary local and international artists with a strong artistic practice, and engage with the Singaporean and visiting audience. It puts emphasis on education via programmes surrounding its exhibitions. Yeo Workshop has been permanently based at Gillman Barracks, Singapore since Fall 2013.

Other projects of the gallery include the Arnoldii Arts Club, a course–based arts club, focusing on art history, art production and art markets. It also initiates and curates community projects, such as the recent “Singapore Arts Club”, a Gillman–Barracks– wide public art project in January 2016, to provide platforms for artists and to reach a wider audience.

Alternative Grey Projects Grey Projects is an arts platform for publication, curatorial and exchange activities.

Grey Projects supports nascent art practices with exhibitions, writings and residencies among other resources. We are looking for art experiments, design propositions, new writing and curatorial practices.

As a venue, Grey Projects is a workspace, library, exhibition gallery, studio and residency. We are located in Tiong Bahru, one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estates.

Director: Audrey Yeo Address: 1 Lock Road, #01–01, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108932 Telephone Number: +65 6734 5168 Website: http://yeoworkshop.com

Director: Jason Wee Address: 6B Kim Tian Road, Tiong Bahru, Singapore 169246 Telephone Number: +65 6655 6492 Website: http://www.greyprojects.org

FOST Gallery

SHOPHOUSE 5

Established in 2006, the eponymous FOST Gallery takes its name from its founder, Stephanie Fong, who from the outset made it its mission to show progressive contemporary artists from around the world with a special focus on artists based in Singapore.

SHOPHOUSE 5 is a private gallery located in the Geylang area of Singapore.

Surrounded by Buddhist federations, clan associations, an abundance of popular local eateries, and abutting the zone of red–light activities, this section of the city is abuzz with an eclectic mix of energy. Taking its cue from the edgy and diverse character of its surroundings, SHOPHOUSE 5 serves as an alternate art space for unusual or ephemeral activities as well as offering an annual programme of installations, exhibitions, talks and events presented by Chan Hampe Galleries and the Visual Arts Development Association Singapore (VADA).

The gallery first began showing young and emerging local artists in a converted historic shophouse on Kim Yam Road and quickly gained a reputation for its forward thinking outlook and critically acclaimed exhibitions. Its programme in recent years includes works by Tang Da Wu, widely acknowledged as the father of contemporary art in Singapore, as well as conceptual artists Heman Chong and Song–Ming Ang. The gallery represents Jimmy Ong, one of Singapore’s best–known artists, installation artist Donna Ong and up–and–coming sculptor Grace Tan. It also represents international artists who include Rodney Smith (USA), Adeel uz Zafar (Pakistan) and Phi Phi Oanh (Vietnam).

In 2012, the gallery expanded and relocated to Gillman Barracks, Singapore’s premier contemporary art precinct. FOST Gallery has been named by Blouin Artinfo as one of Asia’s top art galleries since 2013.

Director: Stephanie Fong Address: 1 Lock Road, #01–02, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108932 Telephone Number: +65 6694 3080 Website: http://www.fostgallery.com

Co–Founder: Angeline Chan Co–Founder: Benjamin Milton Hampe Address: #5 Lorong 24A Geylang Singapore 398529 Telephone: +65 6338 6192 Website: http://www.chanhampegalleries.com/shophouse–5 DECK Established by the team which founded 2902 Gallery in 2008. It all started with the belief that there has to an accessible market available for photo artists to make a living through their creations. In the same year, it launched the inaugural Singapore International Photography Festival, a non–profit biennale aimed at deepening the appreciation for art photography. DECK, which marks the coming of age of art photography in the region, is thus another committed effort to bring this dynamic art form to greater heights.

Founder: 2902 Gallery Address: 120A Prinsep Street Singapore 187937 Telephone Number: 6734 6578 Website: http://deck.sg

This catalogue is published on the occasion of the exhibition:

Curated and Edited by Audrey Yeo

Singapore Curator’s Cut: Important Contemporary Art Exhibitions 6 – 23 May 2014 Held at Yeo Workshop, Gillman Barracks

Editorial Support by Cat Cortes (Platform Projects), Jolyn Chin, Charmaine Ng and Rachelle Toh

Copyright 2014, YEO WORKSHOP, the curators, and the authors.

Curator selections by Savita Apte, Ho Rui An, Louis Ho, Charmaine Toh , Seng Yu Jin

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Project coordination by Khairullah Rahim, Cat Cortes

First published by: YEO WORKSHOP, 1 Lock Road #01–01, Singapore 108932

Portrait photography by Natsuko Teruya

www.yeoworkshop.com

Design and Art Direction by Bryan Loke

Book images photography by KIND Studios, Christopher Ong

Deep gratitude to Lim Kok Boon, Savita Apte (Platform Projects Ltd.), Ho Rui An, Louis Ho, Charmaine Toh (Objectifs), Seng Yu Jin (The National Gallery Singapore), Khim Ong, Anmari Neumann Van Nieuwenhov (Singapore Art Museum), and resources we got information from.

Permission to reproduce cover of all publications courtesy of: Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore, National Arts Council, National Gallery Singapore, Paris ADAGP, The Artists Village, Adel Abdessemed, Xavier Comas, Romeo V Tabueno, Jun Nguyen–Hatsushiba, Asian Civilisations Museum, Chow Chee Yong, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, Alan Oei, National University of Singapore Museum, Cheo Chai–Hiang, National Art Gallery Malaysia, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, The Andy Warhol Museum, National Institute of Education, The Institute of Critical Zoologists, The Land Archive, The Substation, Gilles Massot, Yuen Chee Wai, Charles Lim and Modern Art Society Singapore.

Limited edition of 500. Printed in Singapore. ISBN No. 978–981–09–1329–8