Look forward to more than 150 art exhibitions and programmes by over 400 artists, curators and partners from Singapore and around the world.
Venue: Various locations
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Time: Various timings
Fee: Free & Ticketed
Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2024
SAW 2024, Singapore’s pinnacle visual arts season returns this January! Organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SAW 2024 invites arts enthusiasts, collectors and the curious public to experience the best of Singapore and Southeast Asian art.
Attendees can look forward to a wide range of art experiences that include exciting and innovative presentations by Singapore artists across precincts from the city centre to the heartlands, to world-class exhibitions and marquee SAW events with renowned international artists. Singaporean and international art collectors, curators and industry professionals will have the opportunity to engage in dialogues surrounding the latest global art trends and developments, as well as the role of art in our culture, history and identity.
Programme Highlights
SAW provides a platform for local and international artists, inspiring new forms of expression, developing their practice and reflecting on contemporary art-making that shape the region’s visual landscape.
THE 5TH VH AWARD Exhibition by Hyundai Motor Group (A Joint Initiative with the National Arts Council)
Venue: Lower Gallery, Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film, 155 Middle Road Singapore 188977
Date: 21 Jan to 4 Feb 2024
Fee: Free admission
Initiated in 2016 by Hyundai Motor Group, the VH AWARD is Asia’s leading award for new media artists who are engaged with the context and future of Asia. THE 5TH VH AWARD Exhibition presents the works by Grand Prix recipient Subash Thebe Limbu (Dharan), as well as award finalists Zike He (Guiyang), Riar Rizaldi (Bandung), Su Hui-Yu (Taipei) and zzyw (based in New York). The works examine novel approaches to our interaction with technology, encompassing a wide range of topics such as social and environmental concerns, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the formation of identities that transcend historical boundaries. The artists explore speculative prospects for contemplating time, humanity, and cross-cultural collaboration, alongside unique perspectives on the future and the intersection of art and technology.
Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics (presented by the Institutum, curated by Zoe Whitley)
Venue:
- Gillman Barracks: 6 Lock Road, #02-09; 7 Lock Road, #01-12; 9 Lock Road, #03-21 and #03-22; ShanghART Gallery, 9 Lock Road, #02-22
- Restaurant Nouri: 72 Amoy Street
Date: 17 to 30 Jan 2024
Fee: Free admission
Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics explores the dynamic connections and affinities shared between the African and Asian diasporas through the lens of contemporary art. This multi-venue showcase features leading artists across the continents, including Zanele Muholi, Sonia Boyce, The Otolith Group, Do Ho Sun, Martin Wong, and many more. Through these works, the exhibition unveils material synergies and cultural affinities that cultures together. The exhibition also presents culinary and cultural partnerships with sites such as the Michelin-starred Nouri and the leading Chinese gallery, ShanghART. Translations is presented by The Institutum and curated by Zoe Whitley.
The Pierre Lorinet Collection presents Rough (curated by Edward Mitterrand, organised by Art Outreach Singapore)
Venue: 22 Lock Road, Gillman Barracks, #01-33
Date: 12 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free admission
Artists: Ai Weiwei, Cai Lei, Thomas Houseago, Rashid Johnson, Jannis Kounellis, Elad Lassry, Ibrahim Mahama, Oscar Murillo, Louise Nevelson, Claudio Parmiggiani, Sterling Ruby, Blair Thurman, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Danh Vo
Rough, curated by The Pierre Lorinet Collection’s adviser Edward Mitterrand, hints at the unapologetic and bold nature of the artworks on display and brings together a diverse group of 14 prominent artists. Infused by a broad range of styles and mediums, from Houseago’s dark masks to Thurman’s iconic shaped canvas, the exhibition challenges conventions and offers a raw and somewhat unrefined perspective on contemporary art. With very different backgrounds, origins and practices, the artists share a common toughness in either the subject or the media they use, enhanced by the untouched roughness of the exhibition space. Rough is a testament to the diversity and vitality of contemporary art. It encourages viewers to question, interpret, and engage with the unconventional.
Our Children by Tang Da Wu (presented by Art Outreach Singapore)
Venue: Art Outreach, Gillman Barracks, 5 Lock Rd, #01-06 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free admission
Highlighting our artistic legacies and offering a unique interactive art experience, Art Outreach presents a performance installation titled Our Children by seminal artist Tang Da Wu, that speaks to values of filial piety and the importance of nurturing future generations. In addition to having the chance to witness a rousing performance activation, the public can also participate in the completion of a tapestry that the artist began sewing in 2017. Expanding on the themes in Da Wu's work, a curated selection of artworks from a private collection will be displayed alongside. These artworks celebrate the intricate tapestry and craft traditions while exploring the profound bonds between parents and children.
Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger (by Singapore Art Museum and Art Sonje Center)
Venue: Singapore Art Museum, 39 Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 1
Date: now to 3 Mar 2024
Fee: $10 Standard, Free for Singaporeans and PRs
Ho Tzu Nyen: Time and the Tiger is a mid-career survey exhibition of the artist’s practice that spans two decades worth of paintings, films, theatrical performances, and video installations. Ho’s works often draw from historical events, documentary footage, art history, music videos and mythical stories to investigate the construction of history, the narrative of myths, and the plurality of identities. The exhibition also features a new commission that reflects on the embodied and heterogeneous experiences of time. Ho Tzu Nyen: Time and the Tiger is co-organised between Singapore Art Museum and Art Sonje Center.
Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America (by National Gallery Singapore)
Venue: National Gallery Singapore
Date: now to 24 Mar 2024
Fee: $25 Standard, $15 for Singaporeans and PR
Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America spans the 20th century, tracing how artists from both regions forged connections and nurtured solidarities, defiantly reclaiming their place within the story of art. It is the world’s first large-scale exhibition to survey the shared solidarities between two regions that emerged in the aftermath of colonialism. Featuring more than 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, performances, and sensorial installations, this exhibition showcases the works by more than 70 artists, including distinguished artists Latiff Mohidin, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Cheong Soo Pieng. Many of these artworks are presented for the first time in Singapore and showcased through radical exhibition designs drawing from the groundbreaking designs of legendary architect Lina Bo Bardi, which the Gallery developed in close collaboration with WOHA, the internationally acclaimed architecture firm. Come discover remarkable parallels between artists from these distant parts of the world and join us in uncovering how art can become a vehicle for resistance and transformation.
Arts Everywhere
Art Takes Over with SAW. This year’s edition sets to captivate audiences with meaningful visual arts encounters in spaces that are familiar and unexpected. From anchor events to hidden gems, arts lovers will see various neighbourhoods from the heartlands to the city centre come alive with new launches, expanded programmes, and the return of signature SAW events.
Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks (by Singapore Art Week)
Venue: Gillman Barracks
Date: 20 & 27 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks makes a comeback this year as part of SAW, bringing live music performances and visual arts together for two electrifying evenings on 20 and 27 January 2024.
In this edition, look forward to two distinct nights of entertainment: Rave Night, featuring local electronic music artists, and Prom Night, featuring live bands and DJ sets to keep you dancing all night long.
Visitors can also catch the opening performance of Our Children by seminal artist Tang Da Wu and explore new exhibitions at the resident art galleries after hours, featuring a line-up of exciting events not to be missed such as Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics presented by The Institutum, and NTU CCA Singapore’s Residencies OPEN.
Sonic Sessions at Tanjong Pagar Districtpark (by Singapore Art Week)
Venue: Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Date: 19 to 20 & 26 to 27 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Experience an exhilarating evening of art and entertainment brought to you by Singapore Art Week (SAW) in collaboration with the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), and support from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
We are thrilled to showcase a series of performances at two distinct locations within Tanjong Pagar Distripark: The Spine, situated at the heart of the park, will host performances on 19 to 20 January 2024, while the performances on 26 to 27 January 2024 will be held at the picturesque Container Bay, situated behind Block 39.
Light to Night Singapore 2024: Reimagine (by National Gallery Singapore)
Venue: National Gallery Singapore
Date: 19 Jan to 8 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
Light to Night Singapore 2024's theme of "Reimagine" invites festival goers to engage with art and space in new and innovative ways, sparking creativity and inspiring thoughtful experiences. The festival encourages artists to take visitors on a journey of unexpected and unconventional exploration, using inspiration from history, origin, and national collections to create truly immersive and interactive experiences that are accessible to all.
Shallow (by Singapore Art Museum)
Venue: 37 Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 1
Date: 12 Jan to 24 Apr 2024
Fee: $10 Standard, Free for Singaporeans and PRs
Shallow provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the SAM Fellowship programme, where collaborative efforts between curators and artists, Simryn Gill and Charles Lim, are directed towards generating insights into the global contemporary landscape. The exhibition showcases the artists’ interest in traversing the space that separates their homes between Port Dickson and Singapore. The journey was an opportunity to continue a collaborative method the artists developed during their Fellowship - employing video, photography, and text to chronicle their observations. With their parallax perspectives, the artists annotate stories of everyday crossings, migrations, and borders that connect to a deep cultural and political history of the region.
Eat Play Love (by Tan Ngiap Heng)
Venue: C-1 Holland Park, Home of the late Dr Tan Kheng Khoo and Mdm Gunn Chit Siew
Date: 19 to 31 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Eat Play Love explores family life, architectural heritage, and landscape futures. It unfolds within the late Dr Tan Kheng Khoo's family home, a mid-century modernist design of the late architectural pioneer William Lim. Whilst the family prepares to sell the house, the youngest son, Tan Ngiap Heng, is producing this exhibition as a tribute. Curated by Michael Lee, the exhibition will showcase works by Tan and six guest artists: Catherine Hu, Cynthia Delaney Suwito, Khoo Guo Jie, Lei Yuan Bin, Mike HJ Chang, and Susanna Tan. Our homes shape our identities and experiences, providing a canvas for the dramas of our lives. With this architecturally historic house as an artistic subject and exhibition site, Eat Play Love invites visitors to meditate on eating, sleeping, playing, loving, fighting, negotiating, and other ordinary yet meaningful activities at home.
Together, Hue & Me (by Elisa Liu & Cheng Jin An)
Venue: Buangkok Square, Block 991 Buangkok Link, Singapore 530991
Date: 17 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Together, Hue & Me is a project that invites people to take a closer look at the communal spaces in their neighbourhoods, and reflect on our interwoven lives as residents, friends and neighbours.
Featuring artworks and soundscapes created by residents of Jalan Kayu, this cross-disciplinary exhibition features multiple personal perspectives on homeliness and community, inspired by the shapes and colours of everyday spaces and interactions.
Attendees are invited to participate in guided tours and in the pop-up artmaking activities and discover how one can find beauty and inspiration in the designed subtleties around you.
INTERWOVEN (by Telok Kurau Studios)
Venue: 91, Lorong J, Telok Kurau, Singapore 425985
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
INTERWOVEN brings together the works of various artists under the roof of Telok Kurau Studios. As in the case of an interwoven fabric, different aspects and forms of art practices are akin to individual threads that interweaved together in unity, projecting the hearts of passion in the arts. Each perceived thread is unique and represents one's own capacity in the arts.
Accompanying the main exhibition at the Telok Kurau Studios Art Gallery, there will be open studios by participating artists for public viewing and interaction, complete with artists' demonstration and talks over two weekends.
Fresh & Innovative Art Experiences
New programmes by established and emerging Singaporean artists that reflect on the shaping of identities and shared affinities.
Keys Under the Sofa
Venue: Hock Siong & Co, 153 Kampong Ampat, #01-03, Singapore 368326
Date: 19 Jan to 18 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
Keys Under the Sofa is an exhibition of artists Cynthia Delaney Suwito, Geraldine Kang, Jaxton Su, Woong Soak Teng and Yang Jie at Hock Siong & Co, a family-owned second-hand furniture shop tucked away in one of Singapore’s industrial estates located at Tai Seng. Drawing from the furniture shop as a site of engagement, the artists explore and excavate the symbolic meanings and physical significance of furniture, unearth family and workplace narratives, play with spatial poetics and constructs, and understand the preservation and distribution of preloved objects. Each artist has an interdisciplinary practice, which collectively spans a wide spectrum of media including photography, kinetic sculpture, video art, installation, painting, text and participatory methods. The exhibition is accompanied by public programmes including an artist talk, a film dialogue and a creative repair kintsugi workshop.
Geometria Situ (by h0t.house)
Venue: Hothouse, Aliwal Arts Centre and Vicinity
Date: 19 Jan to 28 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
Geometria Situ: Traces and the Poetics of Translation delves into the speculative ecologies of the everyday and responds to the immediate vicinity of Hothouse (Aliwal Arts Centre), situated within Kampong Glam neighbourhood. Looking into the diagramming and expansion of memory with Hothouse as a starting point, this project serves as a theatre of memory, where latent traces and impressions of the locale are collected by artist–traceurs Rafi Abdullah, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Ruby Jayseelan and Safuan Johari. The digital environment incorporates the unique artistic interests of the four practitioners from different fields including sound, media art, movement and spoken word, and provides a space for collected elements to convolute and perform. This interdisciplinary and prototyping project is initiated by Hothouse (Currency Design, formAxioms and INTER–MISSION) and supported by Teater Ekamatra - their first collaboration tapping on their shared history with #02-10 in Aliwal Arts Centre.
Alternative Ecology: The Community (by Wang Ruobing)
Venue: Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Film, 155 Middle Road, Singapore 188977
Date: 13 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Held at the outdoor communal courtyard area of Objectifs, Alternative Ecology: The Community is an art and ecology event consisting of a sculptural social space made from bamboo by artist/architect Eko Prawoto (Indonesia) and Bamboo Broadcast Studio, a series of public programmes organised by Post-Museum (Singapore). Local community groups, professionals, and artists with interest in sustainability, nature and ecology are invited to take part in different activities, panel talks, booths and symposiums, rallying communities and the public for awareness, fun and participation. Programmes include the Renew Earth Sweat Shop Workshop, a Stone Soup Party, Eco-Karaoke night, Eco-Singles Night, Water & Sustainability Symposiums, and the Singapore Really Really Free Market, etc. Alternative Ecology offers creative interpretations of the profound environmental challenges that we face today. At the same time, it explores the parallel role of an artist in acting as a catalyst for fostering community collaboration and promoting awareness through creative interpretations and discussions.
Refraction Index (by Daniel Chong)
Venue: The Yards, #01-26, 406 Joo Chiat Pl, 428084
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Refraction Index is an arts incubator programme that seeks to inspire play with glass as an artistic material. Under the guidance of Jane B. Cowie, 5 local artists havewill experimented and delved into glass as a medium for their practice. As theyThey will be invited to learn, experiment and play with glass through their own practices, the showcase features culminating in a diverse and unique index of glass as material in art, . This will culminate in a showcase during SAW in and around The Yards where the glass studio is housed in. The programme aims to bridge the gap between glass making and facilitate the access for artists to use this material as a stepping stone to showcasing its unique materiality to the wider public.
Acknowledging Intuition (AI) (by Huijun Lu, Joscelin Chew)
Venue: 42 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187951
Date: 19 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Free
Acknowledging Intuition (AI) is an exhibition that takes its starting point from a creative brief produced by a generative AI (ChatGPT) from the prompt “an art exhibition that re-evaluates the intersection of text and image against the growing pervasiveness of text-to-image generative artificial intelligence”. Through actualising the vision of a generative artificial intelligence, the exhibition will raise the question, “What does it take to be an artist?” ChatGPT has proposed a series of paired text and image pieces, where one is created by a human artist and the other by a text-to-image generative artificial intelligence model. Visitors are invited to compare and contrast the two works, as well as provide their own text prompts to the artificial intelligence model and see how it generates corresponding images. The public will be invited to submit descriptive texts prior to the exhibition to add to the installation’s source material.
Immortal Words (by Boedi Widjaja)
Venue: Black Box, Centre 42, 42 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187951
Date: 19 Jan to 20 Feb 2024
Fee: Free
Immortal Words is a bioart project by Boedi Widjaja that presents collectible DNA-spiked objects through capsule vending machines, and an exhibition of his decade-long research into body, memory, language and encoding. Encoding into DNA words believed to have survived for 15,000 years, since the Ice Age, Boedi explores through words from our deep ancestral past, the memories that we hold within. Audiences may collect these “fossil” words in the form of DNA-spiked keycaps, miniature books and biosuspension through capsule vending machines at multiple locations. At Centre 42, the titular exhibition presents Boedi’s new and existing works that span across media - films, photography, installations and mark-making.
Immortal Words is developed in consultation with geneticist Assoc Prof Eric Yap of Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and produced by Audrey Koh.
Art Fairs
ART SG
Venue: Sands Expo and Convention Centre, 10 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018956
Date: 19 to 21 Jan 2024
Fee: Ticketed
Presented by Founding and Lead Partner UBS, ART SG is Singapore and Southeast Asia's leading international art fair. ART SG's launch in January 2023 was the most significant launch in Asia-Pacific in a decade and was hailed by many as the beginning of a new chapter for the art scene in Singapore. The second edition of ART SG will spotlight exceptional contemporary art from around the world and will play a critical role in connecting Southeast Asia to the global art world. This coming January, ART SG will feature a stellar line up of galleries from countries worldwide alongside dynamic large-scale installations, curated talks and film programs. ART SG as part of Singapore Art Week, has firmly placed Singapore as a key destination on the global art stage.
S.E.A. Focus (curated by John Tung)
Photo Credit: National Arts Council
Venue: 39 Keppel Rd, #01-05 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore 089065
Date: 20 to 28 Jan 2024
Fee: Ticketed
S.E.A. Focus is a leading showcase and art market hub dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary art. It aims to bring together a fine curation of established and emerging artistic talents to foster a deeper appreciation of contemporary art in the region. A meeting point for artistic vision and vigour, S.E.A. Focus provides a platform that propels diverse cultural exchanges and provokes dialogue about Southeast Asian art.
Back for its sixth edition, S.E.A. Focus 2024 explores what gives form to being human while navigating a world with our human distinctiveness co-existing with another competing intelligence. Alongside the curated exhibition at Tanjong Pagar Distripark is an exciting line-up of experiences to engage art lovers from seasoned collectors to curious enthusiasts, including a curated film programme of artists’ video works, stimulating art conversations with industry thought leaders, and exclusive access to art spaces. S.E.A. Focus is an anchor event of the Singapore Art Week, led by STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery and commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore.
To learn more about the full programme line-up and participating artists for the
upcoming 12th edition of SAW, you may visit the SAW website and/or follow @sgartweek on Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.
