out of isolation: artists respond to covid-19 is a special series of creative, critical and personal responses by artists on the significance of the coronavirus to their respective contexts, written as the crisis plays out before us. Simon Soon reflects on how the lockdown in Malaysia gave him the opportunity to be reacquainted with a project that he started almost a decade ago, and the city he now lives in. 6 minute read.

The 2016 exhibition Reframing Modernism: Painting from Southeast Asia, Europe and Beyond explored new ways of looking at the history of modernism in art, through an encounter between the collections of the Centre Pompidou, National Gallery Singapore and other Southeast Asian collections. In this essay, reproduced from the accompanying publication, curator Lisa Horikawa examines the life and works of a pioneer in the modern art of Indonesia, Emiria Sunassa. 4 minute read.

Who were the women in architectural history? Where were they working? What architectural activities were they engaged in? Why did they do the work they did? How was their work—writing, drawing, designing, managing, planning, reviewing, or building construction—perceived and valued? Asking these questions necessitates understanding the discourses, rhetoric, and circumstances—the systemic hierarchical imbalances and exclusions, constraints, and opportunities—that enframed women.

When Sok Kiang first found out about National Gallery Singapore in 2015, she was residing overseas with her husband Jeff. The couple moved back to Singapore in 2016 and immediately signed up to volunteer at the Gallery with her sister, Sok Oon. Yang Yilin (Senior Executive, Community & Access) shares their Volunteer Voices.

Where did the Gallery's Rotunda Library & Archive collection come from? What does the Rotunda Library & Archive do? All these questions and more answered with a peek into the collection, history and uses of the newly renovated Rotunda Library & Archive.

Ivy Lam (Manager, National Heritage Board) talks about how an artwork by Anurendra Jegadeva about the female migrant inspired her to rethink how Nanyang paintings are understood and studied, leading to a podcast episode that saw two curators from the Indian Heritage Centre and National Gallery Singapore discussing the evolving responsibilities of their profession. 3 minute read.

Simone Forti’s radical Dance Constructions redefined the relationship between bodies and objects when first presented in New York in 1961. Based on everyday actions, chance, and improvisation, and the use of simple materials such as plywood and rope, the pieces break with the idea that dance can only be performed by formally trained bodies. Sarah Swenson has been the principal teacher of Dance Constructions since 2012. In this article, she reflects on the intricacies of teaching, learning and performing works predicated on human effort and interaction. 10 minute read.

This essay by curator Clarissa Chikiamco explores the distinction between non-objective and abstract art through the practice of Philippine artist Fernando Zóbel.

In this conversation with Samsung Newsroom, Jason Ong (Director, Partnership Development, National Gallery Singapore) shares more about the Gallery's partnership with the Samsung Art Store, and its commitment to making the museum's collection more accessible. 5 minute read.

Philippine artist Constancio Bernardo left for Yale University a figurative painter and returned to Manila three years later with a practice centering around geometric abstraction. Curator Clarissa Chikiamco takes a closer look at Bernardo's work Bernadian Synthesis No. 1, a triptych from an exhibition that marked this new stage in his practice. 4 minute read.

Indonesian social realist artist Itji Tarmizi and his contemporaries are known as a “missing link” in Indonesia’s modern art history as little is known about their work. Gerald Sim (Intern, Curatorial and Research) digs deeper into Menyongsong Fajar (Watching the Sunrise), Itji’s monumental work of social realism, to unearth more about the artist and the time in which he lived and worked. 4 minute read.

What exactly goes on behind closed doors in our DBS Singapore and UOB Southeast Asia Galleries? Go behind the scenes of a recent artwork rotation exercise to find out!

On first appearances, Village Scene is a lively and cheerful depiction of rural life. Yet, this harmonious-looking work is also a poignant reminder of a tumultuous time in Southeast Asia that ultimately led to a period of unimaginable tragedy in Cambodia. Roger Nelson looks into the painting's subject matter, style, and exhibition and publishing history to explore how it intersects with the Cold War and related conflicts. 17 minute read.

Curator Charmaine Toh explores the aesthetic qualities of pioneer photographer Wu Peng Seng’s images, offering fresh insight into his practice. 5 minute read.

Join this tour of 7 highlights in the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989), a selection that traces the new approaches toward art and architecture that emerged in Bangkok, Manila and Singapore during a period of rapid modernization.
1 minute read, 14 minute listen.

On 25 May 2019, Professor Edwin Thumboo explored the rich relationship between art and poetry in a roundtable with National Gallery Singapore staff Elaine Ee (Deputy Director, Content Publishing) and Daryl Yam (Assistant Manager, Programmes). Although the conversation ranged from Singapore’s history to the purpose of art, much discussion centred around two poems in this volume, “Ayatana” and “Dancing Mutants,” which were analysed at length. Extracts of their conversation are presented here.

Don’t Give Money to the Arts—the remains of Tang Da Wu’s seminal performance interventions in 1995—hangs in the DBS Singapore Gallery. Goh Wei Hao (Intern, Curatorial and Research) explores the historical and cultural contexts of these performances. 5 minute read.

Although little known today, Sam Yoeun was one of the most prominent artists in Cambodia during the 1960s. A recent acquisition of his artworks now on display in the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery sheds new light on this fascinating figure.

In 1973, the Indonesian polymath and intellectual Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana (STA) presented his paper “The Place of Art in the Psychological, Social and Cultural Reconstruction of the Future. Calling for “a new avant-garde,” he positioned the artist as playing a critical part in building a post-Cold War future. He believed that the aesthetic experience was foundational to societies and culture was a representation of a value system, and that artmaking and appreciation created a a feedback loop between the individual and society. This article features select artworks from Singapore's National Collection that capture the cultural and regional zeitgeist from which STA’s ideas emerged, spotlighting other important artists and futurists. 10 minute read.

With photographs, sketches and writings, archival materials contain valuable first-hand information on artists’ professional practices. Michelle Tay introduces us to the Gallery's Georgette Chen Archive, which includes her beloved Hermes Baby typewriter as well as hand-drawn menu cards, providing us with a rare and intimate look into Chen's thoughts, observations and life. 17 minute read.

In this article, we chat with our docents Constance Ong, Mae Chong, Jacqueline Lim, and Eric Liu, about how they have grown with the Best Friends of the Gallery (BFG) programme. Through volunteering at the Gallery, they have picked up new skills which they have gone on to apply beyond the Gallery, as well as discovered new areas of interest.

There are exciting and remarkably varied examples of art made by women in 19th century Southeast Asia, but research has largely overlooked these artists in favour of their male counterparts. Curator Roger Nelson spotlights some of the paintings, photographs, textiles and other media created by female artists of the time, offering an introduction into this significant area of art history. 12 minute read.

Learn more about London’s art scene in the 1960s and what it takes for a Singaporean artist to make it in a foreign metropolis, in this dialogue between artist Mak Kum Siew and Gallery curator Jennifer Lam.