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Singapore Art Week 2024 marked a spectacular finish, solidifying its status as the largest art festival in Singapore. Spanning from January 19 to 28, 2024, the nation was immersed in a celebration of creativity, featuring over 150 art events. The energy and ambiance is much different from the previous edition. Embark on a journey with Tae Art Man, exploring the dynamic and vibrant essence of Singapore’s premier art event.
Singapore Art Week 2024: ART SG 2024
ART SG celebrated its second edition, after its inauguration edition setting its sights on becoming the largest art exhibition in Southeast Asia. Anticipation and criticism filled the air even before the event officially commenced. For an in-depth exploration and a closer look at the fascinating art pieces featured, delve into the full report of ART SG review by Tae Art Man.
Singapore Art Week 2024: Light to Night 2024
Light to Night, a highlight of Singapore Art Week not to be missed, featured installation art creating dialogues with projection mapping art on buildings in the Civic District area, around the National Gallery Singapore.
This year’s highlights including the Wings of Change, the installation from the signature work of Singaporean artist Kumari Nahappan, “Saga Seed,” the emblematic of hope and beauty. With across the street, a projection art piece by one of the pioneer of Singapore’s contemporary art Teo Eng Seng, featuring collaboration with Parisian artist Milosh Luczynski, lighten up the night making the artistic conversation with the illuminated Saga Seeds.
Further along at Victoria Theatre & Concert Hall, the “Wayang Spaceship” by performance and film artist Ming Wong (represent Singapore in its Pavilion in Venice Biennale in 2009), stationed beside the art projection by SISTRUM, a group of three mixed-media Singapore-based artists creating “Embroidered Landscapes,” a digital art piece enhancing the building’s facade.
Singapore Art Week 2024: National Gallery Singapore
Upon entering National Gallery Singapore, it was surprising to see that one of last year’s highlight exhibitions, “Liu Kuo-Sung: Experimentation as method,” continued into this year. You can see the 70 span year of his work at the exhibition review here.
This year, “Ping Pong Go-Round,” a unique circular ping pong table crafted by the veteran Singaporean artist Lee Wen in 1998, garnered widespread attention across social media. The artwork’s circular design not only challenges players to control the direction of the ball but also fosters engaging interactions with strangers. This inventive setup naturally facilitates shared laughter and dialogue among participants, highlighting the playful spirit and human touch of the piece.
“Tropical Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America,” an exhibition not to be missed, showcases a parallel of artistic expressions between South East Asia and Latin America in entirely 20th century. With nearly 200 pieces by 70 artists, including such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Paul Gauguin, and the Thai artist Thawan Duchanee, the exhibition offers a rich tapestry of cultural narratives. Enhancing the immersive experience, the gallery also features a lush tropical garden and live macaws, further accentuating the exhibition’s tropical ambiance.
The Rotunda Library & Archive on the 3rd floor of National Gallery Singapore, which previously showcased blossoming flowers across the dome in 2023 (see the vdo clip below), this year presents “Symphony of Order,” a conceptual video art piece reflecting on the invisible rules and social norms in Singapore, through a 360-degree dining scene of 12 people projected on the dome, accompanied by personal stories from individuals at the tables below(Which the creation took place at Yan restaurant at the gallery rooftop). The artists behind this art piece Sarah Choo Jing and Mathias Choo also featured themselves among the group of 12.
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Many more exhibitions and artworks for the artistic exploration in the National Gallery Singapore.
Singapore Art Week 2024: SAM / Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Another must-visit venue during the festival is the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in the Tanjong Pagar Distripark, offering a real, cool old port vibe. Last year, it was the main venue for the Singapore Biennale 2022, which ran until March 2023.
The exhibition “Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & The Tiger” displayed works reflecting the thoughts and identity over 20 years of contemporary Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen, who represented in Singapore Pavillion in the Venice Biennale’s 54th in 2011. The exhibition, packed with mixed media, reflects on the history and time of events in Asia, and the tigers also, an artistic motif often appear in Ho’s artwork.
Additionally, the exhibition “47 Days, Sound-Less” by Vietnamese film and documentary artist Nguyễn Trinh Thi, who is invited to Venice Biennale 2024, combines natural landscapes with a setup that plays with light reflection through mirrors, offering a dimension of perception that includes both sight and sound, darkness and silence. This blend conveys the relationship between natural environments and human existence.
Singapore Art Week 2024: Five Courses of Spicy Chili Crab
In this edition, obviously the showcasing highlighted of Singaporean artists, as seen on such as Light to Night, National Gallery Singapore, and even the Rotunda Library & Archive. This marks a significant shift from the previous year’s diverse of artists. This strategically indicate the pivot underscores of Singapore’s ambition to transform its role from a cultural and artistic importer to a prominent exporter on the global stage. This is perfectly align with the recent announcement of the 332 artists invited to exhibit at the coming up Venice Biennale 2024, scheduled from April 20 to November 24, 2024. Among these artists, there are seven Singaporean artists, which is a very interesting ratio on the roster.
The past decade has witnessed Singapore curating iconic exhibitions with international luminaries, including Andy Warhol’s “15 Minutes Eternal” in 2012 and Yayoi Kusama’s “Life is the Heart of a Rainbow” in 2017—events that drew art aficionados from across the globe, particularly from Thailand. This idea resonates with the contemporary buzz of Taylor Swift’s concerts tour in Singapore.
Despite a noticeable lack of artistic diversity in this edition of Singapore Art Week, many individual artworks packed the punch of flavorful spicy chili crab, vividly conveying Singapore’s ambition to position itself as the regional art capital.
Whether this spicy crab dish will reach its dream destination remains to be seen.
Story : Tae Art Man
Photos: Tae Art Man / Tooh Athit
