Heman Chong at SAM: Monuments to memory and forgetting
The show carries a long and unwieldy title taken off a Wikipedia disclaimer: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. For Chong, incompleteness is not a failure but a principle to celebrate.
His work thrives in grey zones: the unread book, the closed door, the footnote that never gets read. His installations sprawl across nine thematically curated rooms – Words, Whispers, Ghosts, Journeys, Futures, Findings, Infrastructures, Surfaces and Endings – and each one feels like you have stumbled into the dumping ground of the information age.
Heman Chong's Monument to the people we've conveniently forgotten (I hate you) (2008) is a sea of one million blacked-out business cards. PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM / HEMAN CHONG
Take Monument to the people we've conveniently forgotten (I hate you) (2008), for instance. It comprises one million – yes, one million – blacked-out business cards strewn across the floor. You can walk over them, lie on top of them, bathe in them, if you like – but you will never know who these business cards belonged to. It is a sea of forgotten names and unrealised connections turned into a playground of amnesia.
If memory is a battleground, then The Library of Unread Books (2016-ongoing) is its cemetery. It is made up of hundreds of books donated by the public – books that were bought but never read by their owners. Together, they make up a collective confession of good intentions not followed through. It is less a library and more a mausoleum of curiosity, celebrating the gulf between acquiring knowledge and actually engaging with it.
The Library Of Unread Books by Heman Chong and Renee Staal is made up of hundreds of books purchased by hundreds of people but never read. PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM / HEMAN CHONG
And then there is Calendars (2020-2096) (2004-2010), where Chong presents 1,001 calendar pages featuring images of emptied public spaces in Singapore. The dates extend decades into the future, flirting with the absurdity of planning for a tomorrow that may never come. Though created before the pandemic, its depictions of vacant spaces eerily foreshadow the emptiness of Covid-19 lockdowns.
There are several new commissions. Among them is Wanderlust / Rebecca Solnit (2025), an exceptionally beautiful addition to his Cover (Versions) series, where Chong re-imagines book covers for titles he has not yet read but intends to. Other works such as Emails From Strangers (kami coar) (2025) and Oleanders (2023-ongoing) similarly celebrate the forgotten, the unread, the unspoken.
A spam e-mail from a stranger is memorialised in Heman Chong's work Emails From Strangers (kami coar) (2025) . PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM / HEMAN CHONG
Curation by June Yap and Kathleen Ditzig is masterful, shaping a space that is both clinically sterile and invitingly immersive. The show simultaneously asks you to step in and stay away, look closer and look away, question everything you think you know – or ignore everything you see. Somewhere in Singapore, Chong – archivist, agitator, provocateur, prankster – is having a laugh.
The exhibition runs at the Singapore Art Museum until Aug 17
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Istana to hold open house on Aug 3 in celebration of SG60
Find out what's new on ST website and app. SINGAPORE – The Istana will open its grounds to the public on Aug 3 to mark National Day and celebrate with people of all ages the nation's 60th anniversary of Independence. Visitors can look forward to fun activities to commemorate SG60 that reflect this year's theme – 'Building Our Singapore Together'. This includes the opportunity to participate in sport try-outs for boccia, seated volleyball and virtual archery – all of them designed to engage participants of all abilities. Visitors will also get the chance to step inside a roving art truck by the National Gallery, co-create artwork with local artist Heman Chong, and transform fabric scraps into novelty items in Twine Together!, a collaboration of the National Heritage Board and Uniqlo. From 10am to 4.30pm, there will be a series of performances including by local singer-songwriters LAYYI and Sherman Zhuo. Student performers will also be taking the stage, including an angklung and kulintang ensemble by Bukit View Primary School, a handbells ensemble by Woodlands Primary School, a choral recitation by Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Islamiah, and Hwa Chong Institution (High School)'s Concert Band. Snacks can be purchased from on-site food and beverage stalls. Merchandise booths will be offering limited-edition Istana and President's Challenge souvenirs, and up to 10,000 National Day goodie bags will also be up for grabs. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia Live: Thailand, Cambodia clash with jets, rockets, artillery in deadly border row Asia 11 Thai civilians killed as Thai and Cambodian militaries clash at disputed border: Reports Singapore First BTO flats in Greater Southern Waterfront, Mount Pleasant to go on sale in October Singapore Boy, 15, charged after being caught with vapes 5 times; ordered to stay 2 years in S'pore Boys' Home Asia Vampire coach: Coercive blood sampling in school casts spotlight on Taiwan's 'obedient culture' Business MOM probing work injury claim flagged by late Sumo Salad boss Jane Lee: Dinesh Singapore What's key to a good life? Most Singapore residents choose emotional and mental well-being Singapore Over 2 years' jail for man who worked with wife to cheat her then boyfriend of $220k On Aug 3, visitors can enter the Istana grounds via its main gate at Orchard Road. The nearest MRT station is the Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange, which is less than five minutes away by foot. Entry to the Istana grounds is free for Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs), and migrant domestic workers accompanying families. Otherwise, there is an admission fee of $20 for adults and $10 for a child aged four to 12.

Straits Times
14-07-2025
- Straits Times
Pioneer performance artist Amanda Heng to represent Singapore at 2026 Venice Biennale
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Amanda Heng will be the most senior artist to stage a solo at the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. SINGAPORE – Pioneer performance artist Amanda Heng, 73, is Singapore's pick for the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2026, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) announced in a statement on July 14. She will be the most senior artist to stage a solo at the Singapore Pavilion in Venice, and only the second woman artist to do so, after Shubigi Rao in 2022. Heng will collaborate with curator Selene Yap for her presentation at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, which will take place from May 9 to Nov 22. Dr Eugene Tan, co-chair of the commissioning panel and director of SAM, said of the panel's choice of Heng: 'Her sustained and evolving practice offers compelling ways of engaging the world through the body, performance and lived experience. Her work resonates with the urgencies of our time while being grounded in personal truth and poetic clarity.' Singaporean artist Amanda Heng (right) will collaborate with curator Selene Yap for her presentation at the 2026 Venice Biennale. PHOTO: SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM Heng left her job as an income tax officer in 1986 to pursue art. She co-founded The Artists Village – Singapore's first art colony, in a converted chicken farm – in 1988 and Singapore's first artist-run women collective Women In The Arts in 1999. She was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 2010. She is best known for her long-running performance works dealing with sociopolitical issues through everyday acts such as walking and conversing. In Walking The Stool (1999), Heng took her studio stool for a walk in public as a way of questioning Singapore's decade-long restrictions on performance art. That same year, she performed Let's Walk, leading participants in walking backwards with a high-heeled shoe in their mouth, as a comment on women's progress in society. Her participatory performance Let's Chat (1996) – presented in malls, markets and museums – offered an intimate space for the public to talk while peeling bean sprouts over tea. Another long-running project, Singirl, invited women to submit images of their bare bottoms as a comment on the demure image of the Singapore Girl. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore to train more aviation and maritime officials from around the world Singapore Special edition SG60 Nets card now on sale for $10 Singapore Same person, but different S'porean Chinese names? How have such naming practices evolved? Business Singapore's economy sees surprise expansion in Q2 despite US tariff uncertainty: Advance estimate Singapore Jail for woman who opened bank accounts that received over $640.7m, including scam proceeds Sport After Olympic heartbreak, Singaporean swimmer Chantal Liew turns pain into inspiration Business From wellness zone to neurodivergent room: How companies are creating inviting, inclusive offices Singapore Swift action needed to stop vaping's slide from health risk to drug epidemic Performance artist Amanda Heng in a video footage capturing her walking backwards, barefoot, with a high-heeled shoe in her mouth. Let's Walk (1999) was a statement on how women are constrained by having to conform to a certain ideal of how they should look. PHOTO: AMANDA HENG This will be the 12th year Singapore is participating at the prestigious event in Venice which showcases contemporary art from all over the world. The Singapore Pavilion has spotlighted artists such as Robert Zhao Renhui (2024) and Charles Lim (2015). It is commissioned by the National Arts Council and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The 2026 theme is In Minor Keys.

Straits Times
28-06-2025
- Straits Times
Time capsule of 60 items sealed at Pink Dot 2025, to be opened in 2050
This is the third Pink Dot SG rally since Singapore repealed Section 377A. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR Time capsule of 60 items sealed at Pink Dot 2025, to be opened in 2050 SINGAPORE - Thousands adorned in pink gathered at Hong Lim Park on June 28 in celebration of love in all forms at the annual Pink Dot SG rally. Rainy weather did not dampen the spirit of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community and supporters who attended the 17th edition of the rally. Among the politicians spotted at the event included PAP MPs Alex Yeo and Ng Shi Xuan, as well as Workers' Party MPs He Ting Ru and Louis Chua. A time capsule of more than 60 items – from everyday objects to cherished heirlooms – was sealed at the event. The capsule was designed by local artist Nichole Ho. These items include a chest binder, passed on from one person going through their gender journey to another, and a phone pouch that had held the first phone used for the Oogachaga counselling hotline set up almost two decades ago for the queer community. Mr Bhaskaran, who provided only one name, and his partner Sam contributed their marriage certificate to the time capsule. The pair got married in 2025 in San Francisco. Their hope is that queer couples will one day be able to legally marry on home soil. Mr Bhaskaran also contributed a set of cutlery to the capsule, which symbolises his mother's journey to embracing Sam. She was once unsure of the couple, but now shows her acceptance, especially at the dinner table. The fork and spoon set is the only set of cutlery regularly used in the home by Sam, as the rest of the family eats with their hands. This is the third Pink Dot SG rally since Singapore repealed Section 377A, the law that criminalised gay sex. Ms Opera Tang, one of the speakers at the event, submitted the first headdress she made, which was worn during her debut drag performance at Pink Dot in 2021. Ms Tang spoke about how the headdress was styled together with her grandmother, who expressed her quiet support for her drag journey through craft. 'Ah Ma doesn't say things like 'queer' or 'drag'. But she says, 'jiak ba buay?' (Teochew for 'Have you eaten?'), which is how she says 'I love you', she said. The items were sealed into the time capsule, with the last being a picture of the crowd gathered at the Speakers' Corner. Thousands adorned in pink gathered at Hong Lim Park on June 28 in celebration of love in all forms at the annual Pink Dot SG rally. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR Those who want to read the stories behind each item inside the time capsule can do so at The capsule will be opened in 2050. The year symbolises the new generation of LGBTQ+ Singaporeans and represents hope for the future, said Pink Dot's organisers. Pink Dot spokesman Clement Tan said: 'This time capsule serves as a reminder of the love and resilience that has carried us this far. We want to send a message of hope to future Singaporeans: that all forms of love are valid and that our relationships should be celebrated equally.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.