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Bangkok Post
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
Singapore exhibition spotlights Asian artists in interwar Paris
National Gallery Singapore invites all to its exhibition "City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s-1940s" to explore the contributions of Asian artists to modernism in a global context. Running at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery of the National Gallery Singapore until Aug 17, this groundbreaking exhibition foregrounds the legacy of Asian artists in interwar Paris, presenting over 200 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, lacquerware and decorative arts, along with 200 archival materials and images. "As the Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, we seek to deepen the exploration of our region's art history within a global context by reframing narratives through a distinctly regional lens," said Eugene Tan, chief executive officer and director of the National Gallery Singapore. "'City of Others' continues our commitment to present fresh perspectives on modern art by highlighting often-overlooked figures who played important roles in shaping this significant period in art history." The first section explores how Asian artists presented themselves to European audiences. In Self-Portrait With Cat (1926), Japanese-French painter Foujita Tsuguharu cast himself as a pensive artist at a table in his room, surrounded by a canvas, an ink stone, a stick, fine brushes and accompanied by his cat. Other artists include Le Pho, Mai Trung The, Georgette Chen, Liu Kang and Pai Un-soung. The next section shows how Asian artists contributed to the Art Déco movement in Paris after the 1920s. Highlights include jewellery and lacquerware, including those from the atelier of leading designer Jean Dunand. His impressive work La Forêt (Forest) (1930) is a 6m-long folding screen painted with gold and silver lacquer. The exhibition also chronicles colonial propaganda and anti-colonial resistance. For example, newspaper cartoons made in Paris by future Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh are reproduced in the exhibition. New graduates from the École de Beaux Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi had their works exhibited at the International Colonial Exposition of 1931. On view is L'ge Heureux (The Happy Age) (1930) by Le Pho. Visitors can learn about the impact that Montparnasse, an artistic hub in Paris, had on artists. Surrounded by studios, informal art schools and cafes, the area encouraged Asians to interact with other creative minds, many of whom were migrants from other parts of Europe, such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Moise Kisling. It concludes with the impact of WWII and decolonisation on art.
Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
National Gallery's revamped Singapore gallery spotlights more women and minority artists
(From left) Singapore Stories: Pathways And Detours In Art's curatorial team consists of Joleen Loh, Chee Jin Ming, Lim Shujuan, Adele Tan, Seng Yu Jin, Kathleen Ditzig, Teo Hui Min and Qinyi Lim. SINGAPORE – For two weeks in 1992, 100 eggplants of various girths and ombres jutted out of three slate walls at Parkway Parade. Artist Suzann Victor, who co-founded art space 5th Passage in the mall, was hoping to tickle the fancy of idle office workers with her risque visual gag as the phallic fruit rotted in public. Three decades later, the ephemeral aubergines in Still Life have found a new lease of life as part of National Gallery Singapore's (NGS) revamped Singapore art history exhibition. The commission, featuring 222 new brinjals, is one of over 400 artworks and artefacts on show at Singapore Stories: Pathways And Detours In Art, which opens on July 18. Lead curator Adele Tan, who led this first major revamp of the Singapore gallery, admitted that the inaugural 2015 exhibition Siapa Nama Kamu?: Art In Singapore Since The 19th Century was sombre, if necessarily so, for a fledgling institution. 'There was tremendous urgency to tell the story as if we were instructing the art history to our audiences.' Her maxim for the revamp is, therefore, 'let there be lightness'. While the exhibition's flow remains largely chronological, expect moments of levity and detours into lesser-known figures and episodes in art history as the new show is more free-flowing and almost doubles its exhibition footprint to 35,400 sq ft, comprising the entire second level of the City Hall wing. But her lightness is also an invitation to ponder seriously. Artist Suzann Victor's Still Life (1992/2025) features 222 eggplants nailed to two walls in the walkway between galleries. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY In the inaugural exhibition, Victor was represented by a single installation Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame, mourning the body's absence in a 1994 work. It was made in the year Singapore banned performance art after an offending performance at 5th Passage led to the group's eviction. In Singapore Stories, she is represented instead by a more humorous work predating the traumatic wound in the Singapore contemporary art scene. The updated gallery has also responded to calls from visitors for more women and minority artists . About one in four artists in the new show are women. It is not exactly numerical parity, but there are significant clusters of artworks dedicated to the likes of pioneer performance artist Amanda Heng, ceramic artist Suriani Suratman and female ink artists working in a male-dominated genre. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore July BTO launch to have over 4,600 balance flats, 2 BTO projects with under than 3-year wait Singapore Baby died after mum took abortion pills and gave birth in toilet; coroner records an open verdict Singapore Acute psychiatry services to be expanded across all healthcare clusters: MOH Singapore Alleged Toa Payoh cat killer and abuser handed new charge of torturing sixth cat Singapore 'Kpods broke our marriage, shattered our children': Woman on husband's vape addiction Singapore Asia-Pacific will need over 230k new pilots, 250k aircraft maintenance technicians by 2042: ICAO chief Business Tycoon Robert Kuok's daughter Kuok Hui Kwong appointed CEO of Shangri-La Asia The usual names that dominate Singapore art history still get huge attention – Nanyang artists like Chen Wen Hsi, for example, whose largest artwork Gibbons (1977) was recently conserved and is now on show . Performance art rock star Tang Da Wu's iconic jacket from Don't Give Money To The Arts (1995) has been replaced with a provocative visual pun, Just In Case (1991), a timely invitation for Singaporeans to consider Myanmar from a distance. Visitors engaging with contemporary artist Tang Da Wu's Just In Case (1991), which invites readers to peep into a hole in the box to look at a provocative visual pun. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY The curators' choice to forgo even-handedness and feature clusters of works by select figures allows for a fuller display of an artist's developing oeuvre. Dr Tan says: 'The companion to 'overlooking' is 'straitjacketing' – equally compromising is being stereotyped into one thing.' Nanyang artist Cheong Soo Pieng, for example, is still represented by his trademark paintings of lithe Balinese women – an outcome of the mythologised 1952 Bali trip. But his bolder abstract and mixed-media works such as Imagination (1970) offer a glimpse into his experiments with scrap industrial materials. Artist Vincent Hoisington's Civilisation (circa 1970s) uses industrial polyurethane paint and turpentine to create a gunky dystopian scene. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY Beyond obvious artist groupings such as the Nanyang artists, the displays highlight other resonances in Singapore artists' practices. Cheong's works are placed near Vincent Hoisington's dystopian Civilisation (circa 1970s), which uses unconventional materials like industrial polyurethane paint and turpentine. Cheong is also placed near his students Khoo Sui Hoe and Ng Eng Teng, best known for his playful sculptural figures made using ciment fondu, an industrial concrete. The exhibition also marks NGS' cautious foray into the broader visual culture, with surprising names such as film legend P. Ramlee and children's book illustrator Kwan Shan Mei on show. The National Gallery Singapore ventures into visual culture, including works such as film excerpts by film icon P. Ramlee. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH Dr Seng Yu Jin, project director of Singapore Stories, says the gallery will eventually curate full-scale exhibitions on other aspects of visual culture such as cartoons and comics. As NGS celebrates its 10th year, he says: 'We have greater confidence to expand our methodology beyond art history into visual culture.' Dr Tan also says to expect the museum's programming to broaden to speakers and participants across art forms such as the literary and performing arts. 'The density of referencing that can happen is really exciting – and being able to jump from one medium to the next fluidly is also what drives creatives.' Singapore Stories comes equipped with a flexible project space, Dalam Singapore, which will be refreshed annually. Its inaugural show, helmed by curator Lim Shujuan, is Tchang Ju Chi: Tireless Camel. Tchang is a forgotten pre-war pioneer artist who died at 38 in the Sook Ching massacre of 1942. The China-born artist served as the president of the Society of Chinese Artists and was an early proponent of painting local subject matter. The exhibition features two new commissions in addition to Victor's. Ming Wong's Four Malay Stories Redux weaves P. Ramlee's movie clips with the artist's 2005 re-enactment of P. Ramlee's movies. Heng, who is Singapore's pick for the 2026 Venice Biennale , will engage in virtual conversations with visitors via hologram in Let's Chat Further (2025). The generated content will be used to develop an artificial-intelligence persona based on the artist for another work, Retired Singirl (2025 to 2030). Works by master potter Iskandar Jalil and his student Suriani Suratman are on display in a ceramics island table in the exhibition. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY Since opening in 2015, the DBS Singapore Gallery has received more than 200,000 visitors annually on average – with 55 per cent being Singaporeans and permanent residents. Singapore Stories' curatorial team is rounded off by Teo Hui Min, Joleen Loh, Qinyi Lim, Chee Jin Ming and Kathleen Ditzig. The new exhibition will see more frequent rehangs after the first year. Dr Tan hopes visitors 'should feel like their eyes have opened up and their apertures have expanded'. Book It/ Singapore Stories: Pathways And Detours In Art Where: DBS Singapore Gallery, National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew's Road When: From July 18, 10am to 7pm daily Admission: Free for Singaporeans and permanent residents Info: Five highlights from Singapore Stories: Pathways And Detours In Art With 158 artists on show spanning the 19th century to today, The Straits Times picks five lesser-known art history episodes in Singapore Stories to look out for. 1. Malay artists who experimented with batik A cluster of works features Malay artists who experimented with batik, including Jaafar Latiff and Yusman Aman. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY A cluster of works by Jaafar Latiff begins with one of his earliest experiments on contemporary batik in the cubist and kaleidoscopic Fortune Teller (1967). Its centrepiece is Vision 1/86 (1986), representing Jaafar's turn to acrylic – which nevertheless still bears the rhythms and energy of the wax-resist dyeing technique. There are resonances with Abdul Ghani Hamid and S. Mohdir, key figures in the longest-running Malay art collective Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya, whose oil and acrylic works borrow from the visual language of batik. Brilliant colours stand out in this cluster of batik-related works that also include one by Sarkasi Said Tzee and Yusman Aman, represented by a quiet but charming work (Structure I, 1973) stacked with pink and purple rectilinear forms. 2. Pioneering women printmakers and teachers A printmaking wall features the works of pioneering printmakers such as Chen Cheng Mei and Chng Seok Tin. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Had artist Chen Cheng Mei not donated two newly imported printing presses to Lasalle College of the Arts in 1985, Chng Seok Tin might not have been able to head the school's printmaking department and nurture generations of printmakers. A printmaking wall in Singapore Stories centres on Chng, who lost most of her vision in 1988 due to an accident. Her Self Portrait (1989), made a year after, is a moving tangle of lines dancing around a dense mass of black. Chng, who received a Cultural Medallion in 2005, died in 2019. By her side on the wall is Chen's Durian (1986), reflecting her fascination with the natural world. Chen studied printmaking at the influential Atelier 17 in Paris, and the influence of printmaking on her paintings is evident in another section in the gallery which foregrounds her travels around the world and involvement in the field trips of the Ten Men Group. 3. Early life drawing and women who painted the female nude When nude life drawing was a taboo in conservative Singapore, Solamalay Namasivayam insisted on its practice. He is represented by the two works on the right. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY When nude life drawing was a taboo in conservative Singapore, Solamalay Namasivayam insisted on its practice – establishing Group 90, Singapore's first institutional life figure drawing collective committed to the study of the nude. His works – with his bold charcoal lines described as 'Michelangelesque' – are on show beside fellow Group 90 artist Chia Wai Hon, including a colourful and geometric reclining nude. On the other side of the wall is an interesting counterpoint – women artists Amanda Heng, Susie Wong and Ho Soon Yeen depicting the nude. Ho's crouching figure in Drawing From This Position With Untucked Tummy (1992) strips the female body of all its romantic notions, a work first shown at an exhibition with the artist Dominique Hui titled We Kissed in the now-defunct art space Substation. In a review of the exhibition published in The Straits Times, critic Ng Sek Chow wrote: 'On one level, We Kissed might seem crude and amateurish. But it is crucial for Singapore, a city aspiring to be a major art centre, to have an alternative space where unconventional views, visual and otherwise, can be aired and discussed.' Nudes by women artists such as Ho Soon Yeen (left) and Amanda Heng (right) feature too. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY 4. Gilles Massot's Yin Yang Festival and Art Commandos Artist Gilles Massot's Yin Yang One And Many (1987) is the only surviving work from the 1987 Yin Yang Festival. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY In the late 1980s, Singapore-based French artist Gilles Massot worked with students to stage some of the early interdisciplinary festivals and programmes which have largely been forgotten. On show is the only remaining artwork from the Yin Yang Festival, organised in 1987 at the National University of Singapore with student volunteers including a young Vincent Leow. It is a painting by Massot, with a figure on the left based on a drawing of his life partner. In 1988, Leow and over 30 students – including artist Ahmad Abu Bakar – from Lasalle, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the now-defunct Baharuddin Vocational Institute took part in a week-long art camp at Sentosa before going across the country to perform their art on the fringe of the Singapore Arts Festival in 1988. They were known as the Art Commandos. 5. Plastique Kinetic Worms Artist Chua Chye Teck's My Ah Kong's Big House (1999), which was shown at Plastique Kinetic Worms' space. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE After The Artists Village and 5th Passage lost their space at Lorong Gambas and Parkway Parade respectively, Plastique Kinetic Worms was one of the rare artist-run spaces to emerge in the late 1990s – starting from a 1,400 sq ft space at 68 Pagoda Street. In a section titled A Space Of Their Own, Singapore Stories deals with a perennial theme of precarious spaces in land-scarce Singapore. Co-founded by Vincent Leow and Yvonne Lee in 1998, Plastique Kinetic Worms staged events such as the Worms Festival. On display is a set of paper works by artists Leow, Lee, Juliana Yasin, Benjamin Puah, Zulharli Adnan and Zainudin Samsuri created for the second anniversary of the collective and to raise funds. Chua Chye Teck's My Ah Kong's Big House (1999) – dramatic but monotonous white blocks of public housing – perhaps best expresses the kind of space that begins to dominate Singapore at the end of the millennium.
Straits Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
SG60 and the visual arts: Artist Lee Boon Ngan, realist master Chua Mia Tee's wife, gets her own show
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Dr Chua Yang admiring the artwork of her mother Chua Mia Tee in The Art Of Lee Boon Ngan at The Private Museum. SINGAPORE – While artist Chua Mia Tee was making a name for himself as Singapore's master of social realism – painting passionate anti-colonial tableaus, then portraits of post-independence leaders like Lee Kuan Yew – a woman sat beside him, painting her flowers quietly by the light at the window. Chua's wife Lee Boon Ngan is better known as the subject of her husband's famous 1957 painting in the National Gallery Singapore's collection – in which she wears a severe expression, loose braids and a flower-embroidered blouse.
Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Stanchart Singapore Marathon 2025 to flag off at F1 Pit Building, end at Padang
Runners at the start line of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on Dec 1, 2024. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE – For the first time since 2017, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) finish line will return to the Padang, as organisers revealed the route for the Dec 6-7 event on June 17. For the 2025 edition – which is the only World Athletics Gold Label race in South-east Asia – the race will start at the F1 Pit Building and conclude at the Padang, which is surrounded by landmarks like the former City Hall and Supreme Court, which now house the National Gallery Singapore. Like in previous races, the routes will also take in attractions such as the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay. The 2020 and 2021 SCSM were held virtually and in a hybrid format respectively due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the finish line has been located at The Float @ Marina Bay in 2022, the National Stadium in 2023, and the Anderson Bridge near the Padang in 2024. Jeff Edwards, managing director of Asia for The Ironman Group, which organises the SCSM, said: 'The Padang's deep historical significance and central location offer both new and returning runners a unique way to experience the rich heritage of the city, and a memorable way to end their race journey.' Aside from the changes to the finish line, the 2025 edition will also see the half-marathon and marathon held on separate days with dedicated race routes to provide runners with a smoother and more enjoyable race-day experience. Edwards noted that the new format is 'driven by a remarkable 46 per cent and 31 per cent growth in participation for each category respectively over the last three years'. The new race schedule will see the half-marathon flag off at 4.30am on Dec 6, followed by the 5km race (6.30am) and the Kids Dash (9am). The full marathon and Ekiden race (team of four) will start at 4.30am on Dec 7, before the 10km (6.30am). Sport Singapore's chief of industry development Roy Teo said: 'From hosting Singapore's first National Day Parade to welcoming international music acts and major sporting events like the Formula One races, the Padang has brought our community together during significant milestones in our nation's journey. 'As we celebrate Singapore's 60th year of independence, the Padang provides the perfect backdrop for this marquee sporting event, where international and local runners – including our Team Singapore athletes – race to achieve their personal bests.' The 2025 SCSM has already attracted 7,000 international runners – the 2024 edition had 13,000 international participants from 84 countries. A total of 55,000 runners participated in the event over three days, and 60,000 are expected this time. Registration fees for the full marathon, half marathon, 10km, 5km, Ekiden race and Kids Dash are pegged at $169, $148, $120, $88, $545 (per team) and $44 respectively. In celebration of SG60, the SCSM is launching the SG60 Ekiden promotion, offering a $60 discount to the first 60 teams who sign up on National Day. The prices are inclusive of processing fee and GST, and Standard Chartered cardholders will enjoy a 15 per cent discount off. The SG60 promotion will also extend to other race categories, with further details to be announced at a later date. Visit for more information. David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Independent Singapore
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
National Gallery Singapore reveals untold legacy of Asian artists in modern art
Photo: Screengrab from Pexel (for illustration purposes only) SINGAPORE: A new display at the National Gallery Singapore is redrafting the narrative of contemporary art, not from the viewpoint of its renowned European masters, but through the audacious, boundary-crossing ideas of Asian artists who once walked the same Parisian avenues. 'City of Others' According to Timeout 's latest update, City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s opens today and runs every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., pulling back the drape on a fundamental yet unnoticed episode in art history. The exhibition highlights trail-blazing figures like Liu Kang, Foujita Tsuguharu, and Georgette Chen, whose artistic journeys carried them from Asia to Paris at the peak of the city's experimental movement. As opposed to blending with the creative environment of the time, these artists filled their works with an opulent and intense cultural heritage, defying Eurocentric standards and leaving a lasting mark on the French art scene. With over a hundred seldom-seen portraits, drawings, and archival materials, the exhibit reveals how their personal histories and the fusion of identities moulded their art, and, in turn, steered and impacted the development of modernism itself. From Foujita's mixture of Japanese ink methods with Western oil painting to Chen's lyrical portrayals of ordinary life sifted through both Parisian light and Southeast Asian sentimentality, City of Others provides a fresh perspective on the contemporary art movement, one where foreign legacies, cross-cultural exchange, and identity unite. It's not just an art show—it's a powerful reclamation of narrative. These were artists who didn't fit in, but who ultimately transformed the spaces they entered. Not just about art Guests can explore this pioneering exhibition daily at the National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew's Rd, Singapore 178957, with opening hours from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., and open from June 16 – June 30, 2025. For more information, visit the official event website: City of Others i s not just about art; it's about repossessing identity, space, and influence in a history that frequently reduces Asian artists to invisibility. This art display is a must-see for art enthusiasts, history fanatics, and anyone interested in narratives that defy the conventional.
