Singapore Art Week 2024

Objectifs, 42 Waterloo Street, GRiD, Gillman Barracks, Singapore Art Museum, Tanjong Pagar Distripark
By A&M

In a special edition of Art & Market’s monthly round-ups, we bring to you Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2024 projects that have caught our eye. Selected from over 150 events, have a look at our suggested itinerary, and see what else you might discover along the way!

After ‘One and Three Chairs’, 2024. Image courtesy of The Critical Craft Collective Lab.

Alternative Ecology: The Community and THE 5th VH AWARD Exhibition

Riar Rizaldi, ‘Fossilis’, 2023, still image. Provided by Hyundai Motor Group VH AWARD.

Start off at ‘Alternative Ecology: The Community’. Curated by Wang Ruobing, it is an art and ecology event that is situated in a communal space sculpted in bamboo by artist-architect Eko Prawoto, together with the Bamboo Broadcast Studio. Expect a robust programme of activities, panel talks, booths and symposiums that will engender reflection and discussion on contemporary environmental challenges. 

While you are at Objectifs, do check out The 5th VH AWARD Exhibition at the Lower Gallery. See works by Grand Prix recipient Subash Thebe Limbu, as well as from the finalists: Bandung artist Riar Rizaldi, along with Zike He, Su Hui-Yu and zzyw.

Crossroads: Random Access Memory

Kimverlyn Lim, ‘memory, point, cells’, 2024. Image courtesy of the artist and TO NEW ENTITIES.

Walk over to Fortune Centre and Wilkie Edge and look up at the buildings’ façades, where the outdoor billboards will showcase ‘Crossroads: Random Access Memory’, presented and curated by TO NEW ENTITIES. Artists Syahrul Anuar, Priyageetha Dia, Kimverlyn Lim, Kapilan Naidu, Nghia Phung, Hilary Yeo consider the malleability and transience of memory in the digital realm and on a personal and collective level.

日舍 Nothing but a Day Dream by Supper House and Critical Craft Collective Lab

Installation view of ‘日舍 Nothing but a Day Dream by Supper House’. Image courtesy of Supper House.

Nearby at the GRiD, check out 日舍 Nothing but a Day Dream, Supper House’s Open Studio to meet the creatives in residence: Damien, Owen Tee, Benedict Yu, Liz Zhu, Liszu Tan, Siew Guang Hong, Natalia Tan, Masuri Mazlan, Cherine Wee and Nicholas Ong. 

In the same building, the Critical Craft Collective will present a pop-up studio. Taking Joseph Kosuth’s ‘One and Three Chairs’ (1965) as the starting point, artists and researchers are invited to take on the role of the “chair-person” to hold activations within the space to reflect upon the meaning-making process in society, and share power as a community.

Eye in the Sky, Baked Potato Pie

Between Objectifs and 42 Waterloo Street, you will find ‘Eye in the Sky, Baked Potato Pie’, where patterns will be printed on risograph and displayed on the barricades at 62 to 64 Waterloo Street with wheatpaste. The beautification of the barricades aims to bridge the natural and urban landscapes. If it may be up your alley, there will be risograph printing workshops held in conjunction with the project, organised by Knuckles & Notch.

Acknowledging Intuition (AI) and Immortal Words

At 42 Waterloo Street, ‘Acknowledging Intuition’ is a play on the acronym AI, which we usually understand to mean artificial intelligence. Artists Huijun Lu and Joscelin Chew respond to a brief generated by giving 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” to ChatGPT. In this interactive exhibition, the public can submit descriptive texts to feed the source material for the installation. To learn more about the project, there is a text-to-image workshop and an artist talk over the two weekends. More information here.

Film still of Boedi Widjaja in ‘Path. 13, Quaver Cipher’, 2023.

At the Black Box at 42 Waterloo Street, the interdisciplinary project ‘Immortal Words’ is a collaboration between Indonesian-born Singaporean contemporary artist Boedi Widjaja and geneticist Associate Professor Eric Yap. They aim to show the connections between art and science. See how they encode oral and written tradition from languages in Southeast Asia and beyond in DNA, and bring back vials of DNA-encoded ink on your visit. The artist will be speaking in two panel discussions. Click here to learn more, and to sign up. 

Our Children by Tang Da Wu

Tang Da Wu. Image courtesy of Art Outreach.

Over at Gillman Barracks, Tang Da Wu is re-staging a performance installation titled ‘Our Children’ with Art Outreach. Centred on the theme of filial piety, the work is also a reflection of the history of performative art practices in Singapore. In accompaniment is a selection of works from private collections that echo the artist’s work, including craft and parent-child relationships.

Proof of Personhood: Identity and Authenticity in the Face of Artificial Intelligence

Installation view of Song-Ming Ang's 'Justin' (2012), as part of 'Proof of Personhood: ​Identity and Authenticity in the Face of Artificial Intelligence' at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

The newest exhibition at Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark is ‘Proof of Personhood: Identity and Authenticity in the Face of Artificial Intelligence’. The exhibition puts together a collection of 11 artworks by local and international artists that consider the implications of artificial intelligence on the way we live, and runs till 25 February. Artworks by local artists are ‘Justin’ (2012) by Song-Ming Ang and ‘GOOD MORNING YOUNG BODY’ (2021-2023) by Charmaine Poh. 

While you are at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, be sure to check out S.E.A. Focus. There will also be exhibitions taking place at tenant galleries, including ‘Do you hear the invisible sound’ at Art Agenda, ‘Özer Toraman: The Ocean In My Heart’ at 39+ Art Space and ‘Customised Postures, (De)colonised Gestures’ at Gajah Gallery. 

For more information about SAW, click here. A SAW shuttle bus will go to five destinations: 42 Waterloo Street, Gillman Barracks, Tanjong Pagar Distripark,  National Gallery Singapore, as well as Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, where ART SG is taking place over the first weekend. For routes and times, stay tuned for updates on the SAW website, or on the Singapore Art Week social media account @sgartweek on Instagram and Facebook. 

We hope you find this itinerary useful! Do click here to check out more profile itineraries and district guides. In addition, you can visit the City Hall SAW activation to generate more itineraries in person, and stand a chance to win SAW merchandise.

This article is presented in partnership with National Arts Council Singapore.