December Round-Up

Museum MACAN, Art Agenda, National Gallery Singapore, Haridas Contemporary, Singapore Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Finale Art File, NTU CCA
By A&M

Voice Against Reason

Griya Seni Hj. Kustiyah Edhi Sunarso, Hyphen—, Tom Nicholson bersama Ary "Jimged" Sendy, Aufa Ariaputra, Nasikin, ‘Sesudah banjir itu: No. 32’ (When the flood is over: No. 32), 2023, exhibition view in ‘Voice Against Reason’, Museum MACAN, Jakarta. Commissioned by Museum MACAN through the support of the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. Hyphen— acknowledges funding support from Foundation for Arts Initiatives (FfAI). Image courtesy of Museum MACAN.

‘Voice Against Reason’ delves into the question of what it means to speak up or speak out. The major group exhibition at MACAN features works by 24 artists and groups from across the Asia-Pacific region, including Bagus Pandega, Nadiah Bamadhaj, Heman Chong, Emiria Soenassa, Natasha Tontey and Tuan Andrew Nguyen. Their works speak to the nuanced ways personal narratives, historical contexts and political themes are intertwined. A series of talks, lectures and public programmes will unfold throughout the exhibition period to deepen audience engagement with the themes explored. 

This exhibition is on show from 18 November 2023 to 14 April 2024 at Museum MACAN in Jakarta, Indonesia. For more information, click here.

Do you hear the invisible sound?

(L-R) TEMPA, 'Cosmic Patterns #6', 2023, acrylic paint and acrylic spray on wooden panels with satin finish coat, 105 x 78 x 23cm; ‘Cosmic Patterns #7’, 2023, acrylic paint and acrylic spray on wooden panels with satin finish coat, 102 x 96 x 20cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Art Agenda presents an inventive group exhibition featuring artists Ajeng Martia Saputri, Gabriel Aries Setiadi, Hendra Priyadhani, Jumaldi Alfi, TEMPA and Wanti Amelia from Indonesia; and Daniel Chong, Ivan David Ng, Song-Ming Ang and Yanyun Chen from Singapore. Curated by Stella Wenny and Nabila Giovanna, the show makes a statement about the pursuit of clarity to cut through the noise of the world today. Sound artist Kurt D. Peterson introduces the visitor’s entry into the exhibition, creating complex soundtracks derived from field recordings, in response to the various artworks on display. The show opens tomorrow, 16 December 2023 (Saturday), between 3 and 5pm at Art Agenda Singapore, at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, with some of the artists in attendance. All are welcome!

‘Do you hear the invisible sound?’ runs from 16 December 2023 to 3 February 2024. The opening hours are Wednesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm. Please note that the gallery will be closed for year-end holidays between 18 December and 2 January 2024. More information here.

Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America

Exhibition view of Gallery 1: ‘The Myth of the Lazy Native’. Image courtesy of National Gallery Singapore.

The ambitious exhibition compares artistic expressions from Southeast Asia and Latin America, drawing from over 200 paintings, drawings, performances and immersive installations to surface common struggles and triumphs, as a result of the shared experiences of colonialism. It challenges received ideas about art–and life–in the tropics, through the eyes and hands of the artists featured, who experimented with ideas they had about themselves in their chosen mediums. Across three galleries, from ‘The Myth of the Lazy Native’ to ‘This Earth of Mankind’ and finally ‘The Subversive’, the well-paced, narrative arc of rejecting one’s prescribed identity, negotiating it, and finally claiming it on one’s terms comes through steadily. The exhibition throws up more questions than answers, and is a thought-provoking show that will leave audiences wondering what more stories lie in wait to be discovered in these regions. 

‘Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America’ is on show from 18 November 2023 to 24 March 2024 at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery at National Gallery Singapore. For more information, click here.

Of Labyrinths & Shields

Melissa Tan, ‘Iphigenia’, 2023, mirror finish stainless steel, epoxy resin and pigment, 85 x 83 x 13cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Haridas Contemporary.

Melissa Tan will hold a debut solo exhibition at Haridas Contemporary. Through 15 new works, she continues exploring earth-bound goddesses and their stories in mythology. Altogether, there are seven wall-bound works and eight free-standing sculptures that depict the goddesses demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity. In accompaniment, writer Euginia Tan is responding to the artist’s works with eight poems to further survey the trials and tribulations of the labyrinthic journeys that the goddesses take. Tan is the recipient of the 2023 Young Artist Award, presented by the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and administered by the National Arts Council. 

‘Of Labyrinths & Shields’ is on show from 9 to 28 December 2023 at Haridas Contemporary. There is an opening reception at the gallery on 9 December 2023, from 4 to 7pm, and the artist will be present. More information will be available here.

Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger

Installation view of Ho Tzu Nyen’s ‘T for Time’ (2023-ongoing), as part of Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger' at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

The solo exhibition is the first mid-career survey of the artist’s practice from the past two decades, and features eight major installations, including a new commission titled ‘T for Time’. Co-organised by SAM and Art Sonje Center (ASJC), it draws largely from SAM’s collection, which includes ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ (2011); ‘The Name’ (2015-2017) and ‘The Nameless’ (2015); ‘CDOSEA’ (2017); ‘One or Several Tigers’ (2017); and ‘Hotel Aporia (2019). ‘Hotel Aporia’, which is the central work in the exhibition, is a multi-channel video installation that revisits a gathering of individuals caught up in the heady mix of Japan’s militant nationalism and imperial ambitions. It was first commissioned for the 2019 Aichi Triennale as a site-specific installation. The exhibition will travel to numerous venues across the world, after its premiere at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

‘Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger’ is on show from 24 November 2023 to 3 March 2024 at Galleries 1 and 2 at SAM, with an off-site presentation at public libraries. More information here. 

When we look at art…

Annie Cabigting, ‘Untitled’, 2023, oil on canvas, 132 x 175cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Finale Art File.

Annie Cabigting, ‘Untitled (After Monet)’, 2023, oil on canvas, 193 x 241cm, exhibition view. Image courtesy of the artist and Finale Art File.

Presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Manila and Finale Art File, and curated by Nilo Ilarde, the solo exhibition, ‘When we look at art…’ features an extensive collection of Annie Cabigting’s body of work. The artist paints photorealist paintings that ask how art is perceived, by making references to art history, as well as considering the viewer as part of the art-viewing experience. Click here to read a feature on the artist in our Midpoint series. 

‘When we look at art’ is on show from 21 November 2023 to 13 April 2024 at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila. More information here.

Passages

Priyageetha Dia in her studio at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist.

Portrait of Ngoc Nau in a CGI-generated landscape. Image courtesy of the artist.

Saroot Supasuthivech in Berlin, Germany, 2023. Photograph by Sareena Sattapon. Image courtesy of the artist.

Passages features artworks by Priyageetha Dia (Singapore), Ngoc Nau (Vietnam) and Saroot Supasuthivech (Thailand), inspired by the artists’ three-month-long residencies in Europe. Dia undertook her residency at Jan van Eyck Academie (Netherlands), Nau at Rupert (Lithuania) and Supasuthivech at Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Germany). This is the second exhibition under SEA AiR – Studio Residencies for Southeast Asian Artists in the European Union, a programme developed by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) and funded by the European Union that positions Singapore as a hub for artistic exchange between the EU and Southeast Asia.

Priyageetha Dia presents the four-channel sound installation ‘Sap Sonic’ (2023), which extends her research into the plantations of Southeast Asia and their colonial histories. ‘Virtual Reverie: Echoes of a Forgotten Utopia’ (2023), a video installation by Ngoc Nau, explores the multifaceted aspects of post-Soviet realities in Vietnam. And the video and virtual reality installation ‘Spirit-forward in G Major’ (2023) by Saroot Supasuthivech, uncovers the journey of Thai expatriates in Germany told through the cycle of life, death and rebirth. 

‘Passages’ is on show from 1 December 2023 to 28 January 2024. More information here.