Art Takes Over with an incredible line up of more than 130 events over 10 days

Singapore Art Week (SAW), Southeast Asia’s ten-day pinnacle visual arts season, returns from 17 to 26 January 2025 for its 13th edition. Organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Art Takes Over with more than 130 exciting arts events across the island for people from all walks of life to engage with and enjoy the arts, together.

A visual treat for the public from diverse arts stakeholders over 10 days of creative buzz

The public can look forward to a wide range of programmes by local and international artists, partners and organisations that range from SAW open call projects, collector shows, presentations by commercial galleries and roving exhibitions across the island.

Highlights include:

● Familiar favourites such as ART SG, S.E.A. Focus, Light to Night Singapore 2025: “Do You See Me?” will return to SAW. Late night programmes including Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks and Sonic Sessions at Tanjong Pagar Distripark will complement the array of exhibitions by commercial art galleries and tenants.

● Challenging the definition of an arts space, Con-Temporary Art is a travelling miniature gallery. The diorama is built to resemble a white cube art gallery complete with internal lighting and power supply with miniature artworks created especially for the space.

● The SATS Experiential Centre at The Arts House Annex unveils a unique cross-sector collaboration, fusing food and art. In partnership with multidisciplinary artist Yang Derong, private dining chef cum art consultant and filmmaker Patricia Chen @sekel_kitchen and Nouri former head chef Russell Nathan @bricolage.sg present exclusive dining experiences inspired by Derong’s installation, DIGikat – Our Social Fabric, connecting tradition with innovation and pushing culinary and artistic boundaries that will resonate with both local and global audiences.

● Audiences will also get a glimpse into private collections by collectors including Pierre Lorinet, who will present his third exhibition The Pierre Lorinet Collection: Space at New Bahru, Singapore’s first-ever all-local creative cluster. The Private Museum will also be presenting Of Dreams and Contemplations: I am All but a Story – Selections from the Collection of Richard Koh, an exhibition showcasing Richard Koh’s personal art collection. This exhibition marks the second time Koh’s private collection will be presented at The Private Museum, offering audiences a fresh glimpse into his evolving journey as a collector and gallerist.

● Marina Bay Sands is set to return with the third edition of “Where Art Takes Shape”, taking place from 16 to 26 January 2025. For the first time in Asia, Covenant ART and House of Inspiration will launch Behind the Canvas Series 1: Jean-Michel Basquiat, a 3-month event experience honouring the life and work of the legendary American artist at Sands Expo & Convention Centre. Visitors will also experience a specially curated edition of Marina Bay Sands’ Spectra light show by artists from The Observatory (Singapore) and Duck Unit (Thailand), blending light, sound, and water in an immersive experience. Additionally, the expanded Masterpieces Art Trail, following the STB x UOB campaign with 21 public art installations throughout Marina Bay offers art enthusiasts an enriching journey through the heart of the city.

● Sotheby’s will also be presenting the exhibition and auction of Modern and Contemporary Art from 14 – 18 January 2025, during SAW, which will be opened to the public.

Art Takes Over the city, where we live, work and play

From the city centre to the heartlands and even places of commute, Singaporeans will have greater access to artworks.

● NAC expands on its partnership with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to enliven more spaces in our public transport nodes as part of the Art in Transit programme. Following a successful first run during SAW 2024, eight MRT stations and a themed train will continue to spotlight nearby SAW programmes in January 2025. In addition, the public can expect more colour to our urban landscape with contemporary art wraps dressing ten viaduct pillars near Bukit Gombak MRT station during SAW 2025.

● Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen will be transforming a space at Fort Canning Park into a speculative fiction experience of 11th century Temasek through their multimedia exhibition, Before and After the Unknown. Between expanded cinema, a video game and sculptural fictions, the exhibition presents pieces of a deconstructed myth, drawing from and exploring Singapore’s early history through the fantastical and the botanical.

● Cabinet of Curiosities is a play-making initiative that showcases the journey of co-creation among children of diverse abilities. They follow clues about a mysterious creature lurking in the neighbourhood and dive into a vibrant world of shapes, textures, sounds and stories. Their collaborative efforts form a cabinet of curiosities, filled with a mix of gathered natural materials, visual fascinations, and imaginative tales.

● Open studios by artists in the charming enclaves of Emily Hill, Telok Kurau and Wessex invites the public to better understand their inspiration and their various processes of art making.

Connecting Singapore to global art communities

From connecting the public, to enlivening our spaces through the arts, SAW also provides a platform for artistic collaborations, reinforcing Singapore’s position as a Southeast Asia arts hub for cultural exchanges, partnerships and creative growth across borders.

● For the first time, visitors can look forward to “Beyond Giving, Inspiring Change” Glass Art Exhibition by Bangkok Glass Company, Thailand’s first learning centre for glass art. This exhibition will take place from 24 to 28 January 2025 and features the works of glass artists Tan Sock Fong (Singapore), Chattakan Vongsiri (Thailand), Peter Bowles (Australia), Osamu Noda (Japan) and Stephanie Trenchard (USA).

● OH! Open House presents The Eye and The Tiger, featuring commissions and seminal works by Singaporean and Southeast Asian artists. Visitors are invited to Adam Park for a guided art walk through a fabled black-and-white bungalow nestled in a lush, rolling landscape.

● Singapore Art Week Forum 2025 expands into a full-day line-up, gathering thought leaders from the industry to engage in panel discussions and dialogues guided by the theme, ‘Art Publics’ featuring keynote speaker, Theaster Gates. This year’s forum, jointly organised by NAC, National Gallery Singapore (NGS), and Singapore Art Museum (SAM), explores the relationship between art and society. It aims to encourage industry leaders to view the public as integral partners, reinforce art’s social significance, and highlight its potential to connect individuals and catalyse positive change.

● In conjunction with the launch of the new Tanoto Art Foundation (TAF) in Singapore, TAF will also be hosting its inaugural symposium, Soul Song of a New Organisation on 14 January 2025. It will feature a keynote by scholar and art historian Joan Kee (USA), performances by artists Melati Suryodarmo (Indonesia) and Chang Yuchen (China), and international speakers including Joselina Cruz (the Philippines), Gala Porras-Kim (Brazil), Paulo Miyada (Brazil), Manuela Moscoso (Ecuador) and Arin Rungjang (Thailand).

Singapore artists have also placed Singapore on the global arts scene by presenting at key international platforms. SAW 2025 hosts the return of these exhibitions offering residents here the opportunity to experience their works.

● Following its presentation at the Singapore Pavilion at Biennale Arte 2024 in Venice, Seeing Forest by Robert Zhao Renhui, curated by Haeju Kim, returns to Singapore and will be presented at SAM.

● Motivated by its debut at Ars Electronica in Linz, Affective Architecture features work by new media artists exploring how Virtual Reality and digital immersive environments shape emotions and perceptions. While only half of the works were first presented at Ars Electronica, the exhibition expands on its themes, inviting audiences to engage deeply with the interplay between digital spaces and human experience.

● Phenomenology Of Light And Rhythms Of The Earth is a collaborative exhibition and workshop series held at Objectifs by artists Zen Teh (Singapore) and SueKi Yee (Malaysia) that extends on their first presentation in Berlin as part of Zen Teh’s research at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien Residency organised in partnership with NAC.

Celebrating our shared arts and culture

In line with the upcoming celebration of SG60, there will be a series of programmes that reflects on our progress as a nation and her people.

● SAW x PAssionArts presents five community projects by artists and arts groups in collaboration with Community Arts and Culture Clubs (CACCs) across five neighbourhoods in Singapore: Bukit Batok East, Canberra, Kampong Glam, Mountbatten and Tampines North. This includes National Antiquities Parade by Temporal Displacement Agency in collaboration with Mountbatten CACC commemorating the SG60 celebrations by paying homage to one of Singapore’s most iconic and endearing national events, the National Day Parade.

● In celebration of Singapore’s 60th year of independence, Art Outreach presents Singkarpor REMIXED, a photography exhibition of works by acclaimed photographer AikBeng Chia and curated by John Tung. Chia’s works document the streets and everyday scenes of Singapore. His photograph collages will be presented as large-scale, interactive installations that touch on themes of local pop culture, diversity and our heartlands, offering a vivid exploration of Singapore’s evolving identity.

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