A Retrospective Spectacle

Gajah Gallery prepared a commemoration exhibit for their 30th anniversary, “30 Years of Gajah: A Retrospective”

Words Rica Mae Labbao
Photos courtesy of Gajah Gallery 
January 12, 2026

From their humble beginnings at Singapore’s Monk Hill, Gajah Gallery has thrived as a space for nurturing Southeast Asian art talents. Thirty years later, Gajah Gallery is now housed in a beautiful industrial space at Tanjong Pagar, with other operations in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Manila. Different locations, same mission.

For their 30th anniversary, the gallery will launch “30 Years of Gajah: A Retrospective” on January 23, during Singapore Art Week, at Gajah Gallery Singapore. With this special activity, the gallery walks down the lane of connections, relationships, and collaborations that strengthen its values and solidify its creative function within its roots in the art sphere.

RUS03, Rusli, Garuda, 1977, Oil on Canvas, Framed_ 93 x 78 x 4 cm

The exhibition is divided into two parts: the Archives and the Artists in Focus.

Inside ‘Archives,’ a trace of the gallery’s history is aesthetically reminisced through a collection of pieces—a reflective cartography of its beginnings. 

Featuring works from Bagyi Aung Soe, Affandi, Rusli, among others, it offers a view of the first recognition of modernism in the region through a shared practice, most of which is connected to an experimental ashram in India called ‘Santineketan,’ while figures such as Brother Joseph McNally contributed an indispensable legacy in fostering artistic education in Singapore.

SS16, Semsar Siahaan, 1996, Self Portrait, Oil on Canvas, 70 x 80 cm (Framed_ 75.5 x 85 x 4.5 cm)

Teng Nee Cheong, Entrancing the October Moon, 1998, Oil and Gold Leaf on Canvas, 163 x 130 cm

SS26, Semsar Siahaan, City of Ghosts, Coloured Pencil on Cardboard, 2003, 83 x 78.5 cm

Moreover, the gallery also exemplifies a solid relationship with scholars such as T.K. Sabapathy and Aminudin T.H. Siregar, further integrating their vision into action as a space of circulation, translation, and resonance in Southeast Asia. ‘Archives’ serve as the breathing lineage of the gallery for its modern reality.

Meanwhile, ‘Artists in Focus’ draws artists the gallery has collaborated with over the decades—once again opening a space for evolving practitioners. 

This chapter of the exhibit includes Yunizar's textured lyricism, Murniasih's candid mythologies of the body, I Made Dirna's alchemy of tradition and intuition, and Chua Ek Kay's meditations on memory and abstraction, alongside the distinct visions of Suzann Victor, Teng Nee Cheong, Mangu Putra, and Vasan Sitthiket, and more.

Han Sai Por, Prolongation, 2025, Bronze, 185 x 56 x 26 cm, Edition 1 of 2

Suzann Victor, Tiered Life I, aluminium and metal chains, 172 x 28 x 28 cm

Yunizar Teko (Teapot) 2025, Bronze 74 x 43 x 55 cm Edition 1 of 3

This special exhibit is a living and continuing testament to the gallery’s enduring vision to support art's capacity to move, connect, and break the boundaries of possibilities.

Here is the complete list of participating artists: Affandi, Bagyi Aung Soe, Benedicto "BenCab" Cabrera, Brother Joseph McNally, Chua Ek Kay, Dzikra Afifah, Erizal As, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, I Made Dirna, Jaya Ganguly, Jason Lim, Jemana Murti, Lim Charlotte, Mangu Putra, Paritosh Sen, Paulus Naioan, Rusli, Semsar Siahaan, Sutan Harahap, Suzann Victor, Teng Nee Cheong, Vasan Sitthiket, Haji Widayat, Yunizar, and Yusra Martunus.

‘30 Years of Gajah: A Retrospective’ will run from January 23 until February 28, 2026.