National Gallery Singapore’s exhibition uncovers a fresh perspective in understanding various art forms.

Words Jewel Chuaunsu

Located within the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Dalam Southeast Asia is National Gallery Singapore’s experimental Project Space. ‘Dalam’ is the Malay word for ‘inside,’ referencing the Gallery’s intention to give the public an ‘inside look’ into the practices of lesser-known artists and to feature innovative curatorial approaches in presenting Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. Majority of artworks in Dalam Southeast Asia exhibitions are drawn from Singapore’s National Collection. 

The fourth edition of Dalam Southeast Asia was curated by Dr. Patrick Flores, Deputy Director of Curatorial and Research at National Gallery Singapore. Titled Figuring a Scene, the exhibition prompts a new way of regarding art from the region. “The aim of this exhibition is to encourage visitors to make meaning of artworks from a new perspective,” said Dr. Flores. “Instead of merely consuming information from the wall texts, we want to involve viewers to ‘figure’ a ‘scene’ of encounter, by working through their own perspective and understanding of art as they come in contact with art.”

“Figuring a Scene fits into the aims of Dalam Southeast Asia by proposing a curatorial approach that does not begin with art history or a theme; and by revisiting Southeast Asian artists such as renowned artist Sun Yee, Singaporean painter and sculptor Shui Tit Sing, and the Indonesian sculptor Anusapati.” 

Figuring a Scene departs from the loose chronological order and linear method of storytelling seen in the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery. Presenting artworks in six episodes, each section is based on a natural element perceived in the artwork, inviting viewers to draw out their own interpretations. The episodes of Shadow, Fruit, Fire, Air, Wax, and City are tropes that evoke changing forms.

Shadow

The exhibition opens with Sharon Chin’s Creatures on the Move (In the Death of Night). Crafting placards for a climate justice protest, Chin made linocut prints of animals that wander in her garden, set against a backdrop mirroring the nighttime glow of an oil refinery near her home. Bringing the attention of viewers to the global ecological crisis, the artwork is also an act of protest against fossil capitalism.

Fruit

Three works in this episode flesh out the durian fruit through a painting by Liu Kang, a photograph by Robert Zhao Renhui, and sculpture by Anusapati. The durian is actually the national fruit of Singapore. The various works explore how this fruit is rooted in a sense of place and history and can be culturally meaningful in the Southeast Asian region.

Fire

The Bukit Ho Swee fire on 25 May 1961 was one of Singapore’s biggest fires, which left 16,000 kampong dwellers homeless. The fire was a pivotal moment in the development of Singapore, with implications in the physical and social transformation of the nation and the public housing program. The imagery of fire incidents in Malaya and independent Singapore in the works of local artists Tan Choo Kuan, Lim Yew Kuan, Lim Hak Tai, and Liu Kang bring to mind destruction as well as reconstruction, which paved the way for national development, urban change, and modernization. 

Air

The works in this episode reflect on how air is ever present but hardly signified in art. Artists Lim Tzay Chuen and Sun Yee conjure the presence of this invisible element. Sun Yee portrays the movement of wind in his painting, while Lim Tzay Chuen’s photograph captures artificial fog dispersed in the historic City Hall building, as part of the artist’s performance for the first Singapore Biennale.

Wax

Tira by Filipino artist Renato Habulan was created using driftwood, found statuary, and paraffin wax. Within the tableau is a wooden statue of Jesus Christ. The assemblage refers to the predominance of the Catholicism in the Philippines, which is both deeply ingrained in Filipino culture but can also branch off into different expressions of faith. 

City 

City looks at the process of Singapore’s nation building through plans for cultural and social integration and achievements in public housing. Singapore’s high-rise buildings are depicted in Shui Tit Sing’s teak sculpture titled Why? The sculpture hints at despair amidst rapid change and development by alluding to residents falling off the building. Providing historical context in this episode are texts dating back to the 1960s from the Singapore Planning & Urban Research Group and the Housing & Development Board. 

Dr. Flores describes his approach for this exhibition as “galvanizing the affective properties of the works themselves and the scene within which they are staged. I had also wanted entry points into art that are not at the outset art-historical, that are more accessible to the general public but not populist, sufficiently esoteric but not altogether inscrutable.” The project seeks to “create a sensorium within which works or pieces become articulate or predisposing, animated and vital.”

Figuring a Scene runs until 23 March 2025 at Dalam Southeast Asia, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, National Gallery Singapore.