First-ever joint exhibition of post-independence Singaporean artists spotlights groundbreaking practices of six artistic innovators
National Gallery Singapore presents Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965, the first-ever joint exhibition comprising six solo presentations that explore the diverse artistic practices of six post-independence Singaporean artists: Chng Seok Tin (莊心珍), Goh Beng Kwan (吴珉权), Jaafar Latiff, Lin Hsin Hsin (林欣欣), Mohammad Din Mohammad (محمد دین محمد ) and Eng Tow (杜瑛). Launching on 7 May, the show offers an in-depth and comparative examination of how these artistic innovators broke new ground and contributed significantly to the development of Singapore’s modern and contemporary art in the post-independence era.
Featuring over 300 artworks and more than 100 archival materials and objects spanning across decades and disciplines from collage, printmaking and installations, to batik, cloth and digital art, the show provides a rich visual experience that demonstrates the breadth and depth of the artistic practices of post-independence Singaporean artists. The expansive solo presentations will also provide audiences with a deeper understanding of how this group of artists actively expanded the boundaries of art in post-independence Singapore through innovative artistic practices and techniques that pushed the envelope on Singapore's modern art and contributed to the development of Singapore’s contemporary art. Through the exhibition, audiences will not only be able to draw connections between the artworks and developments in Singapore’s history and cultural identity in the post-independence era, but also to their own life through themes that remain resonant today, such as art and wellness, an individual’s relationship to nature and the loss of the country’s heritage due to rapid urbanisation and economic growth.
Dr. Eugene Tan, Director of National Gallery Singapore says, “Building on our previous exhibitions on Singapore artists in the 19th and 20th century, this show reflects our commitment to growing scholarship around Singapore artists in the post-1965 years and raising awareness of their critical contributions to not only the development of Singapore’s modern and contemporary art, but also the construction of Singapore’s cultural identity at a pivotal moment of the country’s history. In learning about how the artists strove to be continuously “new”, we hope audiences gain a better understanding of the important role art can play in society in contributing to nation-building efforts, and in reflecting the zeitgeist of the times.”
Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, Group CEO of Singtel, the Lead Partner for the exhibition says, “As a champion of the arts, we’re pleased to support these post-independence artists whose pursuits were crucial in shaping the cultural identity of our fledgling nation. We hope visitors will be inspired by their innovation and experimentation when capturing the spirit and history of Singapore in those early years.”
A rallying call for the new in a time of flux
The exhibition title, Something New Must Turn Up, is taken from Ho Ho Ying’s preface for the inaugural Modern Art Society exhibition catalogue in 1963. It highlighted cultural anxieties that were prevalent after Singapore’s independence from Britain in the same year, followed by its separation from Malaysia in 1965. As the island city-state went through a period of rapid urbanisation and internationalisation, the need to construct a distinctive Singaporean cultural identity was paramount. Heeding Ho’s rallying call, artists explored the role of art in the development of a nation’s cultural identity, resulting in the multidisciplinary and experimental approach to artmaking that characterised post-independence Singaporean art and marking a new chapter in Singapore’s art history.
Something New Must Turn Up: Exhibition Highlights
The exhibition is held in the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery, which is comprised of three separate exhibition spaces. Each space holds two solo presentations, with artists brought together in consideration of their shared interests in concepts as well as materials. Pairing artists together also allows for a comparative approach, allowing audiences to make connections between the artist pairings and across the exhibition as a whole, while enhancing the understanding of how this generation of artists are significant in art history.
Gallery A — Chng Seok Tin: Drawn Through a Press and Mohammad Din Mohammad: The Mistaken Ancestor
Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery A will explore the works of printmaker and multidisciplinary artist Chng Seok Tin and Mohammad Din Mohammad who worked at the intersections of art, music, traditional healing and Malay martial arts. The pairing explores how both artists drew upon spiritual and non-Western knowledge systems in conceptualising their art. Chng was often inspired by Buddhism and the I-Ching, the Chinese foundational text for Daoist and Confucian philosophical traditions. This was evident in works such as Variations on I-Ching, which references the text as a way of life that reveals humanity’s moral and ethical dilemmas. Likewise, Mohammad Din Mohammad, a Sufi mystic, developed innovative approaches to painting and installation in order to address the spiritual and physical ailments arising from the struggles of urban life – a concept that feels especially pertinent in these times.
Gallery B — Goh Beng Kwan: Nervous City and Eng Tow – the sixth sense
Artists Goh Beng Kwan and Eng Tow are paired together in Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery B, for their artistic sensitivity to the use of materials such as Goh’s use of everyday materials in his collages, and Tow’s cloth works. Key works include Goh’s Urban Renewal painting series, which documents the architectural changes to Singapore’s urban landscape as a result of its transformation into a developmental state, and the attendant loss of heritage and culture from the demolishment of historical buildings – a theme that still resonates strongly today. Audiences can also look forward to Eng Tow’s meditative works, which require viewers to deliberately slow down and observe minute details.
Gallery C — Jaafar Latiff: In The Time of Textile and Lin Hsin Hsin @speed of thought
Abstract painter Jaafar Latiff and interdisciplinary artist Lin Hsin Hsin are paired together in Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery C, for their use of technology in innovating alternative ways of making and thinking about art, which was in line with the move towards automation and computerisation in 1980s Singapore. Jaafar’s solo presentation traces the artist’s trailblazing approach to painting in the batik medium. Audiences will discover how he had pushed the limits of conventional techniques with innovative methods through decades of rigorous self-study and experiments. Technologically-savvy audiences will also gain an understanding of how Lin's training in mathematics and computer science has informed her artistic practice since the 1970s, and how it has led her to write her own equations and algorithms to develop new digital methods of artmaking.
Each solo presentation will be accompanied by a publication that will be available later this year. They offer a critical examination of the artist's engagement with concepts such as multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore. Visitors can also experience the exhibition through English-language audio tours voiced by each solo presentation’s respective curators, available on the Gallery Explorer app. The audio tour is also available in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. There will also be talks and tours led by the curators and artists for those looking to gain deeper insights into the artists, their works and their influence on Singapore’s art, history and cultural identity in the post-independence era.
Led by Dr. Seng Yu Jin, Deputy Director (Curatorial & Research), National Gallery Singapore, Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965 is co-curated by Dr. Adele Tan (for Lin Hsin Hsin @speed of thought), Cheng Jia Yun (for Chng Seok Tin: Drawn Through a Press), Goh Sze Ying (for Jaafar Latiff: In The Time of Textile), Lim Shujuan (for Eng Tow – the sixth sense), Joleen Loh (for Goh Beng Kwan: Nervous City), Shabbir Hussain Mustafa and Teo Hui Min (for Mohammad Din Mohammad: The Mistaken Ancestor). It will be on show at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery from 7 May 2021 until 22 August 2021.
Something New Must Turn Up is proudly supported by Lead Partner Singtel and Strategic Partner Cultural Matching Fund.
General Admission (free for Singaporeans and PRs) applies for Something New Must Turn Up.
For more information on this exhibition, please refer to the annexes found in the PDF version of this release, or visit nationalgallery.sg/somethingnewmustturnup for the latest updates on the exhibition. Media assets can be accessed via this link.
Annex A: Biographies of featured artists
Annex B: Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965 Exhibition Highlights