Dalam Southeast Asia: Figuring A Scene

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Shadow

Linocut prints are transformed into shadow puppets in this installation exploring the struggle between natural and social forces, posing the question: “Without darkness, how can we dream of the day?”

Sharon Chin juxtaposes nature and technology in her art. Living near an oil refinery, she addresses ecological tensions, climate justice, and displacement.

Her linocut prints, which were initially used for book illustrations, became protest placards and workshop materials.

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Fruit

Three works flesh out the durian, a fruit whose story and image have captured the imagination of Singapore and Southeast Asia.

A painting, a photograph, and a sculpture by Liu Kang, Robert Zhao Renhui, and Anusapati articulate the durian in different ways.

Consider how the tropical fruit’s cultural significance evokes a sense of home, a connection to the past, and an understanding of the role of colonisation in shaping the land and its people.

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Fire

The tragic fire of 1961 engulfed villages and communities in Bukit Ho Swee, a slum of attap huts. It was a critical moment in the social history of Malaya. 

To a significant extent, the fire emergency paved the way for the development of the local urban form in Singapore.

An important aspect of this modernisation was the intense pace at which the construction of public housing took place. See works by Liu Kang, Lim Hak Tai, Tan Choo Kuan, and Lim Yew Kuan in this episode.

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Air

It is visually difficult to represent air in art. Its invisibility poses a problem for artists, but its role and effect are visceral and vital.

‘Air’ features a painting titled Storm by Sun Yee, and a photograph titled The Opposite is True #2 by Lim Tzay Chuen.

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Wax

How does wax embed faith and terror? Renato Habulan’s artwork, Tira, encompasses various meanings in Filipino.

Comprising driftwood, found statuary, and paraffin wax,  the artwork features a transfigured Christ sculpture resting on wax, referencing colonial Catholicism in the Philippines.

The work evokes the religious embeddedness, fragmentation, and the horrors of war in southern Philippines.

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City

From the discourses that emerged from post-colonial Malaysa, two prominent signs of Singapore’s aspiration to a national and modern form were public housing and the art museum.

Architectural texts from post-colonial Malaya underscore the role of art and culture in shaping national identity. Meanwhile, public housing, catalysed by the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire, transformed “squatters into citizens”.

A teak sculpture by Shui Tit Sing alludes to this desire for belonging and the excitement of change. At the same time, it also alludes to the trauma of death that complicated the narrative of development in a country where nearly 80% live in public housing.