Free Resources

Explore our range of free resources including downloadable zines, ebooks and interactive microsite exhibition, all designed for convenient digital access.

DBS Singapore Gallery

Free eBooks

Shilpa Gupta

Figuring a Scene

Rirkrit Tiravanija

The Neglected Dimension

Liu Kang: Essays on Art and Culture

Realism in Asia: Volume One

Liu Kang: Colourful Modernist

The Tailors and Mannequins

Between Declarations and Dreams

Charles Lim

Migration, Transmission, Localisation

Chua Ek Kay: After the Rain

Familiar Others

Microsites

Living Pictures Microsite

Discover the power of photography and its mobilisation within systems of knowledge and representation across Southeast Asian societies. Our microsite features the exhibition catalogue from the world’s first-ever survey of the medium’s histories across Southeast Asia, from its earliest beginnings in the 19th century until its diverse contemporary manifestations

See Me, See You Microsite

Find out more about the vibrant landscape of video installation as an art form in Southeast Asia and the pioneering artists behind it. Compare the recreated artworks with their original versions, follow the development of video art across an extensive timeline and discover more in our detailed exploration.

Nam June Paik: The Future is Now Microsite

The original microsite for the exhibition Nam June Paik: The Future is Now, dedicated to the groundbreaking work of Nam June Paik, has now been archived. This step ensures continued access to the valuable content of the exhibition, which ran from December 2021 to March 2022 at National Gallery Singapore.

This large-scale exhibition at National Gallery Singapore, the only Asian venue for this showcase, marked a significant milestone in bringing a comprehensive survey of Paik's work to Southeast Asia for the first time.

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Zines

The Another Initial Impetus zine series explores the legacies of the seminal Alpha Gallery and its place in a formative period of Singapore's cultural history.

Sparked by a series of programmes organised in conjunction with the 2019 exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989) at National Gallery Singapore, each zine features individuals connected to the Alpha Gallery, as well as those who were inspired by or embody its spirit.

For printing and binding instructions, click here.

Session 0: Lim Chong Keat

Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat is a polymath and pioneering architect who played a pivotal role in the shaping of Singapore’s built environment and in the development of modern art in the city’s post-war years.

This zine features excerpts of a keynote lecture delivered in conjunction with the 2019 exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989). Here, Lim recounts how he designed architectural landmarks like the Singapore Conference Hall, his interactions with artists of the Alpha Gallery, and his friendship with the futurist Buckminster Fuller.

Session 1: Violet Oon

In this conversation with Tamares Goh, restaurateur Violet Oon recalls her lesser-known lives in the arena of culture, including as one of Singapore’s first arts writers in the dynamic cultural milieu of the 1970s and 1980s. Her reviews from that era included many exhibitions held at the Alpha Gallery.

Session 2: Michael Lee

In this conversation, Michael Lee reflects on his trajectory as an artist and cultural worker. He discusses with Seng Yu Jin the intersections between art and architecture in his practice, as well as the ground-up initiatives he started to benefit Singapore’s arts community.

Lee’s ways of working resonate with those of the seminal Alpha Gallery, established in 1971. Though it was primarily an art space, Alpha was established with a vision of bringing together different disciplines beyond art, such as architecture and design.

Session 3: Khoo Sui Hoe

Khoo Sui Hoe was the first manager-curator of Alpha Gallery upon its establishment in 1971. His monumental painting Children of the Sun (1965) was a central feature of the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art & Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989). In this conversation with Gillian Daniel, Khoo looks back on his long practice and his activities with Alpha.

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