S’pore Art Museum reveals details for Singapore Biennale 2016

SINGAPORE — Get ready for a rather “reflective” Singapore Biennale when it rolls into town once more at the latter part of the year.

The fifth edition of the contemporary art event, which will run from Oct 28 to Feb 26, 2017, will carry the evocative title An Atlas Of Mirrors and will look at themes revolving around South-east Asia as well as East and South Asia.

It will be held primarily at the Singapore Art Museum’s (SAM) spaces and areas around the Bras Basah and Bugis precinct. (The SAM is the organiser of the event.) There are also plans to present works at heritage venues, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Some 60 artists are expected to take part, with an initial list of 10 artists revealed today (Jan 21) at a press conference. They include painter Fyerool Darma and sculptor and Cultural Medallion recipient Han Sai Por from Singapore, Ahmad Fuad Osman (Malaysia), Martha Atienza (The Philippines), Rathin Barman (India), Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam), Qiu Zhijie (China), Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (Thailand), Titarubi (Indonesia), and Tun Win Aung and Wah Nu (Myanmar).

The outgoing director of the SAM, Dr Susie Lingham, who will step down from the position in March, will continue to lead the Biennale team as its creative director.

The decision was to allow for a “continuity of voice and vision” for the Biennale as Dr Lingham oversees the creative content of the show, with her multiple hats as artist, curator and art educator offering a “wholistic approach”, said Joyce Toh, who is the museum’s curatorial co-head, along with Tan Siuli. The museum has yet to announce its new director.

Echoing the 2013 edition’s multi-curator format, the Biennale team will comprise five curators from SAM as well as four associate curators, including Singaporean artist-curator Michael Lee as well as those form India, China and Malaysia.

Explaining the theme, Dr Lingham pointed out how atlases and mirrors have been instrumental in our exploration and mapping of the histories of the region, and the coming Biennale works will look at topics such as migration and the interlinked relationships of countries.

“We hope it will pique and intrigue the imaginations of both artists and viewers,” she said.

The inclusion of guest curators from India and China was also done to highlight the significant impact of the two countries in the region. “It’s important to look back at these relationships,” said Toh.

The Biennale will take place at the tail-end of a year that marks SAM’s 20th anniversary, but Dr Lingham said there will be no “big bang” celebration for the museum, which will concentrate its efforts on the Biennale and will expect to present only one or two exhibitions for the calendar year, including an annual children’s show.

The much-discussed and overdue plans for the museum’s makeover — in the wake of renovations done to other nearby museums — will also continue to be put on hold and take place “further down the road”, she added.