The fifth edition of the Singapore Biennale 2016 opens tomorrow (27 October) and will run till 26 February 2017. It is titled An Atlas of Mirrors and is organised by the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). The Biennale will be hosted in seven venues which include SAM, SAM at 8Q, Asian Civilisation Museum, National Museum Singapore, The Peranakan Museum,SMU De Suanto Gallery, The Arts House and the Stamford Green. It features contemporary artworks by 63 artists and art collectives from 19 countries in South, East and Southeast Asia and has been curated by a team of nine curators and a creative director (Dr. Susie Lingham).
The exhibition has been divided into nine sub -themes. Broadly, these cover nine conceptual zones into which the 58 artworks have been categorised. The zones are:
- Space
- Time
- Memory
- Nature
- Boundaries
- Agency
- Identity
- Displacement
- Absence
Artitute had the privilege of getting a first look at the artworks. Here are some of the highlights from SAM and SAM at 8Q:
The Biennale opens to the public on October 27, 2016 and runs through Feb 2017. More information on opening programmes and events can be found @: www.singaporebiennale.org
All images courtesy of Singapore Art Museum except where mentioned.
Durriya Dohadwala
is an independent writer on contemporary Asian art and culture. She is also a docent and enjoys facilitating the decoding of contemporary Asian art.