Singapore Art Week 2024: free stuff to enjoy among 150 events and exhibitions from 400-odd regional artists

SINGAPORE — Looking for activities to do without breaking the bank this month? Check out the following free art events and exhibitions at Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2024.

This year's edition will feature 150 art events and exhibitions across Singapore and online, with works from about 400 artists from Singapore and Southeast Asia. It runs from 19 to 28 January, and here are some key highlights:

1. Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger (till 3 March)

Drawing from historical events, documentary footage, art history, music videos and mythical stories, this exhibition will showcase two decades worth of paintings, films, theatrical performances, and video installations. It is an investigation into how history is constructed, and the narrative of myths and identities.

The exhibition also features a new commissioned work that reflects on time as an experience. It is co-organised by Singapore Art Museum and Art Sonje Center.

Location: Singapore Art Museum, 39 Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 1. Free for Singaporeans and PRs, $10 for standard ticket.

2. The Pierre Lorinet Collection presents Rough (12 to 28 January)

Across the works of 14 artists, engage with provocative installations based on political and social themes around the complexities of the modern world. You can also observe three-dimensional photographs, paintings, and potteries exploring extinction and humankind’s destruction of the natural world. This is the second exhibition by French expat, Pierre Lorinet, who lives in Singapore with his wife and three children.

Location: 22 Lock Road, Gillman Barracks, #01-33

3. Simryn Gill & Charles Lim Yi Yong: The Sea is a Field (12 January to 24 April)

In a collaborative effort between curator and artist, Simryn Gill and Charles Lim, this exhibition uses video, photography, and text to document the travelling journey between Port Dickson and Singapore. It tells stories of everyday crossings, migrations, and the borders connecting to cultural and political history. The exhibition is part of the Singapore Art Museum fellowship programme.

Location: 37 Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 1. Free for Singaporeans and PRs, $10 for standard ticket.

4. Alternative Ecology: The Community (13 to 28 January)

Alternative Ecology: The Community is an art event for those interested in sustainability, nature and ecology. Booths and activities will be organised in a sculptural social space made from bamboo by Indonesian artist and architect Eko Prawoto and Bamboo Broadcast Studio.

Programmes include the Renew Earth Sweat Shop Workshop, a Stone Soup Party, Eco-Karaoke night, Eco-Singles Night, Water & Sustainability Symposiums, and the Singapore Really Really Free Market, and more. There will also be panel talks and symposiums.

Location: Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Film, 155 Middle Road.

5. Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics (17 to 30 January)

A multi-venue showcase, Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics, will feature contemporary art exploring the connection between African and Asian diasporas. It will reveal how these cultures come together through shared materials and cultural connections.

The exhibition will also present a culinary and cultural partnership with Michelin-starred Nouri and Chinese gallery ShanghART. It is presented by The Institutum and curated by Zoe Whitley.

Locations:

• Gillman Barracks: 6 Lock Road #02-09; 7 Lock Road #01-12, 9 Lock Road #03-21 and #03-22; and ShanghART Gallery, 9 Lock Road #02-22.

• Restaurant Nouri: 72 Amoy Street

6. Together, Hue & Me (17 to 28 January)

Together, Hue & Me invites people to take a closer look at their neighbourhood communal spaces. Featuring artworks and soundscapes created by residents of Jalan Kayu, this cross-disciplinary exhibition features multiple personal perspectives on homeliness and community, inspired by the shapes and colours of everyday spaces and interactions. Guided tours and pop-up art making activities are also available.

Location: Buangkok Square, Block 991 Buangkok Link.

7. Light to Night 2024 (19 January to 8 February)

Based on the theme 'Reimagine', the eighth edition of the Light to Night festival will have over 60 programmes of immersive and interactive experiences. Art Skins on Monuments will also return to illuminate the facades of arts institutions like the National Gallery Singapore, Asian Civilisation Museum, The Arts House, and Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall in the Civic District with new light projections from Southeast Asian artists.

Location: National Gallery Singapore

8. Sonic Sessions at Tanjong Pagar Distripark (19 to 20 & 26 to 27 January)

Catch music performances over two weekends at two locations within Tanjong Pagar Distripark: The Spine. Listen to live music from local artists like NADA, Bani Haykal, NUS Electronic Music Lab and more, as well as Indonesian collective Raja Kirik (Yennu Ariendra and J. Mo’ong Santoso Pribadi).

Performances on the first weekend will be located at the park center, while performances on the second weekend will be shifted to the Container Bay, situated behind Block 39.

9. Eat Play Love (19 to 31 January)

Visitors are invited to reflect on ordinary yet meaningful home activities like eating, sleeping, playing, loving, fighting, and negotiating in Eat Play Love. Artist Tan Ngiap Heng, has created an experiential exhibit in his 60-year-old family home as a tribute to his late parents and family. It was owned by the late Dr Tan Kheng Khoo and designed by architectural pioneer William Lim.

The exhibit explores his family life, the architectural heritage, and how landscape has changed over the years. Once over, the house is scheduled to be sold. Eat Play Love is curated by Michael Lee, and will showcase the works of six other guest artists.

Location: C-1 Holland Park.

10. INTERWOVEN (19 to 28 January)

Held at Telok Kurau Studios Art Gallery, Interwoven will showcase the works of various artists and art practices. Across two weekends, there will be open studios by participating artists for public viewing and interaction, complete with demonstration and talks during the weekends in both art gallery and studios.

Location: 91, Lorong J, Telok Kurau.

11. The 5th VH AWARD Exhibition (21 January to 4 February)

Contemplate time, humanity, and different cultures at the 5th VH Award by Hyundai Motor Group. Showcasing works by five new media artists, the exhibition will show how art intersects technology, and cover topics on social and environmental concerns and artificial intelligence.

Location: Lower Gallery, Objectifs, 155 Middle Road.

12. Our Children (19 to 28 January)

Interact with performance installation Our Children by seminal artist Tang Da Wu, created based on the values of filial piety and the importance of nurturing future generations. The public can help complete a performance activation piece, a tapestry that the artist began sewing in 2017.

Location: Art Outreach, Gillman Barracks, 5 Lock Rd, #01-06.

13. Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks (20, 26 and 27 January)

Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks returns this year with live music performances and visual arts across two evenings (20 and 27 January). This edition will feature two distinct nights of entertainment: Rave Night, featuring local electronic music artists, and Prom Night, featuring live bands and DJ sets. Visitors can also catch the opening performance of Our Children, and explore new exhibitions at the resident art galleries after hours.

Location: Gillman Barracks

14. Keys Under the Sofa (19 January to 18 February)

Keys Under the Sofa is an exhibition at Hock Siong & Co, a family-owned second-hand furniture shop in Tai Seng. Drawing from the shop, artists will present photographs, kinetic sculptures, video art, installations, paintings, texts and more for members of the public to explore. Other programmes include an artist talk, a film dialogue and a creative repair Kintsugi workshop.

Location: Hock Siong & Co, 153 Kampong Ampat, #01-03.

15. Geometria Situ (19 to 28 January)

Located within Kampong Glam neighbourhood with Hothouse as a starting point, engage in a "theatre of memory" with sound, media art, movement and spoken word in a digital environment crafted by four practitioners. The project is initiated by Hothouse and supported by Teater Ekamatra.

Location: Hothouse, Aliwal Arts Centre and Vicinity.

16. Refraction Index (19 to 28 January)

Refraction Index is an arts incubator programme where the art works of five local artists who experimented with glass will be showcased. The programme was created to bridge the gap between glass making and its acceptance with the wider public.

Location: The Yards, #01-26, 406 Joo Chiat Place.

17. Acknowledging Intuition (AI) (19 to 28 January)

Kickstarted from a creative brief produced by generative artificial intelligence (AI), ChatGPT, this exhibition will actualise the vision of AI and raise the question, “What does it take to be an artist?”. Two works will be presented, one by a human artist, and the other by a text-to-image generative AI model.

Visitors are invited to compare both works, and provide their own text prompts to the AI model to see generated corresponding images. Descriptive texts can also be submitted by the public prior to the exhibition to add to the installation’s source material.

Location: 42 Waterloo Street.

18. Immortal Words (19 January to 20 February)

This bio art project presents collectible DNA-spiked objects through capsule vending machines, and an exhibition of decade-long research into body, memory, language and encoding by visual artist Boedi Widjaja. It will presents new and existing film, photography, installations and mark-making works.

Encoding into DNA words believed to have survived for 15,000 years, since the Ice Age, Boedi explores words from our deep ancestral past. Audiences may collect these “fossil” words in the form of DNA-spiked keycaps, miniature books and bio-suspension through capsule vending machines at multiple locations.

Location: Black Box, Centre 42, 42 Waterloo Street.

Ticketed programmes:

19. Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America (till 24 March)

Visit the world’s first large-scale exhibition to survey shared solidarities between Southeast Asia and Latin America that emerged in the aftermath of colonialism in the 20th century. This exhibit traces how artists from both regions forged connections and nurtured solidarities, while reclaiming their place using art. More than 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, performances and sensorial installations by more than 70 artists will be featured.

Location: National Gallery Singapore

Tickets: $15 for Singaporeans and PR, $25 for standard ticket.

20. ART SG (19 to 21 January)

Presented by Founding and Lead Partner UBS, ART SG is Singapore and Southeast Asia's leading international art fair. The second edition will spotlight global contemporary art and play a critical role in connecting Southeast Asia to the global art world. It will feature a line up of international galleries alongside dynamic large-scale installations, curated talks and film programs.

Location: Sands Expo and Convention Centre, 10 Bayfront Avenue.

21. S.E.A. Focus (20 to 28 January)

Back for its sixth edition, the anchor event of Singapore Art Week will showcase Southeast Asian contemporary art in a curated exhibition at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. This year's theme explores what it means to be human while navigating a world with competing intelligence.

The lineup includes a curated film programme, art conversations with industry thought leaders, and exclusive access to art spaces. It is led by STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery and commissioned by the National Arts Council (NAC).

Location: 39 Keppel Rd, #01-05 Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

SAW 2024 is organised by NAC and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Full list of event details can be found on SAW's website.

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