Welcome to Padang Spotlights! These special episodes are dedicated to unearthing our archives to bring to life the rich narratives of Southeast Asian artists and art spaces. In this spotlight, our researcher and host Tan Yen Peng traces the legacy of female artist and educator Sun Yee (b. 1919, d. 2010), a pivotal but lesser-known figure in Singapore’s early art scene. As the former head of the Singapore Academy of Arts, and an artist with nearly 100 exhibitions to her name, Sun Yee played a vit...
Oct 02, 2025•45 min•Ep. 53
Can we conceive of exhibitions as a medium? Are exhibitions only neutral spaces for the display of artworks, or do they have agency as an aesthetic, contested and epistemic site Can we conceptualise the exhibition as a medium that generates new ways of thinking about and making art? When talking about methodology, there is a dilemma in terms of how we can develop approaches to study exhibitions that extend beyond just art history. As part of October Gathering, “Towards a Mystical Reality: A Docu...
Sep 25, 2025•49 min•Ep. 52
Bringing together Malaysia-based American artist Ray Lagenbach, Filipino artist and musician Kaloy Olavides and the Indonesian film historian David Hanan, this panel sought to explore the intersections between performance and time-based media which emerged during the 1970s which have largely been left outside the ambit of current art histories in Southeast Asia. Through the diverse perspectives and experiences of the invited speakers, the panel sought to locate early collaborative and interdisci...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 51
Digital access to collections is an important function of many Southeast Asian art archives. As digital resources and nodes for peer-to-peer sharing, these archives play an important role in seeding new research and cultivating a regional historical consciousness. Focusing on the Southeast Asia Performance Collection and Indonesia Visual Art Archive as case studies, curators Annie Jael Kwan and Farah Wardani examined how these archives have used digital tools to grow their discursive communities...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 50
Join Joel Sherwood-Spring, Simon Soon and Tammy Nguyen as they advocate for open-access knowledge. This session explored different strategies for reclaiming and granting greater access to knowledge. From institutional partnerships, to leveraging the public domains of specific nations, and to the individual labour involved in creating resource guides and artworks, this panel delved into the techniques and urgencies that have empowered individuals and collectives to resist the legacies of neocolon...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 49
“SEMBUH” is an expanded version of Kamal Sabran’s Ssegar Angin performance, presented at the Venice Biennale in April 2022. Based on Kamal’s sound therapy research on performance as a method for Malay traditional healing, the project offered an alternative take on the revitalisation of the angin (wind) transpiring within the panggung (physical space) through an immersive sound and dance experience. Anchoring the panggung and charging the space with aural energy, the performance moves the public ...
Dec 04, 2024•29 min•Ep. 48
Welcome to Padang Spotlights ! These special episodes are dedicated to unearthing our archives to bring to life the rich narratives of Southeast Asian artists and art spaces. In this spotlight, Gallery curator Cheng Jia Yun continues her research journey following her curation of well-loved Singaporean artist Chng Seok Tin’s exhibition Drawn Through a Press (2021). Through intimate conversations with artists Tan Sock Fong , Dahlia Osman , Chen Shitong , and archivist Koh Nguang How , Jia Yun del...
Dec 03, 2024•44 min•Ep. 47
This lecture performance by artists Zarina Muhammad and Tini Aliman draws from and unfolds from fragments from each of the auto-ethnographic aspects of Zarina and Tini's respective practice. The performance was presented as part visual conversation, part pragmatic prayer, part eulogy, part temporal installation that traverses the hiding places of love, grief and queer spirits, the soundscapes of trees as conduits, the inventories of intimacies, the necessary spaces of silence and the ways love l...
Aug 07, 2024•57 min•Ep. 46
Desire is both powerful and fundamental. In old Siam, the expression of desire in words and pictures was open, celebratory and humorous. Among non-elite women, sexuality was seen as a strength and was something that was not confined to the young. Royals were portrayed as passionate. However, modernity brought about change. Some sought to deny the power of desire and to limit its expression, and female sexuality was seen as dangerous. Yet, old currents still swirl under the surface and defy this ...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 45
“To be an artist is ... just like shit in a clogged toilet, stubborn shit that can’t decide whether it wants to be flushed or to stick around…” Composed as an irreverent dialogue between masculine and feminine narrators, this book of essays by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook is an uncategorisable fusion of art criticism, feminist theory, art pedagogy, gossip and autofiction. This first English translation of her essays was prepared by eminent translator Kong Rithdee and edited with an accompanying essay...
Apr 03, 2024•51 min•Ep. 44
Photography has been seen on the walls of the art museum since the 1930s. However, since then, questions have continued to be raised as to what sort of photography and whose photography should be collected and displayed? The role of photography within an art museum is often complicated by its varied, multiple roles in daily life – its non-art functions, which have caused confusion, arguments and schisms. Artists Sean Lee, Mintio, and librarian Janice Loo revisit this medium with respect to a mus...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 43
"An Uncommon History of the Common Fence" is a research project that suggests that the common fence—often used as a protective safety urban device or as a boundary marker demarcating permissible and non-permissible movement—has had an uncommon history within the biography of Singapore. The fence is so commonplace within the urban environment that it recedes from active vision. In fact, the common fence has been a participant in key events in the history of Singapore: as a witness to history, as ...
Dec 06, 2023•32 min•Ep. 42
To dwell on the questions concerning Islam and Islamic religiosity/spirituality is to acknowledge its position in mainstream art historical narratives and museological practices. Islam is rarely discussed in this largely secular field and the circles of modern and contemporary art. There are only a few scholarships on art in Southeast Asia that address the continuing role of Islam in the region's modern and contemporary artistic practices. This conversation highlighted this "neglected dimension"...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 41
In this episode, art historian Jeffrey Say explores one of the most important phases in the development of Singapore’s modern art history—the 1950s to the 1970s. This period saw the emergence of distinctive movements like the Nanyang Style, visual imagery that drew from the lives and struggles of the common people, and the first sculpture show in Singapore. This session was held in July 2017 at National Gallery Singapore . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 40
Founder and editor of the Indonesian magazine Tempo , Goenawan Mohamad recalls one of Indonesia’s most cherished poets, Chairil Anwar, and offers perspectives on possible genealogies that have constituted modern Southeast Asian literary production since the 1950s. This session was held in December 2018 as part of the symposium How Easily Modernism Could be Disturbed in conjunction with the exhibition Latiff Mohidin: Pago Pago (1960-1969) . This travelling exhibition by National Gallery Singapore...
Jul 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 39
Writer and literary translator Pauline Fan traces the literary frontiers in Latiff Mohidin’s travel writings and poetry from the 1960s in this conversation with Gallery Director of ILHAM Gallery Rahel Joseph. This session was held in December 2018 as part of the symposium How Easily Modernism Could be Disturbed in conjunction with the exhibition Latiff Mohidin: Pago Pago (1960-1969) . This travelling exhibition by National Gallery Singapore was also presented at Centre Pompidou, Paris. Disclaime...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 38
Co-curators of the Nam June Paik exhibition Rudolf Frieling (of SFMOMA) and Sook-Kyung Lee (of Tate Modern) briefly trace Paik’s legacy by focusing on some of his key works. They also address multiple intersecting narratvies of music and performance, collaboration and artistic networks as well as transnational interests and trajectories. This talk was held online on the Gallery's YouTube and Facebook channels on 17 December 2021 in association with the exhibition Nam June Paik: The Future is Now...
May 04, 2023•51 min•Ep. 37
Roger Nelson (Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University and Curator) and Seng Yu Jin (Deputy Director, Curatorial & Exhibitions, National Gallery Singapore) discuss how we can account for the allure of the exotic in depictions of crowds in Southeast Asian places and people through Louis Rollet’s Market at Memot and U Ba Nyan’s At the Jetty . This talk was held online on Zoom in June 2021 in association with the In-Gallery Sessions programme series. Disclaimer: The comments and ...
Apr 05, 2023•58 min•Ep. 36
Associate Professor of History Dr Timothy P. Barnard (National University of Singapore) explores how animals fit into colonial society in Singapore, an aspect of the period’s history that is often overlooked. While animals no doubt played an important role in everyday life by providing transportation, labour and food, they also symbolically represented the colonisation of nature. They were used as metaphors for imperial control in media like paintings and photographs, and became integral to perc...
Mar 01, 2023•52 min•Ep. 35
Architecture historian Dr Lai Chee Kien examines murals and architecture produced during the heady years just before and after independence in Singapore and Malaysia from 1945 to 1969, and also into the 1970s. This talk was recorded live in March 2020 at National Gallery Singapore as part of the programming for Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989) . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views o...
Feb 01, 2023•46 min•Ep. 34
Former Director of the Tate, Sir Nicholas Serota discusses the implications of significant shifts in the way art museums work with artists and how they engage with the public, with special reference to the evolution of Tate. This talk was recorded live in October 2018 at National Gallery Singapore . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are ...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 33
Senior Lecturer of History Dr Donna Brunero (National University of Singapore) explores how the material culture of the port city and representations of an idealised Asian trading emporium, became important ways of considering Asia in the 1880s. This talk was recorded live in September 2019 at National Gallery Singapore in association with the Art in Singapore programme series. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National ...
Dec 07, 2022•48 min•Ep. 32
In this episode, award-winning filmmaker Royston Tan shares his perspective on Iskandar Jalil as a master potter and educator, and sheds light on how Iskandar’s art-making philosophy has influenced his filmmaking. This talk was recorded live in September 2017 at National Gallery Singapore in association with the exhibition "Iskandar Jalil: Kembara Tanah Liat (Clay Travels)". Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gal...
Nov 02, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 31
Assistant Curator Jennifer Lam discusses the history and practice of collecting art in Singapore during the early 20th century, with reference to the Xiu Hai Lou Collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy. This talk was recorded live in September 2017 at National Gallery Singapore in association with the exhibition "Rediscovering Treasures: Ink Art from the Xiu Hai Lou Collection". Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of N...
Oct 05, 2022•43 min•Ep. 31
Contemporary ink artist Zhang Jian-Jun probes into China’s rapidly changing cultural and physical landscapes through his paintings, photography, videos and installations. This talk was recorded live in September 2019 at National Gallery Singapore as part of the Gallery's annual programme series Ink Masters . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitat...
Sep 07, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 30
Artist Cheo Chai Hiang shares his personal connections to the social and cultural narratives of the Singapore River, and how this deep bond with his homeland has influenced his art practice. This talk was recorded live in August 2018 at National Gallery Singapore , as part of the exhibition Lim Cheng Hoe: Painting Singapore . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recordin...
Aug 03, 2022•54 min•Ep. 29
Accounts of pictorial photography have typically traced its beginnings from Europe in the 1890s to its supposed end in North America in the 1930s. This talk by Gallery curator Charmaine Toh considers the transfer of pictorial photography to Singapore and how values associated with Pictorialism were re-coded within the local context. Particular attention will be paid to the way photography was incorporated into national narratives in the 1950s and 1960s. This talk was recorded live in August 2018...
Jul 06, 2022•38 min•Ep. 28
Learn more about London’s art scene in the 1960s and what it takes for a Singaporean artist to suceed in a foreign metropolis, in this dialogue between artist Mak Kum Siew and Jennifer K. Y. Lam (Assistant Curator, National Gallery Singapore). This conversation was recorded live in May 2018 at National Gallery Singapore , as part of the exhibition (Re)Collect: The Making of our Art Collection . Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the v...
Jun 01, 2022•47 min•Ep. 27
Learn about the different sides of Filipino painter Juan Luna’s artistic practice in this talk by Clarissa Chikiamco (Curator, National Gallery Singapore). By comparing two of the artist’s masterpieces– Cleopatra and Les Ignorés (The Unknown Ones) –this talk examines Luna’s stylistic shift from history painting to realism during his time in Paris. This lecture was recorded live in January 2018 at National Gallery Singapore , as part of the exhibition Between Worlds: Raden Saleh and Juan Luna . *...
May 04, 2022•59 min•Ep. 26
This lecture by art historian and Professor Emeritus John Clark compares the different ways that Raden Saleh and Juan Luna approached creating art in a colonial context. It refers to two of their Salon paintings - The Arrest of Diponegoro and Spoliarium - and examines how each made nationalistic statements about colonial rule while adhering to European norms. It also touches on how their lives diverged, with Saleh becoming an aristocratic ironist and Luna becoming a nationalist insurrectionist. ...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 25
