4 Exhibitions You Shouldn't Miss at Singapore Art Week 2024
The 12th edition of SAW is holding over 150 different art events across Singapore.
Calling all art lovers! From January 19 to 28 this year, Singapore Art Week (SAW) is taking place across six main districts. Now in its 12th edition, the annual art showcase brings together creatives and artists across a wide range of artistic forms including traditional fine arts, theatre, architecture and cinema. Visitors can expect a very diverse array of different art exhibitions, performances, artist talks and even tours and immersive trails.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by SAW, given the huge scale of the festival that well stretches beyond 10 days, with over 150 different art events taking place. So among the different experiences available, we’ve found 4 of the best exhibitions by Asian artists and collectives you don’t want to miss.
Valentino for Gestures of Affection
Following the success of their SAW 2023 collaboration with Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak, Valentino has once again linked itself up with the art world through a series of commissioned pieces created by local artist Sarah Choo Jing. Gestures of Affection speaks of seven different qualities inherent in femininity and humanity, expressed through seven digital videos, in meticulously directed scenes.
Gestures of Affection will be on display and open to the public from January 22 to 28, at Soho Residency Singapore, at the Warehouse Hotel.
47 Days, Sound-less
Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Trinh Thi explores the relationship and dynamic between sonic and silence in his film 47 Days, Sound-less. Making its debut presentation at SAM at Tajong Pagar Distripark, the film taps into natural landscapes, coupled with uncredited voices and characters from American and Vietnamese movies produced in Southeast Asia. The film seeks to explore the inextricable relationship between a space and its inhabitants, through the use of silence and sound.
47 Days, Sound-less will be on display at Block 39, The Engine Room, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark from 12 January to 14 April 2024.
Some Exercises in Futility
A group of five artists come together to explore the futile – analysing that which serves no use or purpose – in Some Exercises in Futility. Objects are stripped of their primary function, processes are repeated on end without a clear objective or outcome and rituals are carried out without meaning. Fiona Seow, Genevieve Leong, ila, Marvin Tang, and Ryan Lim Zi Yi each render their interpretations of the fertility of the futile.
Some Exercises in Futility will be on display from 18 January – 4 February 2024, on selected dates.
Self and Beyond
Three female artists join hands in this group exhibition that dives into themes of the self, branching into ideas of self-presentation, image and identity in urban society. Self and Beyond features the works of Ay Tjoe Christine from Indonesia, Rina Banerjee from India and Maria Farrar from the Philippines. Each artist engages with the concept of self through explorations of their origins, their memories and their external environment, to form this collective show.
Self and Beyond will be on display from 13 January – 2 March 2024, on Tuesdays to Saturdays, at the Gillman Barracks.
