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Singapore Biennale 2022 Highlights

Now in its seventh edition, the Singapore Biennale has become a distinctive event in the region’s art calendar, connecting artistic practices from the region with a larger global conversation. Helmed by June Yap, Binna Choi, Nida Ghouse and Ala Younis, the 2022 edition named ‘Natasha’ eschews conventions of titling in favour of giving the Biennale a name, which, in Yap’s words, “can produce a sense of familiarity or intimacy…suggesting a connection at a personal level”

Visiting Natasha will take audiences across a range of unconventional venues in (and out of) Singapore, including the Singapore Art Museum’s pop-up premises at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, the oceanfront enclave of Sentosa Cove, and the Southern Islands of Singapore.

ART SG looks at some of the highlights from this year’s Singapore Biennale. Interested to see more? The Biennale runs until 19 March 2023; visit ART SG and Natasha during Singapore Art Week next January.

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‘Islandwide Coverage’ is a roving project that looks at the circulation of bodies and data, and explores the possibilities of getting lost in an age of conveniences and mobility. Anchored by a large graphic print by AWKNDAFFR on the hoardings around the Singapore Art Museum, ‘Islandwide Coverage’ will activate various vantage points across the island, presenting works by several artists and creatives.
‘Islandwide Coverage’ is a roving project that looks at the circulation of bodies and data, and explores the possibilities of getting lost in an age of conveniences and mobility. Anchored by a large graphic print by AWKNDAFFR on the hoardings around the Singapore Art Museum, ‘Islandwide Coverage’ will activate various vantage points across the island, presenting works by several artists and creatives.
‘The Hybrid Intermediates’, the work which garnered artist Haegue Yang the 2022 Benesse Prize, comprises a set of sonic sculptures mounted on casters. While in motion, the bells on the sculptures emit a chime reminiscent of sounds produced during rituals from various cultures (including Korean shamanism and European paganism), thus linking humans to the cosmos. The works are characteristic of Yang’s playful visual language and practice, which interweaves cross-cultural knowledge and a regard for materiality and tradition.
‘The Hybrid Intermediates’, the work which garnered artist Haegue Yang the 2022 Benesse Prize, comprises a set of sonic sculptures mounted on casters. While in motion, the bells on the sculptures emit a chime reminiscent of sounds produced during rituals from various cultures (including Korean shamanism and European paganism), thus linking humans to the cosmos. The works are characteristic of Yang’s playful visual language and practice, which interweaves cross-cultural knowledge and a regard for materiality and tradition.
‘The Library of Unread Books’ (2016 – ongoing) is a traveling library initiated by Heman Chong and Renée Staal. Inspired by the novelist Umberto Eco who famously called for an ‘anti library’ of unread books, the library comprises over 700 titles, each donated by an individual who did not read it when it was in their possession. The project traces the perimeters of knowledge, and reflects on notions of access, excess, and the politics of redistribution. The itinerant library has been hosted in Manila, Utrecht, Milan, Dubai and Prague, and is currently located at International Plaza in Singapore’s central business district.
‘The Library of Unread Books’ (2016 – ongoing) is a traveling library initiated by Heman Chong and Renée Staal. Inspired by the novelist Umberto Eco who famously called for an ‘anti library’ of unread books, the library comprises over 700 titles, each donated by an individual who did not read it when it was in their possession. The project traces the perimeters of knowledge, and reflects on notions of access, excess, and the politics of redistribution. The itinerant library has been hosted in Manila, Utrecht, Milan, Dubai and Prague, and is currently located at International Plaza in Singapore’s central business district.
Born from artist Natasha Tontey’s research on Minahasan cosmology, ‘Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion’ reimagines the hyper-masculine rituals of this ethnic group native to Indonesia, by relating them to care and vulnerability rather than aggression and masculinity. A related work by Tontey is also on show in Bangkok, as part of the ‘Ghost 2565’ video and performance art festival.
Born from artist Natasha Tontey’s research on Minahasan cosmology, ‘Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion’ reimagines the hyper-masculine rituals of this ethnic group native to Indonesia, by relating them to care and vulnerability rather than aggression and masculinity. A related work by Tontey is also on show in Bangkok, as part of the ‘Ghost 2565’ video and performance art festival.
In 2011, NASA discovered the planet Kepler-22b through their Space Telescope. Kepler-22b is the first known planet (apart from Earth) to have the necessary conditions for sustaining human life, including the existence of water in liquid form on the planet’s surface. Pratchaya Phinthong’s artwork visualises Kepler-22b through a movable window, which, when rotated, dissolves and reconstitutes the landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life). Fittingly, the artwork is named after a universal solvent (typically spelt ‘alkahest’), which in theory, is able to reduce every compound to its base elements.
In 2011, NASA discovered the planet Kepler-22b through their Space Telescope. Kepler-22b is the first known planet (apart from Earth) to have the necessary conditions for sustaining human life, including the existence of water in liquid form on the planet’s surface. Pratchaya Phinthong’s artwork visualises Kepler-22b through a movable window, which, when rotated, dissolves and reconstitutes the landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life). Fittingly, the artwork is named after a universal solvent (typically spelt ‘alkahest’), which in theory, is able to reduce every compound to its base elements.
Islands that have lost their names, shapeshifting creation myths, lines plotted by animal navigation, trickster tides, submerged reefs and maritime arteries…memories, myths and magic are invoked in Zarina Muhammad’s multi-disciplinary project, titled ‘Moving Earth, Crossing Water, Eating Soil’. Sited on St John’s Island (formerly Pulau Sekijang Bendera), the title of the work alludes to the island’s multiple historical identities, and comprises an installation as well as a series of performances and activations.
Islands that have lost their names, shapeshifting creation myths, lines plotted by animal navigation, trickster tides, submerged reefs and maritime arteries…memories, myths and magic are invoked in Zarina Muhammad’s multi-disciplinary project, titled ‘Moving Earth, Crossing Water, Eating Soil’. Sited on St John’s Island (formerly Pulau Sekijang Bendera), the title of the work alludes to the island’s multiple historical identities, and comprises an installation as well as a series of performances and activations.
A collaboration between visual artist Ranu Mukherjee and choreographer Hope Mohr, ‘Ensemble for Non-Linear Time’ is a film installation that came out of two years of workshops for immigrant and refugee artists in San Francisco. Featuring a cross-disciplinary ensemble of dancers and visual artists, the film explores histories of migration and colonisation, future ecologies, and the lush internal spaces of longing, desire and imagination.
A collaboration between visual artist Ranu Mukherjee and choreographer Hope Mohr, ‘Ensemble for Non-Linear Time’ is a film installation that came out of two years of workshops for immigrant and refugee artists in San Francisco. Featuring a cross-disciplinary ensemble of dancers and visual artists, the film explores histories of migration and colonisation, future ecologies, and the lush internal spaces of longing, desire and imagination.
Image Credits
1. Installation view of AWKNDAFFR’s Islandwide Coverage (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

2. Installation view of Haegue Yang’s The Hybrid Intermediates – Flourishing Electrophorus Duo (The Sonic Intermediate – Hairy Carbonous Dweller and The Randing Intermediate – Furless Uncolored Dweller) (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

3. Installation view of Heman Chong’s The Library of Unread Books (2016-ongoing), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

4. Installation view of Natasha Tontey’s Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

5. Installation view of Pratchaya Phinthong’s Algahest (2012), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

6. Installation view of Zarina Muhammad’s Moving Earth, Crossing Water, Eating Soil (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

7. Ranu Mukherjee, Still from ‘Ensemble for Non-Linear Time’, 2022. Video, two channels, sound, 20 min. Courtesy of Ranu Mukherjee and Gallery Wendi Norris.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: TAN SIULI

Tan Siuli is an independent curator with over a decade of experience encompassing the research, presentation and commissioning of contemporary art from Southeast Asia. Major exhibition projects include two editions of the Singapore Biennale (2013 and 2016), inter-institutional traveling exhibitions, as well as mentoring and commissioning platforms such as the President’s Young Talents exhibition series. She has also lectured on Museum-based learning and Southeast Asian art history at institutes of higher learning in Singapore. Her recent speaking engagements include presentations on Southeast Asian contemporary art at Frieze Academy London and Bloomberg’s Brilliant Ideas series.

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