Singapore's National Gallery has unveiled a major rehang of its permanent collection, titled "Singapore Stories: Pathways and Detours in Art," featuring 350 artworks spanning from the 19th century to present day. The exhibition, which rotated more than three-quarters of its previous display, was launched to commemorate Singapore's 60th year of independence (SG60), aiming to present a more inclusive and multifaceted narrative of Singaporean art history.
The refreshed exhibition includes notable new additions such as Dominique Hui's provocative large-scale mural "Statue of Liberty" (1992), which features three figures of indeterminate gender exploring themes of sexuality, materialism, and American cultural influence. The work, created during the early 1990s when Singapore was experiencing rapid economic growth as one of the "Four Asian Tigers," captures the tension between Western influences and conservative Asian values that characterized the era.
Despite efforts to increase diversity, with female artists now representing 23 percent and minority artists 24 percent of the exhibition, critics argue that the National Gallery's approach remains cautiously pro-establishment. The exhibition notably excludes or downplays works that engage in social critique or provide voices of resistance against Singapore's authoritarian governance. Most conspicuous is the minimal treatment of Josef Ng's seminal performance art piece "Brother Cane" (1994), which protested homophobic laws and resulted in a decade-long government ban on performance art funding.
The "Imagining Nation" section covering the 1950s and 60s stands out as particularly strong, featuring works that reflect anticolonial sentiment, nationalist aspirations, and socialist concerns. Key pieces include Lim Hak Tai's "Indian Workers Clearing the Jungle" (1955) and Chua Mia Tee's "Workers in a Canteen" (1974), which represent the laborers who helped build modern Singapore. These works address class struggle and social divisions, topics often avoided in discussions of national identity.
In contrast to the National Gallery's cautious approach, the concurrent exhibition "Artists Proof: Singapore at 60" presents a more balanced and provocative account of local art history. Featuring over 90 artworks from former investment banker Chong Huai Seng's private collection, this show includes more challenging works such as Jon Chan's diptych comparing Lee Kuan Yew's office with political prisoner Chia Thye Poh's confined quarters, and David Chan's "firefire" (2017), which references the 2013 Little India bus riot involving migrant workers.
The National Gallery's exhibition also features improved representation of female artists, including works by Susie Wong whose paintings meditate on mortality and vulnerability. Her "Poh Poh" (1992) depicts her grandmother with a watchful, cautious expression, while "Womb Series 7" (1997) shows a pale female body curled into a protective ball. These additions help present a more rounded picture of creative production in Singapore.
Regarding LGBTQ representation, the inclusion of Hui's mural represents a subtle acknowledgment of queer themes, coinciding with Singapore's 2022 repeal of Section 377A, which criminalized male same-sex relations. However, the gallery's approach remains extremely cautious, with queer-themed content receiving minimal prominence and advisory warnings still common for such representations in Singapore's media landscape.
Notably absent from both versions of the Singapore survey are important alternative art spaces like 5th Passage and The Substation, which played crucial roles in nurturing experimental art and expanding civic and cultural space. While the exhibition acknowledges artist-run spaces that provided alternatives to commercialization, it avoids highlighting venues that presented adversarial perspectives counter to official nation-building narratives.
The fundamental tension revealed by "Singapore Stories" reflects broader questions about national identity construction in Singapore. As demonstrated by Chua Mia Tee's iconic painting "National Language Class" (1959), which shows Chinese students learning Malay with mixed reception, forging national identity involves effort, discomfort, and ongoing negotiation. The painting suggests that national consciousness should be viewed as a participatory process involving both unity and productive dissent.
Ultimately, the National Gallery's approach mirrors Singapore's broader political landscape, where the People's Action Party has maintained unbroken single-party rule for 60 years with strong popular support. While this reflects many Singaporeans' acceptance of authoritarian governance in exchange for economic prosperity and social stability, critics argue that any authentic portrayal of Singapore's art history must acknowledge the heartbreak, resistance, and excluded voices that are part of the nation's complex story. The exhibition's careful omissions reveal as much about Singapore's current political climate as its artistic achievements.
