The Private Museum Singapore is pleased to present Make Yourself at Home: A Glimpse into All Welcoming Scenarios, an exhibition at a special interim location, a private residence, since it moved out of its previous home. Having been preparing for its relocation to 11 Upper Wilkie Road, it was also a time for introspection, ruminating on what it means to be ‘The Private Museum’.

The conceptualisation of the exhibition began in part as an existential query into the meaning behind why The Private Museum was founded, and continues to pose similar questions to the public through a multi-focal approach. The exhibition is carved into two parts that correspond to the disciplines of art and design, offering a glimpse of the museum’s upcoming programmes at its new home, which is projected for its inaugural launch in the second half of 2023, on top of its ongoing developments in design and branding.

Revisiting the museum’s key platforms, the exhibition features selected works and practices by artists from Singapore and the Asia Pacific such as Kumari Nahappan, Natee Utarit, Ian de Souza, Andy Yang, and independent curator John Tung. Within the design and branding presentation are an interactive and research-driven showcase presented in collaboration with local design studio Currency as well as a dollhouse model of the museum’s new home, designed by the award-winning WOHA Architects, and produced by Integrus Model.

Drawing from the philosopher Jacques Derrida’s ethics of hospitality, Make Yourself at Home is a double entendre that not only reflects the roots of the museum as a hosting ground for open collaboration with art practitioners and home for private collections, but also the ‘hospitality’ that is shown when a host welcomes guests into their living abode or art space. The locale of the exhibition being in a home is itself an enactment of one such welcoming scenario, serving as an apt reminder of the importance of patronage.

“In order to constitute the space of a habitable house and a home, you also need an opening, a door and windows… a passage to the outside world / to the stranger” says Derrida of hospitality. The exhibition invites viewers to embark on their journey of reflection—whether as a first-time visitor or a devoted museum-goer—to really consider what the words ‘The’ ‘Private’ ‘Museum’ put together as an entity in the arts eco-system could be for them.

This exhibition will run from 7 January to 26 March 2023.

Download our exhibition leaflet for more information here.

A primary essential element in calligraphy is time. What is time? I do not know. I only know eternity means that time no longer exists. Buddha is dead, Jesus is dead. Eventually all life form vanishes. Beings exist in the present, live and die between to be and not to be.

Fung Ming Chip, 2012

The Private Museum presents a special exhibition developed from the long-term relationship that began 15 years ago between Singapore-based collector, Christopher Franck, and Hong Kong-based artist, Fung Ming Chip. Franck’s collection of Fung’s works introduces the artist’s early experimentation with the medium of traditional Chinese calligraphy. The large-scale site-specific conceptual installation of his Chan & Heart Sutra Series is a development of Fung’s recurring theme of Heart Sutra in his earlier works. Fung’s latest work is a result of transforming an established art form into an entirely new style that challenges the values which shape human behavior and perception. In his continuous search of what calligraphy is, Fung pushes the boundaries of the medium and explores the element of time.

The Private Museum is proud to present The Loss Index: Perishables and other Miscellanea by Singaporean artist, Ye Shufang, following the success of her previous exhibition, The Happiness Index, here in 2011. Shufang has created a series of new watercolour drawings and will also re-present her internationally-renowned agar-agar installations for the last time.

With an ongoing research focus on the ephemeral and the ‘ready-made’ from her 17 years of art practice, Shufang’s current series of drawings are an attempt to measure, categorise and understand a miscellany of vast infinite items, from baking moulds to emotions, classified in a system using grids, circles and colour spectrums. In her past artworks, the study of and the attempt to measure and record the impermanent are manifested in installations that adopt basic processes, ephemeral materials and ready-mades. Aside from the 2 new presentations of her past agar-agar installations, Shufang will also be showing an agar-agar and rubber strips installation for the first time.

The Private Museum is proud to present the 2nd Kitakyushu Biennial: i (information) in Singapore, a parallel event of the Singapore Biennial 2013. i (information), the theme for this year, will display an array of re-mixes of fragments of information. It aims to present the manipulations of media- information in a rapid changing world within a private museum context.

i (information) will be a touring project, beginning as a screening event at ZKU Berlin in August. Opening exhibitions at Busan South Korea TOTATOGA archive center in September, main venues at the Soap Gallery Kitakyushu Japan from September to December and finally making its way to the Private Museum, Singapore from October to December.

The video and sound projects feature collaborative works from Charles Lim Yi Yong (Singapore), John Miller (USA), Mike Bode (Sweden), Takuji Kogo 古郷卓司 *Candy Factory Projects (Japan), and Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries (South Korea). These artists have responded to online trends with their unique perspectives.

For more information, please visit http://artonline.jp/

As part of the 49th National Day Celebrations, The Private Museum presents 舞: A Goh Soo Khim Collection, an exhibition showcasing the works collected by celebrated Singaporean ballet doyenne Goh Soo Khim. She has played a significant role in the development of dance in Singapore and has always been an avid art collector.

Evocative of the beauty and raw emotion of dance, this exhibition features eleven black and white artworks and a sound piece by Singaporean artists Chen Ke Zhan (b. 1959), Chua Ek Kay (1947 – 2008), Goh Beng Kwan (b.1937), Hong Zhu An (b. 1955), Zul Mahmod (b. 1975) and China artist Wang Lin Hai (b.1963). The collection is an expression of Soo Khim’s passion for the dualism of rhythm and movement, the very essence of dance. This dichromatic exhibition encapsulates the beauty and raw emotion of dance, extending beyond the dance stage and to the world of art.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, The Private Museum is proud to present The Loss Index II by Singaporean artist Ye Shufang. A gasp, a slow release, breathing, stopping… Breathing patterns, the sound of breathing, the act of breathing become very apparent when one is struggling to breathe. It takes only a few quick seconds to realise and recognise when breathing has stopped; with all its finality. But the realisation of the magnitude of loss is felt very slowly. It is an acutely painful, cruelly slow and unpredictable realisation.

The Loss Index II is a new series of artworks and Shufang’s third exhibition at The Private Museum, following The Happiness Index (2011) and The Loss Index: Perishables and Other Miscellanea (2013), where the artist presents her attempts at creating indexes to measure emotions.

This exhibition will feature a new installation using honey as material to explore the theme of loss.

In collaboration with
Mike Bode
Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries
Charles Lim Yi Yong
John Miller
Keiichi Miyagawa
Aura Rosenberg

The Private Museum is proud to present Takuji Kogo: *CANDY FACTORY PROJECTS 2017.

*CANDY FACTORY PROJECTS is a Japanese-based platform for international collaborative art projects led by visual artist and curator, Takuji Kogo. It is mobile; continuously relocating its office into different institutions, organising curatorial projects, exhibitions, web projects and publications.

The exhibition features a selection of video works and sculptural installations by internationally acclaimed artists including Takuji Kogo (Japan), Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries (South Korea), Mike Bode (Sweden), John Miller (USA), Charles Lim Yi Yong (Singapore), Keiichi Miyagawa (Japan) and Aura Rosenberg (USA). Research conducted by the artists probed into the relationship and consequentiality of national borders across different countries.

During Kogo’s one-month artist visit in Singapore, his latest work titled, Singaporean Arcade will see new development and will be introduced at the exhibition’s screening event. The new work is an exploration into the multi-linguistic environment of Singapore through the artist’s perspective. From 2016-2019, *CANDY FACTORY PROJECTS will be touring different venues in Asia and Europe including the Aichi Triennial (Japan), The Private Museum (Singapore), the ZKU (Berlin) and more.

The Private Museum is pleased to present You, Other; I, Another, a group exhibition curated by Dr Susie Lingham. This marks The Private Museum’s new initiative in collaborating with Guest Curators to facilitate and support independent and experimental curatorial practice, and to present different perspectives on our world. The exhibition will feature works by nine artists including Regina De Rozario, Mithun Jayaram, Mumtaz Maricar, Siew Kee Liong, Leroy Sofyan, Vincent Twardzik Ching, Victor Emmanuel, Susie Wong and Yeo Chee Kiong.

Relation is reciprocity. My You acts on me as I act on it. […] Inscrutably involved, we live in the currents of universal reciprocity. *

To and from every I there is a You, a They, a We, an Us, an Other. To whom is another, Other? Or is it more precise to say: when is the other Other to another? Otherness is an oscillation; is in oscillation. The binary-dynamic of finding the self in the other has always been tipped at moments, and shifts to finding the other in the self—recognising difference within oneself is ongoing, and unnerving, for every ‘I’.

Within the structures of any society, how is the other conditioned into being ‘Other’? How is otherness represented? Who represents otherness? In what way do we feel ‘other’, and how do we feel for and with ‘the other’ who differs from our self-sensed otherness? The Other demarcates the line of belonging; what we identify against.

The Other fascinates; confounds; is feared and rejected; is reviled; is ignored, dismissed; is mistreated, marginalised, alienated; is tolerated. Then again, some specimens of otherness are denied even ‘existence’ because quite anomalous, and uncategorisable: perhaps the Other is a Hydra, not a community.

Otherness differentiates on a spectrum of ‘difference’—in kind, by degree, by decree, by choice, inevitably. In You, Other; I, Another, nine artists’ works diverge off various individual realities of lived Otherness, or concepts of difference—expressed in diverse materialities and modes. From the rhythms of the natural world to the measures of culture and custom, and stemming from the personal, the familial to societal—all manner of Other manifest here reciprocally, “inscrutably involved.”

___________________________________________________ * Martin Buber, I and Thou, trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Touchstone, 1996), p 67.

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2019, The Private Museum (TPM) is pleased to present From Lost Roots to Urban Meadows by Singapore-based artists, Madhvi Subrahmanian and Nandita Mukand. As part of TPM’s Women Artists series, this joint exhibition follows the most recent developments of the artists’ practices, featuring installation and sculptural works informed by their ongoing explorations into nature and how it responds to our everyday life in the city.

Subrahmanian reflects on the fluid interconnectedness of nature and urban cultures. Bringing together conceptual and sensory experiences, her works are often participatory and/or immersive in nature. Her contemplative process attempts to trace the imprints of the intangible through her investigations into city structures, space layouts, archaeological sites and the displacement of objects by shape-shifting shadows. Drawing upon her interest in metaphysics and its abstract concepts such as being, knowing, identity, time, space; and neuroplasticity, Mukand’s practice observes the deep intricacies of nature, mingled and merged with the working of the urban mind. Through the amalgamation of synthetic and organic materials, her works ruminate upon citified mindsets and illuminate urban veils that separate us from nature.

Through the inquisitive lens of both the artists, From Lost Roots to Urban Meadows seeks to challenge our perceptions of nature and life – inviting the viewer to delve deeper and engage in new conversations about our urban existence—with or without—nature.

The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present Repeat, Repeat, Repeat; revising the phenomenon of printing—a group exhibition curated by Zaki Razak. This marks the second edition of the TPM Guest Curator series—collaborating with Guest Curators to facilitate and support independent and experimental curatorial practice, and to present different perspectives on our world. The exhibition will feature works by seven artists including Miguel Chew, Weixin Chong, Mona Choo, Urich Lau, Nadia Oh, Shin-Young Park, and Yeo Shih Yun.

There have been numerous exhibitions based on traditional printing methods and the expanded practice of artists who adopted painterly approaches; explored a certain degree of experimentation; challenged the convention in what is permissible; and demonstrated sophisticated control of process. What seems more substantial is the repeating pattern of thematic exhibitions, which emphasized on the possibilities of print. There seems to be a similar sentiment towards an often-repeated source, the rockstar of printmaking, Albrecht Dürer. His works are the first to be considered the most refined and celebrated due to their meticulous and dynamic forms which never fail to feed on our sight.

One definite consensus made is not to realise a medium-based approach exhibition but to break open the closed system of perception of printmaking and to instil a point of discussion on the phenomenon of printing; responding to the essence of the tradition or the emergence of the mechanism of multiplication and repetition; the context of its evolution and revolution; and what its consequences are in this day and age. The artists’ visual responses in forms and formation are meant to be symbolic visual cues to the journey of printing towards a knowledgeable ascent—to bring a certain degree of consciousness. What was before and after the invention of the Gutenberg printing machine and how did printed matter change or affect the human condition?

The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee. The exhibition is a special collaboration between artist, collector and space, locating itself in two spaces with a main exhibition and special showcase happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.

Alongside a selection of past works from The Teng Collection, a new body of works will also be exhibited, building upon Justin Lee’s continuous contemplations on his identity as an artist and member of civil society. The artist employs visual and cultural references to provide social commentary on the perennial issues of consumerism and individualism, which in today’s digital age of instant gratifications and everyday glorifications become exponentially magnified.

Composed of paintings, text-based artefacts, performance and interactive art installation, the exhibition confronts its audience not only with the ceaseless forces of rapid globalisation and hyper digitalisation, but also challenges them to examine their individual complicity in glorifying and immortalising one’s self in the everyday.

Through this special collaboration, TPM expands beyond its scope as a home for private collectors by merging its artist and collector platforms to present the interconnectedness and intimate relationships that form between artists, collectors, art spaces, and their audiences.

Featuring Justin Lee’s monumental installations from The Teng Collection, the one-week special showcase reflects the artist’s expanding oeuvre that explores the themes of identity and socio-cultural norms in Singapore across a variety of mediums. The showcase forms part of the exhibition I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee, happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.

In conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2020, The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present Emerging: Collecting Singapore Contemporary – Selections from the DUO Collection. As part of TPM’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the museum revisits its foundation of bridging the private and the public; this exhibition is the first in a series of five featuring an array of private collections in Singapore.

The DUO, whose collectors prefer to remain anonymous, started building their collection five years ago with a focus to support emerging artists in Singapore and Southeast Asia, though they have been collecting widely for more than a decade.

Emerging is the inaugural showcase of selected works collected in the past five years featuring 16 Singapore-based artists. These works reflect some of Singapore’s emerging urgencies in recent years by responding to themes of identity, migration, urbanisation, the environment, places and spaces. The exhibition seeks not only to stimulate new conversations on Singapore contemporary art through the lens of private collectors, but also to expand on their role in the art eco-system as imperative patrons of the arts.

The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore presents Mediations: A Selection of Works by Ulrich Sante, a digitised exhibition experience in collaboration with the German Ambassador to Singapore Dr Ulrich Sante. Building on our mission to bridge the private and public by facilitation an exchange of ideas across cultures, Mediations celebrates the bilateral ties forged between Singapore and Germany, and importantly offers a glimpse into the converging worlds of art and diplomacy.

This digital project emerged as a result of the COVID-19 crisis which prompted us to rethink how we engage with our audiences and adapt to new norms of virtual experiences. Bringing the exhibition experience to the residence of the German Ambassador, this short film will feature a rarely-seen body of selected artworks by Dr Sante, who, beyond his diplomatic duties, is not only a keen appreciator of the arts, but a passionate contemporary visual artist at heart. Viewers will also be able to witness Dr Sante in conversation with Singapore Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh.

Since his inaugural exhibition 18 years ago in Brussels, Dr Sante’s artistic practice focuses primarily on working with everyday found materials such as wood, metal and bricks in creating sculptural works. Throughout his practice, the artist explores mankind’s relationship with nature, which, on one hand may seem at odds with each other, but can also be complementary and in harmony. His works can be found in private collections in Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Lithuania, Austria and the United States.

“Building, structure, edifice. Home, office, organisation. Community, city, country. Shelter, safety, comfort. Identity, memory, history. 99-year lease, freehold, 3+3+3, Master Plan.”

The Private Museum Singapore (TPM) is pleased to present 3+3+3: On Condition—a group exhibition curated by Andrea Fam. This marks the third edition of TPM’s Guest Curator Platform—collaborating with guest curators to support and experiment with independent curatorial practice through the presentation of different perspectives of our world. This interdisciplinary exhibition will feature both new and ongoing works by five artists and architects including artist duo Finbarr Fallon & Claire Goh, Geraldine Kang, Michael Lee, Mervin Loh and Isabella Teng Yen Lin.

Our governing bodies, architects, invisible labour, civilians, new and temporary residents have seamlessly infused their own histories and intimate memories into the foundational and poignant blueprints of our small island nation. Borrowing its namesake from the commercial lease agreement under the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), 3+3+3 explores these unseen psycho-spatial associations and the complexities of our urban planning while musing on the ephemeral nature of space and place-making in our land-scarce city.

Through preparatory sketches, utopian models, performative engagements and satirical ‘white papers’, this exhibition is an open-ended invitation to reflect on our ever-evolving relationships with our urban environment. Engaging our different senses, these works contemplate notions of nostalgia and transience while considering the overlooked inhabitants of Singapore.

Having served as an independent arts platform for the past 11 years, 3+3+3 marks TPM’s last exhibition in our home at 51 Waterloo Street. Such is the life of built spaces in our metropolis—though they bestow us with character, identity and heritage, we confer them with impermanence and dispensability, provocating the question, “If buildings retain the lived histories imbued into them, shouldn’t we consider their embodied human spirit?”