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.

Thoughts of Gulag is a solo exhibition by Singapore-based, British artist James Holdsworth. The show is supported by the United Nations Association (UNAS), and features 13 large oil paintings, together with charcoal & pastel drawings based on images taken from labour camps. Gulag is a term used to refer to the Soviet government agency that operated the forced labour and concentration camps during the communist era.

To Add a Meter to an Unknown Mountain: An Iconic Collection of Contemporary Chinese Photography features the works of four Chinese artists whose bold, conceptual art challenges the conservative society that they grew up in. As internationally renowned artists, CangXin, Ma Liuming, Liu Wei, and Zhan Wang are all important figures in the rising contemporary Chinese art scene that is taking the world by storm. In their respective styles, each of these contemporary Chinese artists expresses social critiques of the world as they see it. From the impermanent state of human actions to the harmony between nature and mankind, the photography in this exhibition highlights the relationships between man and nature, new and old, and modernity and tradition. In a rapidly urbanizing world, their work serves to capture significant moments of interaction between two starkly different worlds.

The Private Museum presents an exhibition which showcases the Catholic High School’s special collection of paintings by the late local artist, Chua Ek Kay, who is an old boy of the school. He is known for his combination of both Eastern and Western art techniques and theories in his works. A special selection from the Catholic High School will be featured in this exhibition with subject matters ranging from traditional Chinese paintings of birds and flowers, to old buildings and abstractions which reflects the evolution of Ek Kay’s artistic practice. The highlight of this exhibition will be the display of four Chinese ink paintings of the former Catholic High School campus at 222 Queens Street, now 51 Waterloo Street. Coincidentally, this is where The Private Museum is currently located. Ek Kay painted these works in 2005 with the sole purpose of donating them to the school and its new campus in Bishan. Ek Kay donated more works to the school subsequently, totaling to an impressive number of twenty-five Chinese ink paintings.

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 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.

The Private Museum is proud to present Hong Zhu An: Pure Heart – A Bali Purnati Foundation Artist Residency by internationally-renowned Singaporean artist, Hong Zhu An. The exhibition features a selection of 15 new works from a series inspired by Hong’s recent Artist Residency in Bali at the Yayasan Bali Purnati | The Bali Purnati Centre For The Arts. This residency marks his second and most significant visit to Bali since his first trip more than 10 years ago. Through this residency, Hong  immersed in the tranquil nature and travelled through the rich textures of landscapes with road trips and site visits around the Northern, Southern and Eastern Bali.

Hong’s stay at the Bali Purnati – translated as Pure Heart, was a journey of self-awareness and introspection that led him to create this new series of inward and outward journey of Bali. The highlights of this exhibition are inspired by site visits to see Kokokan birds (herons) at Petulu Village, water palace at Taman Tirta Gangga, lotus ponds at Taman Saraswati Temple, cliffs at Uluwatu, walls on rock-cut shrines at Gunang Kawi, historical villages at Tenganan Village and temples such as Pura Besakih. This new body of works give insights to Hong’s experience in Bali that left an impact on him.

In celebration of Singapore’s 50^th anniversary of independence, The Private Museum is proud to present Influences and Friendships: A Chua Ek Kay Estate Collection. This special body of works offers a glimpse into Chua Ek Kay’s lesser-known art collection of prominent artists and friends, with 21 artworks in Chinese ink and Calligraphy, Oil and Woodcarving that reflects the inspirations and artists that influenced Chua in his artistic practice.

Highlights include Huang Binhong’s landscape painting paying its homage to the 10^th century painter Juran, one of the great Master artists of early Chinese monumental landscape paintings. Huang Binhong (1865 – 1955), a painter and art theorist, was one of Chua’s biggest influences. Inspired by the endless possibilities of ink, Chua fervently explored the extent of his brushworks. The collection of works traces Chua’s Shanghai School lineage from Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), Wang Ge Yi (1897-1988) and Fan Chang Tien (1907-1987), and a combination of monk artists, Lingnan School and Chua’s contemporaries.

Through the visions from these artists and friends, the viewer is able to reach into the window of his art practice. The intertwining of creativities from around the world allowed Chua to create his inimitable style that incorporates a balance of both Western and traditional.

In conjunction with Kitakyushu Biennial 2015 The Fifth, The Private Museum presents the 3^rd Kitakyushu Biennial in Singapore: KIMI KIM JALAN JALAN: TAKUJI KOGO + YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES. The exhibition consists of several collaborative artworks using multiple screens by international acclaimed artists, Takuji Kogo (Japan) and Korean based art duo, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, made up by Young-Hae Chang (Korea) and Marc Voge (USA).

The highlight of the exhibition is KIMI KIM JALAN JALAN, an anime inspired multilingual satirical monologue made in Japanese, Korean and English through the collaboration of the artists’ cultural backgrounds. Inspired by the multilingualism in Singapore, this narrative consists of fragments of images, sounds and texts of Singapore, performed in the style of an ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response). KIMI KIM JALAN JALAN is a collaboration specially produced for this exhibition.

STATEMENTS is a collaborative piece created with text animations of the World War II surrender speech by the Japanese Emperor Shōwa, combined with the audio segment of Michael Jackson’s declaration countering accusations of child molestation in 1993. The project was first shown at the Kitakyushu Biennial 2007 and Metro Pictures, New York, in 2013, and at the Kiev Biennial 2015.

KITAKYUSHU BIENNIAL 2015 THE FIFTH is the 5^th Kitakyushu Biennial, a bi-annual exhibition organized by the Art Institute Kitakyushu and directed by *CANDY FACTORY PROJECTS, a Japanese based platform for international collaborative multimedia based art projects curated by Takuji Kogo. This year, the Kitakyushu Biennial travels from Berlin to Sweden, Japan and finally Singapore at The Private Museum.

The web project will launch at the KITAKYUSHU BIENNIAL 2015 THE FIFTH

http://artonline.jp/

In conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2017, The Private Museum is proud to present 21^st Century Calligraphy: Selections from the Nanshun Shanfang Collection. The exhibition features 19 Chinese calligraphy works from 5 established Chinese calligraphers such as Wang Dongling, Sun Xiaoyun, Wang Tiande, Wei Ligang, and Guan Jun.

Wang Dongling’s artworks illuminate the essence of gestural abstraction through his bold experimentations of embodied action and performance in Chinese calligraphy. Wang Tiande’s artistic practice explores the ambivalent relation between contemporaneity and the traditional. Wei Ligang’s background in mathematics contributes to his unique approach of the deconstruction and re-construction of Chinese characters in his artworks. Sun Xiaoyun’s emphasis on her brushstrokes and aesthetics, along with Guan Jun’s neoclassical style, portray distinctive interpretations of historical transcripts by renowned Chinese poets such as Du Fu and Su Dong Po.

Viewers will gain the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the wide array of calligraphy styles-reflective of their various artistic development and practices in breaking the conventional approach of Chinese calligraphy-displayed through this collection.

In celebration of Singapore’s 52nd anniversary of independence, The Private Museum is proud to present Benny Ong: Walking the Thought. This solo exhibition marks the first showcase of works by the renowned fashion designer and textile artist, Benny Ong at The Private Museum.

Along with other textile works centred on Buddhist themes, the exhibition revisits a series of Ong’s older works from his inaugural textile exhibition titled, Re-woven: A Celebration of Lives opened at the Singapore Arts Museum a decade ago. Ong’s artistic practice traces back to the roots of his spiritual. The body of textile works is a reflection of the artist’s interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings based on inner contemplation, peace, dualism, compassion and meditation.

Although the series of textile works was inspired by the values and teachings of Buddhism, the exhibition reveals a deeper layer of Ong’s artistic practice. Through the use of succinct imagery, Ong bridges his spiritual beliefs with art making— compelling the viewer to get a closer glimpse of the thought process behind his artistic practice.

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 Echoing Fragments by Singaporean abstract collage artist and painter, Lim Tiong Ghee. This exhibition marks the first venture by the museum to send a Singaporean artist to Yogyakarta under its Artist-in-Residence programme. This two-week trip to Yogyakarta was part of an ‘Artist Visit’ supported by Cemeti – Institute for Art and Society.

In the course of Lim’s travels, he visited cultural monuments such as the famous sacred temples, Borobudur and Prambanan, now commemorated as UNESCO World Heritage sites. In addition, his sojourn in Yogyakarta’s thriving artist community yielded many exchanges with the artist studios and art spaces. The batik craft centres and museums in the cities of Solo and Yogyakarta were key locales during his short tarriance in Indonesia.

This exhibition features a body of collage paintings that is part of a decades-long exploration of imprinting his personal experiences into collages. In the brief two weeks of his visit, the collage artworks birthed from the journey emphasises on the batik elements’ interaction with floral motifs, weaving what appears to be the cultural and the physical into a realm of its own through the use of negative space never before seen in his works. The luminous projection of colours present in these works also reflects the envelopment of warmth in the Indonesian atmosphere.

Yogyakarta is known for its significance in Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, with Borobudur and Prambanan standing testament to the rich cultural narratives surrounding the province. Not disregarding the prolific symbolisms present in both beliefs, Lim’s works further expound on various forms, figures and textures commonly depicted as religious motifs in the two beliefs.

The body of works presented here is the culmination of Lim’s interactions with the culture and people of Yogyakarta and Solo as well as his own introspection of the differing essences between his homeland and its neighbour. Immersed in the social landscape of Indonesian culture, Lim melds his feelings in reciprocation to the aura of amiability encountered throughout the trip, expressing it as a continuum in Echoing Fragments.

In conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2019, The Private Museum is pleased to present Of Dreams and Contemplation: Selections from the Collection of Richard Koh. As part of The Private Museum’s Collector Platform, this exhibition features contemporary works of international artists from the private art collection of veteran gallerist, Richard Koh of Richard Koh Fine Art.

Presented as a whole for the first time, this is the inaugural showcase of 33 carefully-selected artworks from Koh’s collection spanning more than 20 years. A gallerist by profession, Koh’s distinctive way of collecting is informed by his quiet reflection and interactions with the art world. This collection is an exploration of his journey in the world of art and life, in public and in private, within Southeast Asia and internationally.

Of Dreams and Contemplation reflects a multitude of Koh’s ruminations, personalities and interests through the works of 30 artists. Often referred by Koh as ‘Landscapes of Memory’, each work evokes a specific memory, a tangible reminder of a fleeting moment in his life. Mostly abstract and monochromatic, the works offer rare insights into Richard Koh’s private contemplations—inviting the viewer to interpret and delve deeper.

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 is pleased to present Search and Discover: The Joy of Collecting – Selections from the Yeap Lam Yang Collection. TPM revisits its foundation of bridging the private and the public in this year’s final and largest exhibition that forms part of the museum’s 10th anniversary programming, featuring an array of private collections in Singapore.

Co-curated by Aaron Teo and Beverly Yong, the exhibition features 65 carefully selected works by 35 artists from the Asia-Pacific region from the Yeap Lam Yang collection, spanning over three decades. While the works are categorically small—the exhibition’s curatorial theme intentionally limits the size of the works to 60 cm by 60 cm—there is nary a “smallness” in their significance. Each work is precious and treasured, each a symbolic step into the collector’s foray into the art world as a patron and supporter of the arts.

Search and Discover: The Joy of Collecting unravels the process of exhibition-making and reveals the joy of collecting; discovering and revisiting artists, a rekindling of old relationships, and a forging of new ones. Yeap Lam Yang’s apt reminder that “there is good art everywhere waiting to be uncovered” is an invitation to all viewers to chart their individual, personal journeys in search and discovery of art and artists, new and familiar.

“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?”