In conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2026, The Private Museum is pleased to present Human Being Human: Selections from the Collection of John and Cheryl Chia. Kickstarting The Private Museum’s 2026 programming, this exhibition invites contemplation on the human experience.
The exhibition title, Human Being Human, frames this contemplation as a moment of possibility: our lives are continually defined by the search for identity, the quiet, persistent aspiration for fundamental purity and goodness, even as we navigate a world characterised by upheaval. This exploration is filtered through works that focus on the human body, or the inescapable bodily experience, recognising it as the most immediate and vulnerable site of our existence.
Drawn from the private collection of John and Cheryl Chia, this collector showcase offers a contemplation of the human condition—the singular, inescapable journey shared by all. The exhibition attempts to contextualise this journey through four conceptual chapters, broadly capturing the sub-themes of Stateless, State, Statehood, and Rebirth, thereby analysing the collection of artworks that traces the human trajectory toward identity.
John and Cheryl Chia acquired their inaugural pieces of artwork approximately 25 years ago, while serving as medical officers. What began as an initial, inquisitive engagement swiftly evolved into a profound passion for learning about and interacting with art. Over the ensuing decades, this dedication has culminated in a compelling collection of works that they find both intellectually stimulating and culturally resonant.
As Cheryl Chia aptly states: “We are drawn to art that reflects our times, that reflects our experiences…(Art) it is an extension of our experiences, our thoughts, our ideas. It comes from somebody else, but it makes up the world that we live in. And we live in the here and now…”, inspiring audiences to explore how art can illuminate the complexities of contemporary existence.
The exhibition will run from 19 January to 26 April 2026.
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 commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the passing of late Singaporean artist, Teng Nee Cheong (b. 1951-d. 2013), The Private Museum is pleased to present EMBODIMENT|SENTIENCE, featuring a selection of charcoal works between the 1970s and the 2000s—from the collection of the Artist’s Estate.
A Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts graduate and recipient of the Ministry of Culture Special Award in 1978, Teng is known for his distinct visual aesthetics in the use of vibrant colours and Southeast Asian cultural motifs, drawing symbols from spiritual faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism and even Balinese mythology.
Renowned for his impressive oil and pastel paintings, Teng’s intimate charcoal works have hardly been in the limelight, much less exhibited comprehensively. Far from just preliminary sketches, this exhibition marks the first extensive showcase of the artist’s charcoal drawings—a result of more than three decades of working with life models in his studio and abroad.
The exhibition explores themes such as dualities, sensualities, desires and perceptions of the human body through the artist’s inquisitive lens and the stark lines encapsulated by the alluring nudes. Deeply-personal and perhaps even provocative, EMBODIMENT | SENTIENCE attempts to lightly trace Teng’s art practice compelled by his fascination with and reverence for, the human figure.
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?