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.

In celebration of Singapore’s 54th year of independence, The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present Flashes of Brilliance: Selected Works of Chen Wen Hsi from the Collections of Johnny Quek and the Lewis Sisters. As part of our museum’s Collector Series, visitors will be able to view previously unseen works by the late Singaporean pioneer artist, Chen Wen Hsi.

In this special edition, the exhibition brings together two private collections, from Johnny Quek—close friend and long-time patron of Chen—and the Lewis sisters, Jennifer Lewis and Geraldine Lewis-Pereira. The selected works will be accompanied by stories from the collectors as well as rare insights into Chen’s artistic process.

Despite the relatively short history of modern Singapore, little remains today from our yesteryears. However, two things have endured: the size of our island and the brilliance of its pioneer artists. Drawing parallels to our city-state, we will be shining the spotlight on Chen’s small-scale ink works for the first time, unlike past retrospective surveys of the esteemed artist.

We invite viewers to rediscover Chen Wen Hsi through the lens of private collectors and the untold stories behind their collections.