OUTBOUND is a new initiative that reimagines transitional spaces and key entrances at the Gallery
Through a series of unique artwork commissions, developed in collaboration with leading artists from around the world.
Ongoing (All Day) | National Gallery Singapore @Various locations | Exhibition | Free
Beginning in 2018, the inaugural season will feature commissions from artists including Jane Lee (Singapore), Gary Carsley (Australia), Jeremy Chu (Singapore), Maria Taniguchi (Philippines), and Yee I-Lann (Malaysia), amongst others. Each commission will be displayed for at least three years, acting as an artistic landmark that guides visitors through otherwise ordinary passages while highlighting features of the Gallery’s iconic architecture.
OUTBOUND provokes a reconsideration of transitional spaces as sites for critical reflection, meaningful encounters, curiosity and playfulness. It transforms spaces into platforms that generate new interpretations and narratives about the Gallery and the region, tapping into dialogues on placemaking and revivifying the relationship between artists, museums and audiences.
Learn more
Learn more about the series and the first commissioned piece, Nowhere by Jane Lee, click here
Tikar-A-Gagah
Yee I-Lann (b. 1971, Malaysia)
Supreme Court Wing, Level 1, foyer near the Holding Cells | Free
Tikar-A-Gagah is a collaboration between Yee I-Lann and indigenous weavers in Sabah, a northern Borneo state in Malaysia. One side of the mat (or tikar in Malay) was made by the Bajau Sama DiLaut communities from Semporna, and the other by the Dusun and Murut communities from Keningau. The woven mat is a utilitarian and ceremonial object found commonly across the Nusantara archipelago. When laid out, the tikar becomes a place for social gatherings; when hung, it becomes an object that triggers the recollection of histories, memories and narratives in the viewer.
Forum for Drone Speech – Singapore Simulations
Haegue Yang (b. 1971, South Korea)
City Hall Wing, Level 2, City Hall Foyer | Free
Forum for Drone Speech – Singapore Simulations is inspired by the Gallery’s architecture and its connections to Singapore’s colonial past and diasporic society. The installation alludes to European neo-classical architecture, drawing on its forms to create a conversation with the former Municipal Building (now City Hall Wing). This historic building witnessed many of the nation’s milestones, including its eventual proclamation of independence in 1965.
The Regency Made Me Blind
Gary Carsley (b. 1957, Australia)
Jeremy Chu (b. 1973, Singapore)
with a contribution from Renjie Teoh (b. 1983, Singapore)Daily | 7 am – 7 pm | City Hall Wing, stairwell between Levels 4 and 5 | Free
This stairway “garden” is simulated via digitally composited photographs of botanical gardens with colonial origins in Hanoi, Manila, Bogor, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The images were superimposed on bands of colours in a pattern mimicking Regency era stripes, and printed on roller blinds, self-adhesive vinyl and more than 5,000 sheets of A4 coloured 80 gm photocopier paper. The artists then reverently applied these to the walls. This meditative labour is inspired by the meticulous gold leafing of the interiors of sacred places. It is also evoked through the Tibetan Buddhist mantras on the walls that symbolically cleanse passing visitors of negative karma.
Nowhere
Jane Lee (b. 1963, Singapore)
City Hall Wing, Level 4, City Hall Foyer (in between Level 4 Gallery and Wu Guanzhong Gallery) | Free
Jane Lee’s latest commission Nowhere extends the scope of Raw Canvas, her monumental painting installed in the staircase of the City Hall Wing. Nowhere’s location at the Level 4 Foyer, a transitional space, invites visitors to pause and step onto a reflective platform to linger upon a bench that features the same painterly treatment as Raw Canvas. In the surrounding mirror-tiled wall, they can glance upon a shimmering but fragmented reflection of Raw Canvas and themselves.
About National Gallery Singapore
National Gallery Singapore is a leading visual arts institution which oversees the world’s largest public collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian modern art. Situated at the birthplace of modern Singapore, in the heart of the Civic District, the Gallery is housed in two national monuments – City Hall and former Supreme Court – that have been beautifully restored and transformed into this exciting 64,000 square metres venue.
