SINGAPORE – As Singapore celebrates its 60th year of independence in 2025, National Gallery Singapore commemorates this milestone alongside its own 10th anniversary with a bold and timely reimagining of how the nation’s art history is told.
Titled Singapore Stories: Pathways and Detours in Art, this long-term exhibition is the first major overhaul of the DBS Singapore Gallery since the museum’s opening in 2015. With over 400 artworks and artifacts on display, the exhibition rethinks the country’s artistic legacy not as a linear narrative, but as a rich tapestry of community and experimentation.
“This exhibition speaks to who we are — not just as a cultural institution from Singapore, but as a society,” says Dr Eugene Tan, Chief Executive Officer and Director of National Gallery Singapore. “By presenting a more inclusive, nuanced, and multi-perspectival account of Singapore’s art, Singapore Stories affirms that art is not merely a mirror of progress, but a record of detours, negotiations, and deeply personal choices. It offers all visitors a richer way of understanding where we have been — and where we might be headed. In doing so, we continue to deepen public engagement with the nation’s art and broaden representation, ensuring that more Singaporeans can see themselves in our shared stories.”
Spanning two centuries, the exhibition navigates Singapore’s art history across themes such as community, urbanisation, identity, modernity and the persistent reinvention of form. Unfolding across newly configured spaces on the Gallery’s City Hall Wing second floor, the show resituates iconic names like Cheong Soo Pieng, Georgette Chen, and Ng Eng Teng alongside lesser-known figures, collectives, and cross-disciplinary artists who have shaped and reshaped Singapore’s creative landscape.
At its core, Singapore Stories: Pathways and Detours in Art is not just an exhibition. It is a national statement – one that expands representation and inclusivity, and reflects Singapore’s ever evolving cultural identity. In line with SG60, this rehang makes room for more stories some fragmentary, some forgotten, all vital.
The full exhibition opens on July 18, 2025. Admission is free for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents.
For more information, visit nationalgallery.sg/SingaporeStories
