SINGAPORE – The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) has unveiled its highly anticipated Singapore Biennale 2025 (SB2025), featuring more than 80 artists from Singapore and across the globe. Commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore (NAC) and organised by SAM, the eighth edition of the Biennale invites audiences to rediscover Singapore through contemporary art, fostering reflection on urban life, social histories, and collective futures. Presented as part of Singapore’s SG60 celebrations, SB2025 is anchored by the theme ‘pure intention’, exploring how art reframes everyday experiences and prompts reconsideration of the spaces and communities that shape our lives.
David Neo, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, said, “SB2025 presents an opportunity for Singaporeans and our international visitors to understand and appreciate Singapore at SG60 through the lens of contemporary art. Arts play a vital role in building a connected society. At SB2025, Singaporeans will get to explore and enjoy the arts right where they live, work and play.”
This edition features over 100 artworks, including more than 30 new commissions, spanning media from installation and performance to film and interactive experiences. Participating artists hail from Argentina, Australia, Germany, India, South Korea, Türkiye, the United States, and Southeast Asia. Curators Duncan Bass, Hsu Fang-Tze, Ong Puay Khim, and Selene Yap, alongside contributors from Singapore and abroad, frame the Biennale’s exploration of the city’s evolving architectural, social, and cultural landscape, connecting local realities with global narratives.
SB2025 seeks to illuminate the ordinary, encouraging audiences to engage with art in unexpected contexts from pre-colonial and colonial landmarks to shopping malls, housing estates, and urban greenspaces. Key locations include Rail Corridor South, Wessex Estate, Tanglin Halt, Civic District, Orchard, and SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Roving projects across the city further encourage spontaneous artistic discovery, inviting audiences to witness and participate in the creative reimagining of daily life.
The Biennale foregrounds the histories embedded in Singapore’s landscapes. The 24-kilometre Rail Corridor, a former commercial railway and present-day green trail, becomes a site for installations by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) and Guo-Liang Tan (Singapore), while Emily Floyd (Australia) transforms Wessex Estate with her vibrant Field Library series. Tanglin Halt hosts Joo Choon Lin’s (Singapore) immersive performance, challenging perceptions of movement and activity in everyday settings.
In Singapore’s Civic District, works explore the histories of communities and their labour. Gala Porras-Kim (Colombia/USA/UK) celebrates the Sunday gatherings of migrant workers, while Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s (Vietnam/USA) Temple installation on the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden invites audiences to participate in a healing soundscape using materials from defused ordnance in central Vietnam. Kapwani Kiwanga (Canada/France) commemorates Rwanda’s independence with Flowers for Africa: Rwanda, a living monument of fresh foliage. The Asian Film Archive marks its 20th anniversary with newly commissioned installations and an experimental film programme exploring loss, decay, and cultural resurgence.
SB2025 highlights Singapore’s strata titled malls, such as Lucky Plaza and Far East Shopping Centre, as sites of cultural negotiation and community. Eisa Jocson (Philippines) collaborates with Filipino domestic workers through karaoke-based commissions, while Tan Pin Pin (Singapore) reflects on the interplay of Singapore’s past, present, and future. Multimedia installations, including Riar Rizaldi’s Mirage: Agape (Indonesia) and PRIMAL INSTINCT by Hothouse (Singapore), blur boundaries between dream and reality, science and spirituality.
At Tanjong Pagar Distripark, SB2025 juxtaposes Singapore’s National Collection with contemporary practices, creating conversations across time. Pierre Huyghe’s (France/Chile) Offspring transforms light, smoke, and algorithmic scores into unique experiences for each visitor, while Hyphen (Indonesia) reanimates historical dioramas, questioning the political narratives embedded in these works. Pop-up projects, such as Akira Takayama/Port B’s (Japan) board game initiative with NUS Architecture students, extend the Biennale into public libraries and community spaces, further integrating art into everyday life.
SB2025 runs from 31 October 2025 to 29 March 2026. While admission to SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark requires tickets (SGD15 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, SGD25 for tourists and foreign residents) all other public venues are free and open to all.
