Berlin-based Singaporean artist Ming Wong premiered a new film, *Dance of the Sun on the Water | Saltatio Solis in Aqua*, at London's National Gallery. The work, created during a residency, reimagines Saint Sebastian as a queer, shape-shifting figure, with Asian performers of multiple genders enacting the martyrdom amidst the museum's collection of historical paintings of the saint.
The Bowers Museum in California is set to open "World of the Terracotta Warriors" on May 24, bringing together 110 newly discovered archaeological treasures from Shaanxi, China, including Terracotta Warriors, bronze vessels, chariot regalia, and jade and gold artifacts. The exhibition, curated by Tianlong Jiao, expands beyond the famed terracotta army to showcase decades of archaeological research across Shaanxi, highlighting social and cultural changes from about 2300 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E., with finds from sites like Shimao and Zhaigou.
National Gallery Singapore has opened its first R18 exhibition, 'Passion Is Volcanic: Desire In South-east Asian Art', featuring around 60% of works from the national collection, many shown for the first time, alongside regional loans. The show includes a 14th-15th century tantric Buddhist sculpture of kissing buddhas, a pastel painting by pioneering gay Singaporean artist Tan Peng, Liu Kang's 1953 painting 'Scene In Bali', and long-exposure photography by Lavender Chang originally commissioned for a Viagra campaign. Co-curators Adele Tan and Kathleen Ditzig contextualize the exhibition with pre-modern works to demonstrate that artists' interest in the body, desire, and sex is enduring in Asia.
Thai artist Torlarp “Hern” Larpjaroensook creates immersive sci-fi sculptures and installations using found and ready-made objects. His recent work 'Cosmos of Nostalgia' was displayed at the NTU Museum in Singapore from January to April 2026, part of a campus-wide exhibition featuring three Southeast Asian artists. Earlier notable works include 'U.S.O. – Unidentified Standing Object' (2018) at Subhashok The Arts Centre in Bangkok and 'Spiritual Spaceship' (2018) at the Bangkok Art Biennale, which explored the contrast between modern technology and traditional Thai spirituality.
This article from The Straits Times, dated October 3, highlights a series of cultural events in Singapore during the first week of October. It details a literary conference hosted by Nanyang Technological University's English department from October 3 to 5, featuring public talks by notable writers including Singaporean author Amanda Lee Koe, Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng, graphic novelist Sonny Liew, and American poet Alice Lyons. The article also covers a new dining theatre experience called 'Rasa' at Dempsey, which combines 12th-century Sanskrit poetry, bharatanatyam dance, live Carnatic music, and a curated vegetarian menu. Additionally, it announces an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, organized by Lianhe Zaobao and Qiu Zhai Art Studio, celebrating the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China, featuring 368 works by Singaporean and Chinese artists.