Light to Night Singapore 2025 will run from 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025, celebrating the National Gallery Singapore’s 10th anniversary and SG60, and over 70 artworks and programmes.
Venue: National Gallery Singapore & various locations across the Civic District
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Admission: Free with paid programmes
Light to Night Singapore 2025
National Gallery Singapore is kicking off 2025 with the highly anticipated return of Light to Night Singapore, a marquee event of Singapore Art Week. From 17 January to 6 February 2025, festival-goers can look forward to over 70 artworks and programmes, including large-scale projection mappings, luminous art installations, and engaging public programmes that invite audiences of all ages to come together and connect as they engage with the arts.
With this year’s theme “Do You See Me?”, the festival coincides with the Gallery’s 10th anniversary and SG60. In this milestone year, Light to Night Singapore 2025 invites visitors to explore identity, diversity, and belonging through luminous installations and public events.
Light to Night Singapore 2025 is spearheaded by National Gallery Singapore, collaborating with Asian Civilisations Museum, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, The Arts House, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and CapitaLand.
Event Highlights
Art Skins on Monuments
- Spirit of Resilience by Chng Seok Tin, Animation by ARAFURA
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Facade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 8pm to 8.45pm, 9pm to 9.45pm, 10pm to 10.45pm & 11pm to midnight
Chng Seok Tin (1946–2019) was a pioneering Singaporean printmaker whose influence extends beyond printmaking to sculpture, painting, and music. Despite losing her vision after an accident in 1988, she continued to innovate across various mediums and push creative boundaries. This projection explores her artistic journey, showcasing how she navigated life's challenges while developing her practice. Featuring selected works, it illustrates Chng's resilience and her unique approach to art, capturing the essence of her multifaceted career.
- Imprinted Memory by Goh Beng Kwan, Animation by ARAFURA
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Facade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 8pm to 8.45pm, 9pm to 9.45pm, 10pm to 10.45pm & 11pm to midnight
As an artist, one explores the constant need to accept new identities that involve embracing changes in oneself, whether due to personal growth, life experiences, or societal influences. This animation chronicles Goh Beng Kwan’s monumental journey as an artist and depicts his experience in adapting to new surroundings, cultures, and challenges.
- The Perception of Beauty by Jaafar Latiff, Animation by ARAFURA
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Facade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 8pm to 8.45pm, 9pm to 9.45pm, 10pm to 10.45pm & 11pm to midnight
Jaafar Latiff (1937–2007) revolutionised batik art by blending traditional techniques with bold, abstract styles. His flowing strokes and experimental approach challenged conventions, pushing the boundaries of this traditional medium. The Perception of Beauty shines a spotlight on his influential career, focusing on his works from the 1970s to the 1990s. It traces his pioneering advances in batik, acrylic painting, and early computer art, showcasing his relentless pursuit of modernist innovation and his transformative impact on the art landscape in Singapore.
Travelling Through the Tropical Rainforest by Han Sai Por
Photo Credit: Han Sai Por
Venue: Padang
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to midnight
Travelling Through the Tropical Rainforest is made up of six colossal sculptural forms that resemble tropical palms. Set against the cityscape and constructed from manmade materials, the work is a commentary on the interplay between the natural and urban environments in a city’s evolving landscape. The work confronts audiences with a superscale magnification of what would otherwise go unnoticed, and also serves as nature’s invitation to be seen and coexist amidst Singapore’s urban landscape.
kālacakra (a clock for progress) by Kapilan Nadu
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Rotunda Library & Archive
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 5.30pm to 11pm (Fri to Sun) | 5.30pm to 7pm (Mon to Thu)
kālacakra (a clock for progress) engages audiences through an interactive experience that blends personal reflection with collective memory. Visitors participate in a quiz that generates unique artworks drawn from National Gallery Singapore's archives. These generated artworks are then added to the projection on the ceiling of the Gallery's Rotunda Library & Archive. The act of contributing their individual stories to a shared tapestry mirrors the festival's theme, “Do You See Me?”, by encouraging visitors to see themselves within the broader context of Singapore’s past, present, and future, while also celebrating visibility, identity and community.
Unsung Threads by School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA)
Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, Extension Wing Facade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 8.45pm to 9pm, 9.30pm to 9.45pm, 10.15pm to 10.30pm, 11pm to 11.15pm & 11.45pm to midnight
This year’s animation by students from the School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA) aims to tell the untold stories of workers who shaped Singapore’s history and contributed to its cultural richness. From coolies to hawkers and artists, these individuals contributed to the foundation for Singapore’s success.
The animation draws inspiration from artefacts at the Asian Civilisations Museum, such as patterns found in humble rattan food covers and fish motifs from dish artefacts. These elements serve as a central motif as the animation explores the intersection of art and history, depicting the evolution of activities along the Singapore River. The visuals celebrate the communal spirit and diverse communities that have come together around the river throughout Singapore's history.
Words by Song-Ming Ang
Venue: Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall, Façade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 9pm to 11.45pm with 15-minute intervals between
Through a combination of text, visuals, and sound, Song-Ming Ang’s artwork employs abstraction as a means of manifesting emotion as it relentlessly reflects everyday concerns.
Angin Cloud
Photo Credits: National Gallery Singapore
Angin Cloud by Vietnamese collective Art Labor imagines the rural industrialisation of a hillside in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The expansive multi-floor installation is presented at the street level of National Gallery Singapore’s Padang Atrium with suspended pillars reference farming structures used in peppercorn plantations and hammocks to recline in the basement.
Through The Looking Glass by Claire Teo
Photo Credit: Benedict Tay
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium Foyer
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun) & 10am to 7pm (Mon to Thu)
Through The Looking Glass is an immersive, multi-sensory installation that delves into the complex nature of human perception. Inspired by Claire Teo's experiences as a visually impaired individual, it is enriched by the voices of others with disabilities and underserved communities.
Through The Looking Glass aims to increase and deepen connections, promote inclusivity, and inspire deeper community dialogue about visibility and disability, leaving viewers with a new perspective on what it means to truly see and be seen.
Through The Looking Glass Performance
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium Foyer
Date & Time:
- 17 Jan 2025: 6.30pm & 8pm
- 18 Jan 2025: 6pm & 8pm
- 1 Feb 2025: 6pm & 8pm
How much can we truly understand someone else's story? How much of what we comprehend is shaped by our own lens?
Step into narratives that embody resilience, reflection, and reconnection with these live performances. The five artists will open a door into their world, sharing stories about love, loss, identity, and the longing to be seen and understood.
Every performance is a window into lives that have been shaped by unique challenges and triumphs, expressed through monologues that are deeply personal, yet universally resonant. Through these voices, we are reminded of the threads of humanity that connect us all.
How will you listen and perceive? Will you lean in to truly see, or walk away with only fragments?
Now You See Us? by TraseOne
Venue: The Arts House at the Old Parliament, Facade
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 8.30pm to 8.45pm, 9.15pm to 9.30pm, 10pm to 10.15pm, 10.45pm to 11pm & 11.30pm to midnight
TraseOne’s creation transforms the historic façade of The Arts House at the Old Parliament into a vibrant canvas, responding to the theme of Light to Night Singapore 2025, “Do You See Me?”.
Now You See Us? explores the core idea behind graffiti: visibility. It traces the evolution of Singapore’s graffiti scene, from its underground roots, to mainstream acceptance and its future potential. This dynamic multimedia projection blends intricate visuals with an accompanying soundscape, creating an immersive experience that offers a fresh perspective on Singapore’s artistic heritage.
Our Migrants’ Leisure
Photo Credit: Ministry of Manpower, Singapore
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, Auditorium Anteroom
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun), 10am – 7pm (Mon to Thu)
Explore the vibrant lives of our migrant community beyond their daily work in Our Migrants’ Leisure. Through more than 80 photos submitted by the migrant community and Singaporeans, this exhibition showcases the diverse ways our migrant community finds joy, builds bonds, and creates meaningful connections —both within their circles and with Singaporeans. From fishing and football to leading hikes, these stories encourage a deeper appreciation of our migrant community’s contributions to society. The showcase is held in collaboration with Ministry of Manpower, Singapore.
Return to Paradise (Play) by Beverley Ng
Venue: Funan, Level B2, Underground Pedestrian Link
Date: 17 Jan to 28 Feb 2025
Time: 5.30am to 12.30am
Return to Paradise (Play) at the Funan Underground Pedestrian Link showcases the 2000s as a time of carefree adventures and creativity, where arcades, theme parks, and pasar malams were the sites of unforgettable memories. Digital connections brought a new kind of play, with flip phones, MP3 players, and online chats letting us express ourselves in new ways. The spaces that dotted our landscape—like The Substation or the colourful Rochor HDBs—added to the fun, shaping our experiences with a spirit that still lingers today.
Return to Paradise by Beverley Ng
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing, Level 1, Padang Atrium Corridor
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun), 10am to 7pm (Mon to Thu)
Return to Paradise at the Gallery’s Padang Atrium corridor explores various channels of personal expression in the form of collage, combining layers of loose-leaf paper, Post-Its, old photographs and handwritten notes over schedules to evoke the repetitive rhythms of daily life. These small, intentional acts of creation carve out a space for joy, vulnerability and self-discovery, reflecting both the struggles and subtle pleasures found in embracing the present moment.
Art, as a form of play and escape, offers an opportunity for deeper and more authentic expression. Return to Paradise invites the viewer to embrace the quiet moments of rediscovery and the transformative power of creation in its most intimate form.
We’ll Make Heaven a Place on Earth by Arterly Obsessed
Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, ACM Green
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to midnight
Step into an immersive space that plays with light and perception! We’ll Make Heaven a Place on Earth is a sculptural installation inspired by the timeless beauty of pagodas and the pursuit of spiritual connection. From the outside, viewers will look through a two-way mirror, but once they step inside the installation, they are enveloped in infinite reflections of themselves.
This installation is part of CELESTIAL: Light to Night Singapore at ACM. Visit this link for more information.
Blades, Shrapnel by Ang Song Nian
Installation Display
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing, Level 1, Former Supreme Court Foyer
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun) & 10am to 7pm (Mon to Thu)
Roving Performances
Venue: Padang & Empress Lawn
Date: 17, 18, 24 & 25 Jan 2025
Time: 7.30pm
Blades, Shrapnel is an installation that comprises five laser-emitting grass cutters activated through a series of public performances that simulate synchronised grass-cutting activities. Grass-cutting is a common sight in Singapore, where vegetation is pruned and trimmed regularly in a methodical manner. The activity draws attention to the endless means of manipulation and control in our everyday interactions with nature, as well as the unseen efforts that exist alongside our manicured landscapes.
The roving performances will take place on 17, 18, 24 and 25 January 2025, 7.30pm at the Padang and Empress Lawn.
The grass cutters will be on display at the Gallery’s Former Supreme Court Foyer throughout the festival.
A Little Bead of Work by Kray Chen
Venue: The Arts House at the Old Parliament, Outdoor Lawn
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to midnight (Guided activation on Fri to Sun, 6pm to 10pm)
A Little Bead of Work invites visitors to explore themes of visibility, identity, and connection through the playful yet thoughtful act of stringing word bracelets with glow-in-the-dark alphabet beads. Inspired by Abraham Cruzvillegas’ Empty Lots, the work is set across illuminated planter beds on the lawn of The Arts House at the Old Parliament, encouraging reflection on how words and connections take shape, grow, and extend beyond the physical space.
This installation is part of Arts House Limited's VERSE—a celebration of Singapore literature—offering multi-sensory experiences that invite audiences to uncover fresh ways of seeing themselves and others through the power and beauty of words.
In Transit: Reflections and Shadows by Brandon Soo
Venue: Art Connector
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: All day
In today’s fast-paced world, people often move through public spaces on autopilot—absorbed in their phones or lost in routines. In Transit offers a deliberate disruption to this process. This light art installation transforms a public walkway into a site for phenomenological reflection and exploration. In line with Light to Night’s theme of exploring diverse identities within people, space, and place, In Transit encourages introspection and prompts a deeper understanding of one’s identity within the collective human experience.
Art X Social: Festival Street
Photo Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Venue: St Andrew’s Road
Date: 17, 18, 24, 25, 31 Jan & 1 Feb 2025
Time: 6pm to 12 midnight
With stalls offering a scrumptious array of food, games, plus dance and live music performances all through the night, this year’s Festival Street promises to be a feast for the senses!
The Living Room
Photo Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level 2, Singapore Courtyard
Date: 17 Jan to 6 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun), 10am – 7pm (Mon to Thu)
During Light to Night Singapore 2025, National Gallery Singapore's Courtyard will be reimagined as a new space known as The Living Room — a vibrant hub for reflection and exploration of the festival theme, "Do You See Me?". This inviting space will feature identity-driven activities, drop-in craft workshops, artist talks, DJ sets by EATMEPOPTART, a takeover by Kolektif, the Gallery's youth arm, and many other exciting offerings.
The Living Room will also be adorned with colourful, cardboard-based furniture and lightings, transforming the Singapore Courtyard into a lively and playful sanctuary filled with creativity and inspiration!
Scarce City by Rainshadow Studios, Elizabeth Mak
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing, Level B1, Concourse Gallery
Date: 11 Jan to 2 Feb 2025
Time: 10am to 11pm (Fri to Sun), 10am to 7pm (Mon to Thu)
Step into Scarce City, an immersive interactive experience that blends art, technology and thought-provoking gameplay. Set within a stunning 3D-printed environment made from recycled plastic, this innovative exhibition challenges perceptions of success through a light-based resource management game with a twist.
Premiering at Light to Night Singapore 2025, Scarce City isn’t just a game; it is a powerful exploration of our relationship to resources and what it means to have enough in a world obsessed with scarcity. For more information and ticketing, please visit this link.
Escaped the Art Produced by Strawberries Inc.
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, UOB Gallery
Date: 18, 19, 25, 26 Jan & 1, 2 Feb 2025
Time:
- 2pm to 2.30pm, 3.30pm to 4pm & 5pm to 5.30pm (Sat)
- 2pm to 2.30pm & 3.30pm to 4pm (Sun)
Something mysterious has happened at the National Gallery. A rupture in the space-time art continuum has allowed figures from the past to escape their paintings! Once confined to their canvases, these characters now roam free, eager to tell their stories and reveal their hidden identities. It’s up to you and Time Agent Z to seek them out, listen to their tales, and uncover the truth. Can you piece together which artwork they belong to and what they represent before time runs out? Step into a world where art comes to life to ask, "Do you see me?"
Gallery Gigs
Venue: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, Padang Atrium
Date: 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31 Jan & 1, 2 Feb 2025
Time:
- 9pm to 11pm (Fri)
- 7pm to 10.15pm (Sat & Sun)
Gallery Gigs presents live performances by interdisciplinary artists across music, theatre, and dance, all set against the dynamic backdrop of the Gallery's Padang Atrium. Join us as we delve into the theme, "Do You See Me?"
Together with our Resonates With Residency artists and local musicians, these artists explore identity, culture, and soundscapes, as well as offer fresh perspectives on how we can connect with art in its many forms!
For more information on Gallery Gigs, please visit this link.
Programmes at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay during Light to Night Singapore 2025
- Free Programmes: All Things New 2025
- 1 to 31 Jan 2025
Visit this link for more information.
- Breath of the Land《呼吸之地》
- 16 Jan to 6 Jul 2025
Visit the link for more information.
- Sriwana 70: Teras. Paksi. Titik. presented by Sriwana in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
- 31 Jan & 1 Feb 2025
Visit this link for more information.
- Sun Cell – Movements (In The Dark) Album Launch
- 1 Feb 2025
Visit this link for more information.
For latest information on Light to Night Singapore 2025 programmes, visit this link.
