Singapore Biennale 2022: Embark on a Collective Journey with Natasha

The Singapore Biennale 2022 has been named Natasha and will take place from 16 October 2022 to 19 March 2023.

Venue: Multiple Locations
Dates: 16 Oct 2022 - 19 Mar 2023
Admission: from $15

The 7th Singapore Biennale 2022 (SB2022) or Natasha, organised by the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore (NAC), includes an exceptional line-up of over 50 artists and collaborators.

By naming the festival, it encourages fellow artists, collaborators, and audiences to re-discover ways of seeing and relating to the world, as they embrace intimacy and spontaneity towards the transformative potentials in life and relationships within it — from self to others, from human to non-human, from living to non-living and vice versa, and beyond.

Natasha Invites New Ways Of Gathering

Families can look forward to projects that create spaces for interaction, reflection and which invite public participation. “The Library of Unread Books” initiated by Heman Chong (Singapore) and Renée Staal (Netherlands / Singapore) will transform a retail unit into a reference library comprised of donated books belonging to individuals that remain unread. The books are accessible to anyone who visits the library, returning them to a common resource pool.

Valentina Desideri (Italy) and Denise Ferreira da Silva (Brazil) will bring their ongoing studio process to SB2022, which facilitates collaborative studying and experimenting with different tools for reading and healing within the exhibition space. Materials and reading tools are provided for the public to engage with, and the artists will also conduct workshops within the space.

Navigating Life With Natasha

A selection of works in SB2022 delve further into Natasha’s interests in drawing attention to and discussing the facets of life which connect or intersect with creating, writing, encoding and navigating each other and the world.

Artists such as Assem Hendawi (Egypt) draw perspectives from various disciplines to explore an artificial intelligence programme that aims to create a planned economy and manage infrastructural commons across Africa. Similarly, Kiraṇ Kumār’s (India) work looks at the life of pioneer computer scientist Alan Turing (1912–1954) through a piece of speculative history.

Offering different readings of histories, social practices and myths are works by artists such as Natasha Tontey (Indonesia) who will present a different interpretation of Minahasan society and ritual; Wu Mali (Taiwan) whose project researches stories arising from the locals of the Cijin region. In addition, Elina Waage Mikalsen (Norway) will explore the cultural meaning and narratives of fire in Sami traditions; and Doa Aly (Egypt) explores the space of excavation as an aesthetic and forensic encounter, where the fidelity of historical interpretation is put into question. 

Natasha Invites Renewed Experience Of Places

The invited works and interventions are presented in close conversations with a variety of environments across different places in Singapore. Among these sites is Tanjong Pagar Distripark (TPD) where SAM is located. TPD is situated in a historic port, where logistics and thousands of containers make the surrounding landscape. Natasha will present works, including many new commissions, on two levels in TPD, as well as at Sentosa Cove, before a ferry trip takes visitors to Lazarus Island and St John’s Island where the journey with Natasha continues.

Spaces such as Yan Kit Playfield, Regional Libraries, SAM Residencies, are also taken as Biennale venues, and will allow for everyday engagement with the general/unintended public. 

Dates & Ticketing

The main event for SB2022 will run from 16 October 2022 to 19 March 2023. Audiences can enjoy a two-for-one early bird ticket promotion from July to September (only available in pairs).

• Singaporeans / PRs: $15 (Standard), $10 (Concession)
• Others: $25 (Standard), $20 (Concession)