Art What!: Singapore Biennale 2022 partners Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation for its artist residency programme

The Singapore Biennale 2022 (SB2022) announced its partnership with Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation. Through this partnership, the two institutions will conduct two artist residency programmes that will take place from 16 May 2022 to 31 July 2022 and September to November 2022 in Jordan and Singapore respectively this year. The presentations produced as part of the residency will be featured as part of the final event for SB2022. 

Inspired by the act of naming, SB2022 has been given a name for the first time – Natasha – to invite audiences to reevaluate their relationship with art and life. Organised by the Singapore Art Museum and commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore, this seventh edition is driven primarily by “process”, wherein the journey of art making is seen to be as important as the final creation of art. With this focus on the process, audiences are invited to find, form, and shape Natasha through a series of journeys, while art practitioners and researchers from all around the world contribute and present their artistic practice, going beyond borders, spaces and geography. 

The residencies are an extension of this collaborative experience, which serve as a platform for artists and audiences in multiple cities to be a part of the artistic development during the Biennale’s conceptualisation and duration. This reflects the phased approach that the public can expect from the Biennale in the next few months. 

This partnership with The Foundation aims to provide participating artists, in this case Singaporean artist Ong Kian Peng and Jordanian artist Raed Ibrahim, a chance to culturally immerse themselves as they develop their works in the home countries of Co-Artistic Directors, Ala Younis and June Yap who reside in Jordan and Singapore respectively. It draws from the individual experiences and practices of the Co-Artistic Directors, who have collectively shaped the Biennale to reflect their multinational collaboration and generate renewed perspectives of contemporary art from here.

Ala Younis, Co-Artistic Director of SB2022, said, “Singapore Biennale as a platform provides an opportunity to speak to present conditions and their effects. Our hope is to enable such conversations through the artworks as much as in dialogues, interactions and participation involving both artists and audiences. We are excited to announce our partnership with Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation and see what processes and journeys materialise from the residency programme. As part of SB2022, we will continue to work with partners across different continents and connect artistic practices with its place of origin through producing and curating art.”

Singapore Biennale will return for its seventh edition from 16th October 2022 to 19th March 2023 with a programme of activities starting in May 2022. A schedule of the activities and the comprehensive list of participating artists will be released later in 2022. More information available here