As Singapore Art Week (SAW) turns fourteen, the city-state is once again poised to transform into a sprawling canvas for contemporary art. From 22 to 31 January 2026, more than a hundred programmes, ranging from international exhibitions and art fairs to experimental tech collaborations and public installations—will ignite the island’s museums, galleries, and streets.

Organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SAW has evolved into one of Asia’s most significant visual arts seasons, a moment when the local and regional art worlds converge to exchange ideas, foster collaborations, and showcase the vibrancy of Southeast Asia’s creative pulse.

“We’ve become the place where everyone wants to be,” says Tay Tong, Director of the Arts Ecosystem Group (Visual Arts) at NAC. “When you think about it, we started back in 2013 with maybe only sixty programmes. Now we have more than 120. It’s quite something. Singapore Art Week has turned into this incredible annual reunion that brings creative minds from Singapore, the region, and beyond.”

If previous editions hinted at Singapore’s role as a regional hub, SAW 2026 makes that ambition unmistakable. This year’s programme places Southeast Asia firmly at the centre of the conversation.

Among the highlights is Wan Hai Hotel: Singapore Strait (translated as “Circumnavigating the Sea”), a collaboration between ART SG and Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum, curated by X Zhu-Nowell. Exclusively featuring Southeast Asian artists, the exhibition will transform the lobby of The Warehouse Hotel into an immersive environment that melds hospitality, film, and performance.

Meanwhile, Art Outreach presents Digging Stars, the Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama’s Southeast Asian debut, a poetic meditation on labour, trade, and memory. Regional perspectives continue through NAC-commissioned shows such as Isang Dipang Langit: Fragments of Memory, Fields of Now, featuring ten contemporary Filipino artists exploring memory and identity, and chapalang, co-curated by Gunalan Nadarajan and Roopesh Sitharan, which examines art and technology through a Southeast Asian lens.

“Southeast Asia takes centre stage,” Tay emphasises. “This is our moment to celebrate the region’s voices, its artists, curators, and thinkers. Singapore is the meeting point, the gateway for artistic exchange.

The 2026 edition also leans decisively into the intersection of art and technology, blurring the boundaries between the digital and the tangible. Projects such as Ground Loops, presented by Feelers in collaboration with the School for Poetic Computation (New York), explore coding and hardware as poetic tools. Curator Debbie Ding’s Reworlding reimagines virtual space through the perspectives of Asian women artists, questioning power and memory in the digital realm.

Elsewhere, the 6th VH Award by Hyundai Motor Group returns with five media art commissions, while Gardens by the Bay’s new IMBA Theatre debuts two immersive blockbusters: David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not Smaller and Further Away) and Botero in Singapore, the latter featuring monumental sculptures and an immersive experience exclusive to Southeast Asia.

“SAW is where art meets the future,” Tay notes. “You’ll see works that challenge what art can be: immersive, digital, participatory. It’s like stepping into tomorrow’s art world today.”

If there is one theme that threads through Tay’s vision, it is collaboration. “At NAC, we see ourselves as the stage crew, not the stars,” he says. “About 80% of what happens during Singapore Art Week comes directly from the visual arts community. Our role is to provide the framework and timing for all these independent energies to align and amplify each other.”

This ecosystem-building approach has given rise to partnerships that extend across the island. At Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Gajah Gallery marks its 30th anniversary with 30 Years of Gajah: A Retrospective, while The Private Museum presents Human Being Human, drawing from the collections of John Chia and Cheryl Loh. Tanoto Art Foundation’s debut exhibition showcases 23 international artists exploring presence and the body.

Major fairs ART SG and S.E.A. Focus will also share the Sands Expo and Convention Centre for the first time, offering a unified journey through global and regional presentations. “This collaboration brings together international and Southeast Asian perspectives in one seamless experience,” notes Tay. “It’s a convergence of worlds.”

Beyond the white cube, SAW’s strength lies in making art accessible to everyone. Light to Night Singapore, celebrating its tenth edition at National Gallery Singapore, extends across four weekends under the theme The Power in Us, inviting audiences to co-create and interact with art across the Civic District.

Meanwhile, public art initiatives such as Next Stop: Together!—a collaboration with ART:DIS and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority—bring tactile artworks to MRT stations and even a roving Art Bus. At Moonstone Lane, OH! Open House leads visitors through a decommissioned factory with Everything Changes, Everything Stays the Same, while Gardens by the Bay and STB launch Art in the City, new art trails connecting the Civic District to Marina Bay.

“Whether you’re an artist, a collector, a curator, or simply someone who loves discovering something new, SAW has something waiting for you,” Tay says. “It’s ten days when art truly takes over Singapore.”

SAW 2026 also deepens its role as a platform for critical dialogue. The SAW Forum 2026, themed FORCE•FIELDS, will feature international voices including Claire Bishop and Adriano Pedrosa, alongside forums and symposiums by institutions such as STPI and Art Outreach.

“Discourse is an essential part of the visual arts ecosystem,” says Tay. “These conversations shape how we think about art’s place in society, and how artists influence the systems we live in.”

Fourteen years since its inception, Singapore Art Week continues to embody the creative energy of a city in motion—dynamic, porous, and deeply interconnected. “This is your show,” Tay reminds the arts community. “Without you, there would be no Singapore Art Week. The passion of our artists, curators, and institutions keeps the scene alive—and keeps us all inspired.”

As the region’s art world descends on Singapore once again, SAW 2026 offers not just a showcase, but a snapshot of a cultural ecosystem finding new ways to grow, connect, and imagine futures together.

SAW 2026 runs from 22nd to 31st Janaury 2026. More information available here

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