This January, photography steps out of the gallery and into the rhythm of the city as DECK expands its presence across shophouses, public underpasses and open grounds for Singapore Art Week 2026. Known for championing visual storytelling with a strong sense of community, DECK’s latest season invites audiences to slow down, look closely, and reconnect—with images, with place, and with one another.

From heritage shophouses to the bustling underpass at Guoco Midtown, DECK’s constellation of exhibitions unfolds like a walking trail through Singapore’s urban and emotional landscapes. It’s a reminder that photography doesn’t just belong on white walls but also lives where people pass, gather and remember.

At the heart of DECK’s programme is The People’s Graphic Score by artist and musician Song-Ming Ang. Part installation, part performance, the project transforms hundreds of public contributions, images, words and reflections, into a living, breathing archive. The work culminates in a multisensory installation and two live performance evenings at Shop–House by DECK, where sound and image merge through collective participation. More than an exhibition, it feels like a communal gathering, an invitation to witness creativity shaped by many hands.

Also on view is Monuments by Ryan Lim Zi Yi, a quietly powerful meditation on urban memory. Lim treats photographs as physical traces—fragments gathered from the streets and transformed into an alternative archive of loss and intimacy. His work asks viewers to consider what lingers in a city constantly under renewal, evoking nostalgia through subtle impressions rather than grand gestures.

Complementing this is Memory of the Wound by London-based Vietnamese artist Hiền Hoàng. Blending video, metal prints and organic materials, Hoàng’s installation reflects on landscapes as witnesses to history, holding beauty, destruction and care in equal measure. Rooted in recent fieldwork, the work feels both tender and haunting, offering a poetic pause amid the city’s pace.

Photography also finds a striking public presence at the Guoco Midtown Public Art Wall with In Our Own Frame, running from 8 January to 31 March 2026. This marks the third collaboration between DECK and GuocoLand, continuing a shared commitment to integrating art into everyday urban life.

Featuring works by 22 image-makers, including Donna Chiu and Kantaya New, the exhibition celebrates photography as a space of reflection within the mundane. Developed through a year-long journey led by Benjamin Tan and created in collaboration with Women in Street Singapore (WiSSG), the show foregrounds women photographers and their diverse perspectives. Personal vignettes sit alongside quietly observed moments, forming a collective portrait of resilience, introspection and creative agency.

At the National Library Building Plaza, Knots of Time: Marriage Then and Now turns its lens toward love and commitment. Veteran photographer Leong Ka Tai presents 41 portraits of public figures and everyday couples, revealing the tenderness, resilience and complexity behind long-shared lives.

Leong, who has photographed across continents for over four decades, is known for his deeply human approach to storytelling. Having naturalised as a Singapore citizen in 1995, his long-standing connection to the country adds another layer of intimacy to this body of work. The exhibition gently invites viewers to reflect on marriage not as a static institution, but as a living relationship shaped by time, culture and care.

DECK’s season also extends beyond borders through Book of Days, featuring works by Singaporean artist Alvin Ng created during Radical Residency 2025 in Calabria, Italy. Developed in collaboration with the Fotografia Calabria Festival and supported by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore, the exhibition forms part of a cultural exchange that continues back in Singapore.

In January 2026, Italian artist Camilla Marrese joins DECK as artist-in-residence with Thinking like an Island. Together, the two bodies of work explore how ancient knowledge and contemporary practice intersect, opening a thoughtful dialogue between Singapore and Italy.

At DECK Open Ground on Prinsep Street, Joanne Pang’s site-specific installation The Womb Never Forgets quietly anchors the season in lived experience. Situated beside the former Salmon’s Maternity Home, the work reflects on motherhood, care and the often unseen infrastructures that support life. It’s a contemplative piece that aligns closely with DECK’s ongoing commitment to art as a form of community memory.

As Singapore Art Week 2026 unfolds, DECK’s programmes offers a plethora of encounters with the arts. Whether you stumble upon photographs during your daily commute or make a deliberate visit to a shophouse gallery, these works ask you to pause, look, and consider the stories woven into the city around you.

More information about DECK’s exhibitions here Support the DECK Building Fund at https://build.deck.sg