Art: Singaporean artist Tang Kok Soo’s “A Big Flower” wins UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year Award 2026

From a field of repeated hearts and light to paintings exploring memory, social identity and the interconnectedness of life, this year’s UOB Painting of the Year winners reveal how Southeast Asian artists are expanding the possibilities of painting. A flower composed of countless tiny pink ‘hearts;, each radiating its own halo of light, has earned Singapore artist Tang Kok Soo both the 2026 UOB Southeast … Continue reading Art: Singaporean artist Tang Kok Soo’s “A Big Flower” wins UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year Award 2026

Art: No Straight Lines by The Independent People explores the intimacy of being seen

There is jam and butter beside the loaf of bread. Not a metaphorical pat of butter, not a painted image of butter, but quite literally, butter, set out with a butter knife beside a lampshade made from a loaf. It is a funny little arrangement, almost absurdly literal. It is also a rather good introduction to No Straight Lines, an exhibition that understands how much … Continue reading Art: No Straight Lines by The Independent People explores the intimacy of being seen

Art: Helutrans (Thailand) connects people and art with BAB Fringe’s Chiang Mai Artists’ Studios

Art has a way of bringing people together, crossing boundaries of place, experience and perspective. Through its work in art logistics and its new exhibition space in Thailand, Helutrans is exploring how the movement of art can become a meeting point between artists and the wider world. BANGKOK, THAILAND – A work of art begins somewhere: in a studio filled with unfinished ideas, beside a … Continue reading Art: Helutrans (Thailand) connects people and art with BAB Fringe’s Chiang Mai Artists’ Studios

Review: The Sammi Zhen Show – Love Cannot Wait

Drag legend Sammi Zhen’s debut live talk show is a reminder to live, laugh and love before it’s too late. After 27 years in Singapore’s Chinese drag scene, Sammi Zhen has earned the right to have the stage all to herself. A familiar face to those who frequent the clubs and events she has hosted over the years, she is something of a local legend, … Continue reading Review: The Sammi Zhen Show – Love Cannot Wait

Maybank Singapore turns scam phrases into art with new campaign ‘The Most Expensive Words’

From promises of risk-free returns to urgent messages supposedly sent by the bank, familiar phrases take on a different meaning in a calligraphy exhibition that invites visitors to look closer, think twice and recognise the real cost of scams. Some words are easy to overlook. A message from someone claiming to be a bank officer, an old acquaintance asking for help, or an investment opportunity … Continue reading Maybank Singapore turns scam phrases into art with new campaign ‘The Most Expensive Words’

Bangkok Art Biennale 2026: Dr. Apinan Poshyananda on finding the grey areas through art

As the Bangkok Art Biennale returns for its fifth edition, its artistic director discusses the tensions behind Angels & Mara, the challenges of bringing contemporary art into unexpected spaces, and how a festival that began in 2018 has learned to survive and grow. BANGKOK, THAILAND – Returning from 29 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, the Bangkok Art Biennale will once again transform the Thai … Continue reading Bangkok Art Biennale 2026: Dr. Apinan Poshyananda on finding the grey areas through art

Bangkok Art Biennale 2026: Artists Naraphat Sakarthornsap and Mary Pakinee explore the in-betweens of beauty and memory, and the stories we tell

Thai artists Naraphat Sakarthornsap and Mary Pakinee approach art from different directions, but both are interested in what happens when personal experiences meet the histories, expectations and interpretations of others. BANGKOK, THAILAND – Flowers are rarely neutral objects in the work of Thai artists Naraphat Sakarthornsap and Mary Pakinee. Familiar, delicate and immediately appealing, they can also carry memories, cultural associations and meanings that are … Continue reading Bangkok Art Biennale 2026: Artists Naraphat Sakarthornsap and Mary Pakinee explore the in-betweens of beauty and memory, and the stories we tell

Preview: How To Be A Kid by Gateway Arts

Gateway Arts’ How To Be A Kid follows a 12-year-old girl who tries to hold her grieving family together, inviting children and adults to explore loss, difficult emotions and the importance of leaning on one another. When a family experiences a loss, everyone grieves differently. Some may retreat into silence, others may try to keep life running as normally as possible, while children might struggle … Continue reading Preview: How To Be A Kid by Gateway Arts

★★★★★ Dance Review: Sounding Light 定光 by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Cloud Gate invites us to pause and appreciate the little things all around us, and to rediscover the wonder and beauty of simply being alive. Duration: 60 minutes What if the world has never been quiet, but we have simply forgotten how to listen? In Sounding Light, which played last weekend as part of the 2026 edition of the Esplanade’s da:ns focus: Connect Asia Now … Continue reading ★★★★★ Dance Review: Sounding Light 定光 by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Review: Still Lives – Singapore by Daniel Kok and Luke George feat. RUDRA

Bodies, instruments and histories held in stasis, Still Lives: Singapore turns the act of tying into a meditation on care, memory and the communities that gather around them. Duration: ~105 minutes What does it mean to watch a metal band that cannot play its instruments, in a theatre where nobody is quite required to sit still? In Still Lives: Singapore, four members of pioneering Vedic … Continue reading Review: Still Lives – Singapore by Daniel Kok and Luke George feat. RUDRA