Your Complete Guide to the Singapore Biennale 2025
Published on November 13, 2025 | by DSGN arcHive
Running now until 29 March 2026, the eighth edition of the Singapore Biennale unfolds across the city, offering fresh ways to see Singapore.
What does pure intention look like through the eyes of art? Singapore Biennale 2025 invites everyone to find out. Running now until 29 March 2026, this eighth edition unfolds across the city, offering fresh ways to see Singapore at SG60—not just as a place, but as a living story. Centered on the theme ‘Pure Intention’, this year’s Biennale invites audiences to rediscover Singapore through the transformative lens of art. With over 100 artworks, multi-location projects, and public programmes, visitors can experience Singapore’s creative pulse while reflecting on contemporary life and our collective future. Exploring the nation’s multifaceted realities within global narratives, SB2025 sparks dialogue through a distinctly Southeast Asian lens. Best of all, most venues are free and open to all, with only SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark requiring a ticket — so keep scrolling for all the deets!
5 Reasons Why Singapore Biennale 2025 Deserves a Spot on Your Art Calendar
1. Singapore Biennale 2025 Is a Signature SG60 Event
If there’s ever a time to dive into Singapore’s art scene, it’s now. As a signature SG60 event, the Singapore Biennale 2025 is set to pull out all the stops, celebrating creativity in full force. Anchored by the theme ‘Pure Intention’, this edition transforms art into a lens through which visitors can explore Singapore’s evolving urban and social fabric. Expect artists to engage deeply with the city’s shifting architectural, cultural, and community landscapes, revealing connections between Singaporean realities and global experiences.
2. Experience a Global Lineup of Artists
Get ready for a visual feast at the Singapore Biennale 2025. This edition brings together over 100 artworks, including more than 30 brand-new commissions that promise to surprise and inspire. Expect a vibrant mix of media—from installations and sculptures to film and performance art—each offering a fresh perspective on today’s world. Featuring an international lineup of artists from Singapore, the ASEAN region, and countries like Argentina, Australia, Germany, India, and South Korea, this year’s Biennale celebrates creativity that knows no borders.
3. Encounter Art in Unexpected Places
Audiences are in for a treat as the Singapore Biennale 2025 transforms the city into an open gallery. Expect to encounter art in the most unexpected places—from pre-colonial and colonial landmarks to shopping malls, historic housing estates, and lush greenspaces. Key locations include Rail Corridor South, Wessex Estate, Tanglin Halt, the Civic District, Orchard, and SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, among others. You never quite know where your next art encounter might surprise you, so keep scrolling for all the must-visit Biennale spots worth adding to your list.
a) Everyday places
If you’re planning to explore Singapore Biennale 2025, be sure to stop by the Rail Corridor — it’s one of the highlights this year. Once a busy railway line, it’s now a popular nature trek that transforms into a vibrant gallery during the Biennale. Along the way, you’ll find thought-provoking installations that bring art into everyday spaces. For instance, Adrian Wong’s “With Hate from Hong Kong” turns shophouse units into a nostalgic Hong Kong film set, complete with a cosy dining scene and video work. Meanwhile, Joo Choon Lin’s “The laugh laughs at the laugh, The song sings at the song” adds a burst of colour with a performance installation that mirrors life’s constant cycles of change. Together, these works make the Rail Corridor a must-visit — where history, nature, and art blend seamlessly into one inspiring experience.
Other artworks to look out for:
- Gate: 3 by Aya Rodriguez-Izumi (Japan/USA); Open field in Wessex Estate
- Video works by artists including Rizki Lazuardi (Indonesia), field-0 (China/United Kingdom), and Allora & Calzadilla (Puerto Rico); Blenheim Court
- The White Cave by Jesse Jones (Ireland); Blenheim Court
- Seaweed Story by ikkibawiKrrr (South Korea); Blenheim Court
Artworks launching in December:
- Kinetic outdoor solar-activated installation ‘Two Who Remember the Sea’ by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) and Guo-Liang Tan (Singapore)
- Library installation ‘Field Library’ by Artist Emily Floyd (Australia)
b) Monuments
Take a walk through time at the Civic District, one of the must-visit spots at Singapore Biennale 2025. This historic area will be home to captivating artworks that explore the layered histories of the communities that helped shape nations as we know them today. Some key locations within the Civic District to check out are listed below…
Fort Canning Park
Start at Raffles House Lawn, where Ayesha Singh’s (India) “Continuous Coexistences” (Singapore) turns an architectural line drawing into a striking, larger-than-life outdoor sculpture. Then, make your way to lololol’s “Light Keeper” (2025) — an installation inspired by the lighthouse, exploring the beauty and complexity of wayfinding in our fast-changing technological world. Together, these works extend the site’s deep ties to maritime navigation and message encryption, transforming the park into a captivating journey of discovery and exploration.
Other artworks to look out for at Fort Canning:
- HNZF IV by Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork (USA), Inside Fort Gate
- Flowers for Africa: Rwanda by Kapwani Kiwanga (Canada/France)
National Gallery Singapore
One of our favourite art spaces, National Gallery Singapore, is set to impress once again with the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission: Temple by Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Vietnam/USA). This monumental installation invites visitors to be part of a healing soundscape, encouraging reflection on land, history, and conflict. Crafted from defused unexploded ordnance found in Vietnam’s Quảng Trị province, the work transforms remnants of war into a serene space for contemplation. We had the chance to experience this powerful piece ourselves—it’s truly a calming spot to pause and meditate. While you’re there, head to the third floor of the Supreme Court Foyer to see Earth Play by Seung-taek Lee (South Korea). A striking seven-metre PVC balloon painted as Earth that offers a playful yet thought-provoking way to view our planet from new perspectives.
c) Social Spaces
Head over to Orchard Road and see it in a whole new light. This year, Lucky Plaza and Far East Shopping Centre are being reimagined as creative hubs where music, technology, and imagination come together in surprising ways.
Lucky Plaza
Artist Eisa Jocson from the Philippines transforms a shop unit into a cosy Filipino living room for The Filipino Superwoman X H.O.M.E. Karaoke Living Room, celebrating resilience, community, and the joy of karaoke. Just a short stroll away, Singapore filmmaker Tan Pin Pin reimagines scenes from her films, weaving together footage of Inuka — Singapore’s first polar bear — with fast-paced dashcam clips. The result is a powerful reflection on the nation’s contrasting rhythms of captivity, speed, and progress.
Far East Shopping Centre
Over at Far East Shopping Centre, make time to check out entropy study by Yuri Pattison (Ireland/France), a fascinating work that blurs the line between art, technology, and imagination. Using repurposed Chinese architectural scale models paired with a quantum-generated sky animation titled cloud gazing (americium), the installation explores themes of speculation, prediction, and our constant human desire to foresee the future. It’s an immersive, thought-provoking experience that invites you to slow down, look closer, and reflect on how we try to make sense of an ever-changing world.
Raffles Girls’ School campus
This unique venue hosts projects that bridge scientific, historical, spiritual, and embodied knowledge, revealing how ideas and traditions are shared across generations. Step inside to see large-scale paintings by Kei Imazu (Japan/Indonesia) that blend myth, colonial maps, classical art, and archival imagery into richly layered works. Don’t miss the immersive video and film pieces by Diakron & Emil Rønn Andersen (Denmark) and Riar Rizaldi (Indonesia) — visually striking and deeply engaging. Beyond the buildings, the experience continues with PRIMAL INSTINCT, presented by Hothouse (Singapore) on the school field, featuring sculptural installations by Salad Dressing, Tini Aliman, and Elizabeth Gabrielle Lee. The perfect place to see how creativity, history, and curiosity meet in one dynamic space.
Other works to look out for at Raffles Girls’ School campus:
- Video on mimicry of nature by Angelica Mesiti (Australia/France)
- Film installation that explores how skills pass between generations by Young-jun Tak (South Korea/Germany)
- Sculptural video installation of skeleton animations by Özgür Kar (Türkiye/the Netherlands)
- Sculptural works, Serpent Vessel and Votive Spiral, by Brandon Tay (Singapore/China)
d) Enter SAM and See Tanjong Pagar Distripark Anew
From the reception foyer to the exhibition gallery, café, and surrounding spaces, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark offers a unique view of the complex interplay between history, technology, memory, and daily life.
Some highlights include CAMP’s (India) Metabolic Container — a 20-foot shipping container made from 400 boxes of everyday goods, representing trade from Batam to Singapore. Álvaro Urbano’s (Spain/Germany/France) stainless steel sculptural plants, Garden City (Orchidaceae), echo living orchids while evoking the histories of plantation agriculture and orchid diplomacy.
At SIP at SAM, RRD (Mexico) presents Gastrogeography: Stories from Mexico to Singapore. Through paintings, murals, and tableware, they transform everyday printed materials like cookbooks and street-food packaging to reveal surprising links between Mexican and Singaporean food cultures.
Other noteworthy works to look out for at SAM:
- Thermal Landscapes, painting by Cui Jie (China)
- Aeroplastics series by Ju Young Kim (South Korea/Germany)
- Filem-Filem-Filem, digital photographs in polaroid form by Ming Wong (Singapore/Germany)
4. Other Artful Experiences
Spread across different venues, these multi-location projects offer visitors explorations of art
through taste, sight, and interaction.
Unique Beverages
Huang Po-Chih’s (Taiwan) Momocha is a unique art-meets-food project, created in collaboration with Singaporean brand Moon Juice Kombucha. Made with spices, herbs, and crops from the artist’s hometown Xinpu, Hsinchu, Taiwan, each kombucha flavour tells a story of culture, agriculture, and memory.
⭐ Momocha is available in vending machines at National Gallery Singapore, Blenheim Court (20 Anderson Road), and over the counter at SIP at SAM — making it easy to enjoy this creative drink across the city.
Posters and Benches
Debbie Ding (Singapore) brings art to everyday commutes with Rules for the Expression of Architectural Desires. Her posters at MRT stations like Fort Canning, Harbourfront, and Orchard invite commuters to pause and think about the ideas and feelings that shape city life.
Meanwhile, Izat Arif (Malaysia) turns public spaces into art with terrazzo benches featuring text in Malay and English. Installed across Biennale sites including Blenheim Court, these benches serve as both seating and sculpture, encouraging visitors to reflect on their messages.
Public Programmes
As part of Singapore Biennale, SAM is offering a range of public programmes, from Curatorial Contributor Talks to Performance Activations and workshops. At the Engine Room, visitors can catch artist talks by Ahmet Öğüt, The Packet, and more. RRD (Red de Reproducción y Distribución) from Mexico is also hosting a hands-on workshop on the mimeograph, a versatile printing machine, exploring its history and contemporary uses.
5. Most Programmes are Free
The Biennale runs from now until 29 March 2026. Admission to SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark is ticketed at $15 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, and $25 for tourists and foreign residents.
More information, including full list of artists, artworks and programmes, is available at
www.singaporebiennale.org
And there you have it! A complete lowdown on what to expect at Singapore Biennale 2025. So block your calendars and let the Biennale give you everything with pure intention.
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About DSGN arcHive
DSGN arcHive is your exclusive key to unveiling the enigmatic essence of a city, all filtered through the prism of design. Far from the ordinary tourist paths. We reveal the city’s architectural marvels, urban intricacies, cultural tapestry, and eco-conscious revolutions that mold its distinctive soul. With us, you’re invited to savor the metropolis in an entirely chic and sophisticated light, a city that’s far more than what meets the eye.
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