The Private Museum is pleased to present As One Thing Flows To Another, curated by guest curator Ng Hui Hsien. The exhibition reimagines culture, heritage, and traditions in contemporary contexts—connecting an expansive range of artistic forms through multidisciplinary collaborations. It explores the works of eight visual artists, and features special collaborations with leading Singaporean music charity, The TENG Company as well as Photographer and Author, Dr Chua Yang, daughter of Cultural Medallion recipient Chua Mia Tee. The exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of The TENG Company and the launch of the second book in the Women Inspiring Women series by Dr Chua Yang.
As One Thing Flows To Another explores the eight graces within Chinese culture: music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea. Each of these elements carries a long history and profound philosophies in Chinese culture, evoking images of leisure, serenity, and refinement. Historically, they served as cultural capital, conferring status on practitioners within the realm of the literati. During ancient China, the term “six arts” developed to encapsulate some of these elements, and later, the term “four arts” emerged. In more recent times, the umbrella term “eight graces” is used.
Such observations highlight the creative evolution of language and culture. Embracing the idea of change and departing from a historical understanding, As One Thing Flows To Another reimagines the eight graces in our contemporary context, drawing inspiration from their modern associations. In this exhibition, artworks intertwine and diverge in their characteristics, forming loose and free connections that weave together broad themes of nature, everyday life, and nationhood in contemporary times.
As One Thing Flows To Another invites visitors to experience moments of inspiration, humour, and contemplation, aiming to foster a renewed appreciation for the fluidity of cultural elements and the bending of conventions that shape our world.
The exhibition will be run from 10 August to 22 September 2024.
Download our exhibition leaflet for more information here.
Download our exhibition press release here.
The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee. The exhibition is a special collaboration between artist, collector and space, locating itself in two spaces with a main exhibition and special showcase happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.
Alongside a selection of past works from The Teng Collection, a new body of works will also be exhibited, building upon Justin Lee’s continuous contemplations on his identity as an artist and member of civil society. The artist employs visual and cultural references to provide social commentary on the perennial issues of consumerism and individualism, which in today’s digital age of instant gratifications and everyday glorifications become exponentially magnified.
Composed of paintings, text-based artefacts, performance and interactive art installation, the exhibition confronts its audience not only with the ceaseless forces of rapid globalisation and hyper digitalisation, but also challenges them to examine their individual complicity in glorifying and immortalising one’s self in the everyday.
Through this special collaboration, TPM expands beyond its scope as a home for private collectors by merging its artist and collector platforms to present the interconnectedness and intimate relationships that form between artists, collectors, art spaces, and their audiences.
Featuring Justin Lee’s monumental installations from The Teng Collection, the one-week special showcase reflects the artist’s expanding oeuvre that explores the themes of identity and socio-cultural norms in Singapore across a variety of mediums. The showcase forms part of the exhibition I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee, happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.
In conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2020, The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present Emerging: Collecting Singapore Contemporary – Selections from the DUO Collection. As part of TPM’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the museum revisits its foundation of bridging the private and the public; this exhibition is the first in a series of five featuring an array of private collections in Singapore.
The DUO, whose collectors prefer to remain anonymous, started building their collection five years ago with a focus to support emerging artists in Singapore and Southeast Asia, though they have been collecting widely for more than a decade.
Emerging is the inaugural showcase of selected works collected in the past five years featuring 16 Singapore-based artists. These works reflect some of Singapore’s emerging urgencies in recent years by responding to themes of identity, migration, urbanisation, the environment, places and spaces. The exhibition seeks not only to stimulate new conversations on Singapore contemporary art through the lens of private collectors, but also to expand on their role in the art eco-system as imperative patrons of the arts.