Between Declarations and Dreams

Housed in the former Supreme Court building, the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery presents an exhibition on the art of Southeast Asia through shared artistic impulses across the region.

Starting in the 19th century, the history of Southeast Asian art is characterised by a continuous encounter with the new, inseparably linked to the region’s tumultuous social and political history.  The meaning and expression of art was constantly negotiated as artists of Southeast Asia sought to incorporate and reinvent local expressions and aesthetic traditions as they grappled with modernity.

The curatorial narrative explores four main themes places in a broadly chronological sequence, each one critically examining the shared artistic impulse of the region for each period:  Authority and Anxiety, Imagining Country and Self, Manifesting the Nation, and Re:Defining Art.

Between Declarations and Dreams is part of National Gallery Singapore’s long-term exhibitions, and will be open for viewing from 24 November 2015.