Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination…wait, no. The theme for Singapore Biennale 2025 is pure intentions, but as you’ll come to see, this title isn’t a claim of innocence. Rather, it’s more of a clue as to how the concepts of over 80 artists have materialised in more than a hundred artworks, and what informed their placement in some of the island’s most interesting spots.
Obviously, that means we can’t dive into every piece in exhaustive detail here, but that also means most of the exhibition’s surprises are still yours to uncover. And so for now, here are the most unmissable pieces of pure intention waiting at the eighth edition of the Singapore Biennale — from an antojito invasion to a kombucha trio, plus everything you can only spiritually savour in between.
Singapore Art Museum
Let’s start at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, where Gastrogeography: Stories from Mexico to Singapore is exhibited aptly at its in-house café. Described as a “Mexican street snacks takeover,” this eclectic mix of mediums by RRD explores the parallel histories of the two nations through depictions of food, sparking a rather digestible dialogue on their shared colonial legacies.
There’s a lot to look at here, both in terms of the artwork’s countless components (think still lifes, artisanal plates, and a gnarly corn sculpture) and the historical hub of a port it overlooks, but don’t let that distract you from the pieces inside the gallery that are just as worth your time.
In particular, keep your eyes peeled for Pierre Huyghe’s Offspring orchestration and Tristan Duke’s Glacial Optics photos — the former drawing from Huyghe’s journey north, the latter from Duke’s travels south. Together, they speak as paired glimpses of the poles at a moment when climate change threatens to erase them altogether, freezing in time a fleeting sliver of the natural world before it melts away.
Tanglin Halt
At Tanglin Halt, The laugh laughs at the laugh, The song sings at the song by local artist Joo Choon Lin awaits at Block 47 with a sprawling title — a sharp contrast to the foldable sculptures it describes. In fact, parts of these so-called “film objects” can also detach and recombine, which is why in capitalising on their modular nature, Joo will periodically adjust and extend these elements throughout the runtime of Singapore Biennale 2025.
Speaking of film, be sure to catch Adrian Wong’s With Hate from Hong Kong at Block 48, housed inside an elaborate dai pai dong set straight out of a martial-arts movie. The 20-minute video work reflects on many things, from Wong’s grandfather’s career as a film composer to the once-common practice of cobbling pre-shot footage into a coherent narrative, but to summarise, let’s just say the female protagonist kicks ass.
And now, while the iconic yet pesky household casebearer is hard to miss, Tan Zi Hao’s The Scale of One will definitely make sure that isn’t the (pun intended) case. As transformations of detritus that ironically become building blocks for the shelters of other creatures, this spotlighted cocoon reveals how even the smallest scraps of our waste can fractally sustain worlds, holding a mirror up to our profligate habits.
Civic District
At the same time, things are no less exciting in the heart of the Civic District at the National Gallery Singapore, where Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s Temple rings from its rooftop with the memories and materials of the Vietnam War. Equal parts haunting as it is healing, the installation’s various forms and sounds evoke both unexploded ordnance and spiritual sanctuaries, ultimately reincarnating remnants of conflict into chances for recovery.
This theme of peace is further carried on at the Supreme Court Foyer with Earth Play — a PVC balloon-sized replica of home, hand-painted by Seung-taek Lee based upon the earliest satellite images of our blue marble. Even till now, it remains as one of the first and most significant forms of eco-art, though whether it can also deliver the fabled overview effect is something you’ll need to experience first-hand.
Then, when it’s time to thaw from the gallery’s frigid temps, take a trek to Fort Canning Park and step through its former gate to meet Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork’s HNZF IV. Here, one of the artist’s signature Harsh Noise Zen Fountains stands in all its mangled glory, shifting its amplified sounds with you to echo parallels between the experiences of Okinawans, interred Japanese-Americans, and Singaporeans under Japanese occupation.
Orchard
Last but not least, over in Orchard, be sure to check out entropy study and cloud gazing (americium) by Yuri Pattison inside Far East Shopping Centre, whose pair of pieces work in tandem to resemble some sort of dystopian diorama. In the former installation, scale models purchased from Chinese real estate sales offices amid its property crisis come alive with Geiger counters, their windows lighting up randomly with each detection of radiation.
Meanwhile, the latter presents a simulated open sky that’s synchronised to the current time of our island, with random changes being added by a quantum random number generator that’s powered by the radioactive element in its title to link the mechanics so ingrained in our current systems with the ancient practice of cloud divination, thus reflecting humanity’s timeless desire to predict the future.
And if it’s more works about the future that you want, then you’ll be ecstatic to hear about Water Under The Bridge / A Bridge Under Water. Taking the form of a mid-2000s internet café, this exhibit by Sri Lankan collective The Packet surveys what happens when the past interrupts the future’s development, and how the optimism for the online world has curdled into dread. Plus, all of the works here sit together on one simple YouSurp page — letting you briefly relive a time when you went to the internet, instead of vice versa.
Singapore Biennale 2025: Pure Intentions
Now, that’s all our top picks across the Singapore Biennale 2025 locations…unless we told you there’s one project you can encounter at all four? That’s right — Huang Po-Chih’s Momocha, a series of three kombucha flavours, will fortunately be up for grabs at SAM’s café, National Gallery Singapore, Blenheim Court, and the former Raffles Girls’ School.
Developed in collaboration with local brand Moon Juice Kombucha, these teas explore cultural hybridisation by combining spices and herbs found in the artist’s hometown of Xinpu alongside economic crops once widely cultivated here. They’re also the perfect drink to keep you cool as you hop between the various art trails at each location, so go on, grab one and visit Singapore Biennale 2025 today!
🗓️Date: 31 October 2025 to 29 March 2026
📍Location: Various locations
💲Price: Admission ticket required for SAM, all other sites are free
⏰Time: Various times
Also, don’t forget to check out the Singapore Biennale on Instagram and its official website to be in the loop on all the latest happenings across each week of this jam-packed exhibit. There’s seriously so much more to see beyond what we’ve covered here, so go on and have a great time exploring.
Visuals Courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.
