If you’ve watched an Olympic ceremony or a Super Bowl halftime show and wondered who dreamt up the stage, there’s a good chance the answer is Es Devlin. The British artist and designer opens the Southeast Asian premiere of her major retrospective at ArtScience Museum from 23 January to 10 August 2027, and tickets go on sale from mid-December 2026.
That gives you about a month to round up the friends who’ll want to come along, which matters because this show is built around experiencing art together.
According to ArtScience Museum, the Es Devlin exhibition brings together nine monumental installations and immersive environments spanning three decades of her work. It’s a key anchor of Singapore Art Week 2027. The museum describes a show made of sculpture, light, sound and film, where the line between artwork, stage and audience dissolves and visitors become part of the piece. For anyone who usually drifts past framed paintings in a gallery, that promise of walking into the work is the hook.
You’ve Seen Her Work Already
Devlin, born in London in 1971, started out designing for theatre, dance, opera and music. Her credits include Olympic Ceremonies for London 2012 and Rio 2016, Super Bowl halftime shows in 2021 and 2022, and huge illuminated stage sculptures for stadium concerts with some of the world’s most celebrated musicians. Her stage designs have filled the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre in London, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The trophy shelf runs long: three Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, an Ivor Novello Award, the London Design Medal, and a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire). In 2020, she became the first female architect of the UK Pavilion at a World Expo. She’s a Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at the University of Oxford as well.
Here’s the funny part: millions of people have stared at her sets on a TV screen or from a stadium seat without ever learning her name. This retrospective is the chance to fix that, and to see the thinking behind the spectacle up close.
Strangers Become a “Temporary Society”
Devlin’s big idea, according to ArtScience Museum, is the audience as a “temporary society”. She uses that phrase for the little community that forms when people come together in one space to share a cultural experience. Think of the crowd at a concert who’ll never meet again but sang the same chorus for three minutes.
The exhibition moves between quieter works rooted in her own memories and inspirations and large installations conceived as collective encounters. The museum says the throughline is her interest in how we see, remember and connect with one another.
That’s why this one’s worth planning as a group outing rather than a solo wander. The whole premise works better when there are other people in the room with you.
Two Works Making Their Asia Debut
ArtScience Museum says the Singapore edition takes on a character of its own. Two works, National Portrait and Memory Palace, are making their Asia debuts here, according to the museum.
Memory Palace dates back to 2019, when it was shown at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in London. Press images from that showing depict a white architectural sphere ringed by miniature city models, with figures in black suits standing and suspended inside it.
Singapore’s presentation arrives while Devlin is having a huge couple of years. According to her profile, major retrospectives of her practice are on view at London’s Design Museum, Casa Bradesco in São Paulo, Futura Seoul, and Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney, following her 2023 retrospective at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Catching her here means skipping the long-haul flight. Your wallet says thanks!
Built Around That Lotus Building
ArtScience Museum’s petal-shaped building is one of the most recognisable shapes on Singapore’s skyline, and Devlin seems excited to work with it. “It’s a profound privilege to be invited to share my practice with audiences in Singapore and to respond to the extraordinary geometry of ArtScience Museum.”
The museum confirms the works in the Singapore show respond to its distinctive architecture, offering new ways to experience her practice. So if you’ve seen her pieces elsewhere, expect them to sit differently in this building.
Angelita Teo, Vice President of Attractions at Marina Bay Sands, framed the show as a look “beyond the spectacle at the curiosity, ideas and craft behind her practice”. That’s the angle that should win over the design students and theatre kids in your group chat.
Part of a Bigger Art Week Weekend
The exhibition is a highlight of Art Takes, the integrated resort’s programme of art, culture, fashion, design and food during Singapore Art Week 2027. Art Takes is anchored by ART SG, the contemporary art fair the organisers call Southeast Asia’s premier. If you caught our look at ART SG 2025, you’ll know the fair pulls a serious crowd to the bay each January.
Our pick for the smartest plan is pairing Devlin with an Art Week day out in late January, when the island’s whole art calendar is in full swing. With the show running until 10 August 2027, though, there’s no pressure to cram it into the opening weekend.
🗓️ Date: 23 January to 10 August 2027
📍 Location: ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands
🎟️ Tickets: On sale from mid-December 2026 at all Marina Bay Sands box offices and online
🎨 Part of: Art Takes, during Singapore Art Week 2027
✨ Asia debuts: National Portrait and Memory Palace
Nine installations, two Asia debuts, and the designer behind some of the biggest stages on the planet, all a short MRT ride away. When tickets go live in mid-December, grab enough for your whole crew and head to the Art Takes page on the Marina Bay Sands website for the latest details, because a “temporary society” needs members!
Photos and Visuals courtesy of Marina Bay Sands and Es Devlin (photography by Peter Mallet, Luke Hayes and Es Devlin).
Read us first on Google: add DANAMIC as a preferred source and our stories show up more in your Top Stories and AI results.
