Advertisement
Leaving to Thrive | A panel discussion with Erika Tan, Mintio & Zee ZunnurSat 26 Oct | 2pm | National Gallery Singapore, Level 5, Supreme Court Wing, Glass Room | Free, registration required: https://leavingtothrive.peatix.com/
-
“I work in a much more cyclic way than a linear way, I don’t think it’s a kind of question of progressing or getting better, it’s just a question of discovery and rediscovery. And it’s like travelling, you can go to a place once and when you go a second time you see totally different things, because you are different, and you’re looking for something different, you know. So, it always changes, and I think that’s the important thing, not to get stuck.”
– Kim Lim, interview with Cathy Courtney, 1995.
Perhaps reflecting the island’s cosmopolitanism and (post)coloniality, Singapore’s artists have for decades moved to the United Kingdom to advance their practice. These include eminent artists Teo Eng Seng and Tang Da Wu, who studied and lived in England from the 1960s and 1970s respectively. Less often remarked however is that one of the earliest artists from Singapore to have done so is the sculptor and printmaker Kim Lim.
Kim Lim left in 1954 for London and would eventually settle there; for her, leaving was like “having a cage opened”. Away from the societal and cultural constraints of her time, the UK undoubtedly provided the conditions for developing her practice, whether in terms of options for art school, exposure to an avant-garde artistic milieu or opportunities to exhibit her work. Yet in a sense Kim Lim has always been on the move. Though she was born in Singapore, as a child she spent formative years between Malacca and Penang; when based in the UK as an adult, she travelled constantly, seeking inspiration from ancient art and architecture in places like Greece, Egypt, Cambodia and China.
On the occasion of the exhibition "Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective", the panel discussion “Leaving to Thrive” brings together three artists who have spent time away from Singapore, mainly (though not exclusively) in the UK. Rather than recount Kim Lim’s biography, it adopts an oblique approach to understanding her identities, trajectories and motivations. Seeking resonances and departures, the panel probes what it means now for Singapore artists to leave and (maybe) return. Is it still necessary to leave, to thrive? When is leaving not departure, but a form of circling back?
-
About the Speakers
Born and educated in Singapore, Erika Tan moved to the UK to study anthropology, then filmmaking, and finally fine art. Her research-based practice evolved from an interest in received narratives, contested heritage, subjugated voices and the transnational movements of ideas, people and things; it responds to the unravelling of facts & fictions. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Jakarta Biennale and the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice, as well as institutions like National Gallery Singapore, Tate, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, ZKM – Centre for Art and Media, and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. She is also Reader in Contemporary Art Practice and MAFA Course Leader in Central Saint Martins.
Mintio seamlessly blends traditional lens-based techniques with avant-garde approaches. Transcending conventional boundaries of analogue photography, her work often takes the form of large-scale, immersive experiences and has been acquired by Google, Singapore Art Museum, and the US Department of State’s “Art in Embassies” programme. She has exhibited internationally, such as at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria, National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art (Seoul) and San Domenico Museum (Forlì, Italy). Mintio is also an educator and Co:Founder of Co:Creation Workshop, a social enterprise that provides creative programmes to schools, corporations and social organisations. She was the Founding Artistic Director of the Ketemu Project in Bali (2015 to 2019), establishing its "Artist in Residency" programme.
Zee Zunnur is a Singapore-born movement artist who was a long-time dancer with Hofesh Shechter Company, touring internationally as performer and teacher. As she threads through her practice in contemporary realms, she stays connected to her Malay heritage and training in Malay dance. She has performed and choreographed for T.H.E Dance Company, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ignition Dance Festival, da:ns Festival, Singapore Biennale and more. Presently based in Australia, Zee has worked with STRUT Dance, Co3 Australia, Mitch Harvey Company, WAAPA, Fremantle Biennale, James Vu Anh Pham, Juliet Burnett, Brooke Leeder, and Rachel Ogle. More recently she choreographed a work with Marrugeku for the Sydney Festival and Perth Festival 2024.
-
About the Exhibition
As part of National Gallery Singapore’s SG Artist series, "Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective" marks the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Singapore-born British artist Kim Lim. Once overlooked, this exhibition acknowledges Lim’s profound impact by tracing the evolution of her practice over four decades, highlighting her unique approach to Minimalism, influenced by material cultures across her travels.
Featuring key sculptures and prints spanning her career, along with maquettes, previously unseen photographs and archival materials, the exhibition reveals how Lim’s cultural in-betweenness shaped her artistic style and her resistance to the pressures of identity labels. Discover how she masterfully balanced space, light and rhythm through the power of suggestion and metaphor, creating works of profound subtlety and depth.
"Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective" runs from 27 September 2024 to 2 February 2025 at the National Gallery Singapore's Singtel Special Exhibition Galleries 2 & 3.
#NationalGallerySingapore #KimLim #TheSpaceBetween #ErikaTan #Mintio #ZeeZunnur
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1 St. Andrew’s Road, Singapore, Singapore 178957
Tickets