Shabbir Hussain Mustafa

Something New Must Turn Up is a series of six catalogues comparing the practices of artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore. Through their groundbreaking explorations of media, ranging from collage and printmaking to installation and digital art, these six artists actively expanded the boundaries of art. Each standalone catalogue traces the individual journeys that these artists undertook as they strove to be continuously “new.” By bringing together essays, interviews, full-coloured plates and archival material, the series offers a comparative perspective of how artists critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore. This series accompanies an exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore.

Earth Work, originally staged at the National Museum Art Gallery In 1980 by Singaporean artist Tang Da Wu, was one of the earliest exhibitions of land art in Singapore. Earth Work 1979, a restaging of selected works from the seminal 1980 exhibition, revisits Tang's then unparalleled usage of organic materials and public spaces. This catalogue delves deeper into Tang's practice and the circumstances of the creation of his earth works through a rich copmendium of essays, interviews, newspaper articles and never-before-seen photo-documentation.

Published to accompany National Gallery Singapore's inaugural exhibition Siapa Namu Kamu?, this catalogue presents a survey of Singapore art from the 19th century to the present, charting major themes across broad time periods. Over 400 works of art in a wide range of media are brought together to trace the ebb and flow of the history of Singapore art. Curatorial essays provide insight into the exhibition that considers the parameters of time and nation in relation to the history of art in Singapore.