[DROP-IN ACTIVITY] This Little Red Dot…

Time: 1PM – 5PM

Venue: Level 1, Ticketing Reception, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

The sixth edition of This Little Red Dot… embraces the theme “My Everyday in Singapore” to celebrate the nation’s 60th birthday. Organised by Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singaporeans are invited to reflect on what Singapore means to them and share unique experiences in their everyday lives.

Get your hands on the This Little Red Dot… artwork template this SAMily Funday, create artwork that reflects what you cherish about our city and be part of this collective expression!

[TOUR] Docent Tour

Time: 2PM – 3PM

Venue: Gather outside Level 1, Gallery 1

Free (General admission fees to exhibitions apply.)

Let our docents take you on guided tours of SAM's latest exhibitions.

[DROP-IN ACTIVITY] Bloom Your Own Yarn Flower!

Time: 1PM – 5PM

Venue: Level 1, The Engine Room

Inspired by Imhathai Suwatthanasilp's The Flower Field, this drop-in activity invites participants to create their tactile yarn flowers. With simple, repetitive motions, participants will loop and weave yarn into a beautiful bloom, ready to be worn as a badge or made into a keyring.

Banner Image: Detail view of Imhathai Suwatthanasilp’s ‘The Flower Field’ (2012) as part of ‘Everyday Practices’ at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

[DROP-IN ACTIVITY] Fragmented Narratives

Time: 10AM – 7PM

Venue: Level 1, The Engine Room

Inspired by Heman Chong’s The Straits Times series, Fragmented Narratives is a hands-on newspaper collage activity that encourages participants to critically explore how images and text shape meaning in the news. 

As we experiment with newspaper clippings, challenging perspectives and crafting entirely new fictional realities, add your creation to the others as part of a larger collective work!

[PERFORMANCE] The Library of Unread Books

Time: 10AM – 7PM

Venue: Level 1

The Library of Unread Books (2016-Present)
By Heman Chong in collaboration with Renée Staal

We are surrounded by books we have purchased or been given, but have not read. We feel it is such a waste that these books go on unread. This is the starting point for @TheLibraryOfUnreadBooks.

The Library of Unread Books is a reference library made up of books that are unread by their previous owner. It is also a simple way to transform an object that was once private property, to one existing in the commons and shared by all.

The price for a lifetime membership to the library is the donation of a single unread book. Each book is stamped with a small description of the project, with your name and date of donation recorded. You may wish to write within its pages the reason for your donation or for not having read the book.

The library will grow over time. Come and visit the library and give us a book. Someone else will read it for you.

Banner Image: Heman Chong, The Library of Unread Books (2016-Present). Installation view: Singapore Biennale 2022, Singapore Art Museum.

[PERFORMANCE] A Short Story About Geometry

Time: 2PM

Venue: Level 1, Gallery 1

Durational performance involving an instructor, a participant and an approximately 500-word short story written by the artist.

A short story written by Chong is taught by an instructor to an audience participant who willingly commits it to memory, demonstrating this through an exact retelling within the session of instruction. This act is described by the artist as ‘publishing a text via a performance, an intense process that is full of repetition and failings, tears and laughter.’

The performance has no fixed duration. It will last as long as the participant requires to memorise the short story or until they decide to quit. The average time needed to memorise 500 words is approximately 3 hours, but there have been instances of accomplishing this in as short as 20 minutes, as well exceeding 5 hours.

Promised by the artist to never publish in print or online, the story exists only through oral transmission, requiring an immense amount of time and effort to experience the work.

To participate, please send email with name and contact information to hemanchong.memories@singaporeartmuseum.sg

Banner Image: Heman Chong, A Short Story About Geometry (2009), Durational performance involving an instructor, a participant and a short story
Installation view : “The Part In The Story Where Our Accumulating Dust Becomes A Mountain”, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)

[PERFORMANCE] Everything (Wikipedia)

Time: 2PM

Venue: Level 1, Gallery 1

Durational performance featuring readings of Wikipedia via a mobile device.

Commissioned by Rockbund Art Museum
Collection of Singapore Art Museum

Signifying the nature of knowledge production, validation and circulation in contemporary society, Wikipedia’s “free encyclopaedia” is presented in an ever-changing recitation of its crowd-sourced content. Beginning with the Wikipedia page of the day, a performer reads entries aloud while navigating the platform’s multitude of hyperlinks, leading to an apparently endless trove of information.

Banner Image: Heman Chong, Everything (Wikipedia) (2016), Durational performance featuring readings of Wikipedia via a mobile device.
Installation view : This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness, Singapore Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the artist.

[STICKER] Stick with SAM

Time: 10AM – 7PM

Venue: Level 1

Free, while stocks last

Immerse yourself in Heman Chong’s artworks and bring home a memento from the exhibition. This set of customised stickers allows you to get creative! Make a new sentence or a poem!