Every Step in the Right Direction: Singapore Biennale 2019

“Every Step in the Right Direction”, the Singapore Biennale 2019, has gathered the work of 77 artists and art collectives from 36 countries and territories since 22 November 2019 across various venues in Singapore. Amidst the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, many major museums, galleries and events worldwide have closed or are closing. However, as one of the first countries to experience the contagion, Singapore still holds strong in its art and culture scene, and the Singapore Biennale 2019 is no exception. With the due health recommendations, visitors can still explore the ingenious art that is on display until 22 March 2020.

Artistic Director Patrick D. Flores, assisted by six curators, has placed a strong focus on Southeast Asia in the sixth edition of the Biennale. The curatorial team consists of a combination of in-house and external curators, including SAM Assistant Curators Andrea Fam and John Tung, National Gallery Singapore Assistant Curator Goh Sze Ying, Manila-based independent researcher and curator Renan Laru-an, art historian and Seoul-based independent curator Anca Verona Mihulet, and Bangkok-based independent curator Vipash Purichanont.

Titled “Every Step in the Right Direction”, the Singapore Biennale 2019 focuses on the imperative of making choices and taking the steps to consider current conditions and the human endeavour for change and betterment. This, unforeseen by the curators, is particularly relevant today, in our current worldwide health – and economic – crisis. SB19 reflects on the potential and abilities of the artists to rework the possibilities of the world. Audiences are encouraged to participate in the act of transforming the world around us, exploring artists’ ideas, and reflecting upon them to make changes happen – to make a step in the right direction. Flores says:

It may be said that the world is troubled. To sense such a state of flux is to acknowledge the situation and begin to face it. For Singapore Biennale 2019: we ask – what is the possibility of art, the artist, and the audience in light of this trouble? What is the responsibility of the artwork, its making, and its experience in the prospects of future action? As we believe, every effort to change the world for the better matters. SB2019 puts its faith squarely in the potential of art and its understanding to rework the world, expressed in the Biennale title: Every Step in the Right Direction.

SB2019 is spread around 11 venues across the city, spanning Singapore’s landmark cultural institutions, historical and vital public spaces. The artworks converse with the sites in which they are located, making each location become a central part of their conception and experience. “Every Step in the Right Direction” features over 150 works across diverse media including film, installation, sound art and performance, as well as new commissions and works that have never been presented in contemporary art biennales and exhibitions internationally.

In these “troubled times”, when visiting art exhibitions and institutions is rather difficult, let’s savour what we can online. STAY HOME. This is ‘Art in the Time of Coronavirus’.