The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) has introduced a dynamic new exhibition that will undergo a complete transformation just four months after its October 2 opening. The show, titled *SAMCollection: The Present Is Unstable*, is an evolving display of works drawn from the museum’s nearly 4,000-strong collection, highlighting the instability of today’s world as its central theme and inviting visitors to engage actively in interpretation.
Located in the Tanjong Pagar Distripark gallery, the exhibition eschews a fixed theme, allowing for a flexible and open-ended presentation. Chief curator Shabbir Hussain Mustafa explained that the approach encourages the public to contribute to the meaning-making process rather than accepting a singular narrative imposed by the museum. The rotating selection of artworks and the exhibition’s sparse installation aim to offer visitors space and time to form personal connections.
The initial installation focuses on imagery related to movement, with numerous works depicting walking, incorporated into the gallery layout to encourage visitors to move through the space in varied and deliberate ways. Curator Ong Puay Khim noted that the open floor plan and multiple paths induce visitors to take more steps and explore the exhibition from different vantage points.
Among the featured works is Malaysian artist Nadiah Bamadhaj’s monumental sculpture inspired by Jakarta’s Heroes Monument, depicting a woman serving food to a male warrior. Accompanying the sculpture is her video work *Casting Spells For The Movement* (2021), which reinterprets the sculpture’s pose through a group of women who gradually relax and move away, symbolizing a break from fixed national or gender identities.
Singapore artist Jason Wee contributes a non-figurative installation that amplifies the sensations of movement by enlarging common urban barriers and raised metal strips found on sidewalks. Visitors are invited to walk through the piece, which integrates Morse code fragments of poems by Singapore-Australian poet Boey Kim Cheng. These poetic elements underscore themes of national boundaries and their potential transcendence.
In conjunction with the exhibition, SAM’s deputy director of programmes Erica Lai outlined a series of public activities exploring the body’s relation to invisible systems of movement and identity. These include weekend workshops featuring drag performances and Butoh, an expressive Japanese dance form, alongside interactive choreography led by Jason Wee. The programming also plans “party” events where participants present personal reflections on womanhood in urban contexts. Lai emphasized the desire to foster honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that highlight underrepresented experiences within the city.
SAM’s shift toward a more participatory and inclusive curatorial model responds to feedback from its predominantly younger audience base. Mustafa hinted at future inclusions within the exhibition, noting works that engage with themes of wealth and effort, reflecting longstanding artistic explorations.
Interactive elements are also incorporated, such as Filipino artist Gary-Ross Pastrana’s *Water Cuts (Stone)*, a marble slab onto which visitors may pour saltwater, leaving a subtle white residue. The piece evokes ideas of persistence and collective action, though curator Ong urged caution in oversimplifying its meaning, recognizing the tension between hopeful change and underlying futility.
By inviting visitors to shape the exhibition’s meaning actively and presenting a constantly rotating display, SAM is reimagining how a museum collection can reflect the complexities and uncertainties of the present.