SINGAPORAMA is a site-specific and multimodal installation by Thai artist, Navin Rawanchaikul and Navin Production, presenting a panorama of diverse peoples and stories in Singapore. Composed of monumental panels painted in the style of old cinema billboards, video interviews and a travelogue film played on television screens, SINGAPORAMA captures and showcases the shared connections, memories, and aspirations of Singapore.
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When: 9 Jan – 29 Nov 2026 - Suitable For: All
- Where: Padang Atrium
A Panorama of Life in Singapore
Spanning the width of the Padang Atrium, SINGAPORAMA presents a panorama of people and stories in Singapore, seen through the perspective of Navin Rawanchaikul as a transient figure, or artist-as-traveller. Developed through the artist’s year-long research and engagement across multiple trips, Navin came to know people and communities through shared stories, food, and festivities. Through this process, Navin cultivated friendships with artists and cultural producers, as well as with individuals affiliated with migrant worker groups, Indigenous communities, Peranakan community leaders, social advocacy groups, and faith organisations in Singapore.
Through monumental billboard paintings in Navin’s signature style, augmented by a series of video interviews and a travelogue film, SINGAPORAMA takes the viewer on the artist’s journey through the layers and density of lives encountered along the way. The work plays with our sense of time and space as it folds together the present and the past. Photos taken by Navin and his team are placed in dialogue with images from online media platforms and visual references to iconic artworks by artists from Singapore and Southeast Asia. Personal stories are interwoven with histories and national narratives. Photos of people gathering on the streets or in their homes are juxtaposed with historical photos and images depicting the many facets of Singapore, creating parallel dialogues between histories shaped by both state narratives and lived experiences. SINGAPORAMA celebrates the diversity of people in Singapore.
This is a joint commission by OUTBOUND and Light to Night 2026. Inaugurated in 2018, OUTBOUND is an initiative that reimagines transitional spaces and key entrances at the Gallery through a series of unique artwork commissions, developed in collaboration with leading artists from around the world, to provoke critical reflection, curiosity, and playfulness.
SINGAPORAMA* cites the following artworks:
- John Turnbull Thomson, View of the Padang, 1847. Collection of National Museum Singapore.
- Lim Kheng Chye, Singapore River, 1902-1905. Lim Kheng Chye Collection, collection of National Archives of Singapore.
- Liu Kang, Life by the River, 1975. Collection of National Gallery Singapore.
- Chua Mia Tee, Epic Poem of Malaya, 1955. Collection of National Gallery Singapore.
- Lee Wen, Strange Fruit, 2003. Collection of Singapore Art Museum.
- Montien Boonma, The Pleasure of Being, Crying, and Eating, 1993. Collection of Singapore Art Museum.
*National Gallery Singapore extends its sincere appreciation to all collaborators, community partners, and individuals whose generosity, trust and contributions made SINGAPORAMA possible.
Featured artworks
Did You Know?
SINGAPORAMA is the largest artwork ever produced by Navin Rawanchaikul and his studio. Created over less than six months, the monumental canvases were entirely hand-painted in a realist style, marked by meticulous detail and scale. Complemented by video interviews of his collaborators and a travelogue film, the project reflects an extraordinary collective effort, bringing together painting, moving image, and storytelling on an ambitious scale.
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