The words around us are rarely as neutral as they sound. A headline, a job title, a caption, a passing remark, the words we choose and the words chosen for us can shape how power is given or taken.
Drawing from exhibition texts, artists’ voices, and the lived experiences of our speakers, this panel looks at how language creates, reinforces, and sometimes disrupts dominant narratives. We explore how phrases, stories, and exhibition texts can influence who gets heard or dismissed, and what it means to take language back into our own hands.
Registration will start at 6.30pm, followed by the panel discussion at 7pm sharp. After the panel, all guests are welcome to view the exhibitions Fear No Power: Women Imagining Otherwise and Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art (R18), which will both have extended hours till 10pm exclusively for panel attendees.
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When: 11 Sep 2026, 6.30–8pm - Suitable For: Adults, Visitors with accessibility needs, Students and Educators, Young Adults
- Where: City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium & Foyer
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Ticket information:
$5 per person (Standard), $2 per person (Gallery Insiders)
About the Speakers
Explore More
Under Our Skin: Conversations on Gender, Identity, and Body
A series of talks exploring gender, power, desire, social norms and cultural dynamics, inspired by two of the Gallery’s exhibitions.
Fear No Power: Women Imagining Otherwise
Fear No Power: Women Imagining Otherwise highlights the lives and practices of five artists from Southeast Asia for whom art, life, kinship and community are inseparable. Featuring Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Philippines), Nirmala Dutt (Malaysia), Amanda Heng (Singapore), Dolorosa Sinaga (Indonesia), and Phaptawan Suwannakudt (Thailand), the exhibition honours their multi-faceted roles—not only as artists, but also as educators, writers or community organisers.
Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art (R18)
Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art explores how desire, eroticism and the body have shaped artistic practices and cultural discourses in the Southeast Asia. Featuring rarely seen artworks from the National Collection alongside key regional loans, the exhibition embraces the power and presence of desire in art and life. Discover bold, provocative expressions that blur the boundaries we keep between the private and public, the intimate and sublime, soft pleasures and hard politics.