How do we make sense of conflict through art – where history alone cannot?
Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia: History, Memory and Ecology explores the powerful and often contested relationship between conflict and art. It brings together curators, artists, and scholars to consider how conflict is remembered, represented, and debated. The symposium also examines how its effects extend far beyond the battlefield into landscapes, environments, technologies, and infrastructures.
Across a series of keynotes, a film screening, and panels, the symposium invites audiences into urgent conversations about how conflict is made visible and meaningful. Keynote presentations include Suzuki Katsuo (Chief Curator, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and Dr Thy Phu (Distinguished Professor of Race, Diaspora, and Visual Justice, University of Toronto), who explore how art shapes our understanding of historically significant events and the ways they are remembered over time.
Together, the symposium opens a space for dialogue and critical reflection, inviting audiences to consider how conflict is not only documented, but continually remembered, mediated, and reimagined across human and non-human worlds.
This symposium is presented in collaboration with The Australian National University, with support from the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant.
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When: 2 Oct 2026, 6.30–9.30pm | 3 Oct 2026, 10am – 5.30pm - Suitable For: Adults, Families, Visitors with accessibility needs, Students and Educators
- Where: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
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Ticket information:
Full Symposium Pass: $30 (Standard), $25 (Concession/Insider)
Single Session: $12 (Standard), $10 (Concession/Insider)
Please note that this ticket is for a full symposium pass covering all three sessions. If you would like to purchase a ticket for an individual session, please use the separate registration links below.
Programme Outline
2 Oct 2026, 6.30–9.30pm
6.30pm | Registration
7pm | Opening Remarks by Dr Eugene Tan
Chief Executive Officer and Director, National Gallery Singapore
7.15pm | Keynote Lecture by Dr Thy Phu
Distinguished Professor of Race, Diaspora, and Visual Justice, University of Toronto
Response and Moderated by Dr Phoebe Scott
Deputy Director, Content Publishing, and Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore
9pm | Film Screening: Homesickness (2018)
Directed by Dr James Nguyen
Introduction by Dr Anthea Gunn
Senior Curator of Art, Australian War Memorial
3 Oct 2026, 10am – 12.15pm
10am | Registration
10.30am | Opening Remarks
10.45am | Keynote Lecture by Suzuki Katsuo
Chief Curator, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Presentation by Horikawa Lisa
Director, Curatorial & Collections, and Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore
Moderated by Dr Hsu Fang-Tze
Curator and Head of Interpretation & Publishing, Singapore Art Museum
12.15pm | Lunch
Catering provided
3 Oct 2026, 1.45–5.30pm
1.45pm | Panel: More-Than-Human Ecologies of War
- Dr Wulan Dirgantoro
Lecturer in Contemporary Art, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne - Dr Kathleen Ditzig
Curator, National Gallery Singapore - Dr Seng Yu Jin
Director, Curatorial, Research, and Exhibitions, and Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore - Moderated by Dr Elly Kent
Senior Lecturer and Sub-Dean of Languages and Mobility, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University
3.15pm | Panel: Art, War & Memory
- Dr Margaret Hutchinson
Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra - Dr Elly Kent
Senior Lecturer and Sub-Dean of Languages and Mobility, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University - Dr. Sim Chi Yin
Artist - Dr. Roger Nelson
Assistant Professor of Art History, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University - Moderated by Alexandra Torrens
Senior Curator, Art Section, Australian War Memorial
5.15pm | Closing Remarks
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