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.
This symposium is presented in collaboration with The Australian National University, with support from the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant.
*Please note that selecting a single-session ticket will open a separate link.
This single-session ticket is for Session 1.
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When: 2 Oct 2026, 6.30–9.30pm - 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 and Gallery Insider)
Single Session: $12 (Standard), $10 (Concession and Gallery Insider)
Programme Outline
6.30pm | Registration
7pm | Opening Remarks by Dr Eugene Tan
Chief Executive Officer and Director, National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum
7.15pm | Looking Otherwise: On Photography and War
Drawing from iconic photographs of the Vietnam War, revolutionary Vietnamese photography, and family images shaped by migration and displacement, Thy Phu examines how photographs shape the ways war is seen, remembered, and understood. In this lecture, she considers how the selection, circulation, and repetition of images can privilege certain perspectives while leaving others beyond the frame, and how photographs continue to carry the memories and afterlives of war across generations and places.
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)
In HomeSickness, James Nguyen journeys with his Vietnamese aunt through Innisfail, Queensland, where familiar landscapes evoke memories of Vietnam. The film reflects on home, migration, and the enduring traces of war embedded in place.
Directed by Dr James Nguyen
Introduction by Dr Anthea Gunn
Senior Curator of Art, Australian War Memorial
Featured Speakers and Moderators
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Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia: History, Memory and Ecology
How do we make sense of conflict through art? Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia brings together curators, artists, and scholars to explore how conflict is remembered, represented, and debated across history, memory, ecology, and visual culture.
Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia: History, Memory and Ecology | Session 2
How do we make sense of conflict through art? Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia brings together curators, artists, and scholars to explore how conflict is remembered, represented, and debated across history, memory, ecology, and visual culture.
Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia: History, Memory and Ecology | Session 3
How do we make sense of conflict through art? Picturing Conflict in Southeast Asia brings together curators, artists, and scholars to explore how conflict is remembered, represented, and debated across history, memory, ecology, and visual culture.