The UOB Southeast Asia Gallery is temporarily closed and will reopen in late 2027. In the meantime, works from the National Collection remain exhibited across the Gallery. 

Credit line: Agnes Arellano. Haliya Bathing. 1983. Coldcast marble sculpture and crushed marble stones, 30 x 104 x 100 cm. Collection of Singapore Art Museum. 

This sharing by writer, poet, and cultural theorist Jaya Jacobo offers a poetic response to Passion is Volcanic, grappling with transfeminine desire across the tropics of Southeast Asia. The response will trace the tensions and vulnerabilities of desire and the erotics in Southeast Asia, exploring possibilities for imagining new frameworks of belonging and emancipation.

Please note that the programme is open to visitors aged 18 and above only. Valid ID may be required for age verification at the entrance. Photography and videography are not permitted during the programme.

  • When: 2 Aug 2026, 2–3.15pm
  • Suitable For: Adults
  • Where: National Gallery Singapore, City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
  • Ticket information: Free, registration required

About the Speaker

Jaya Jacobo

Jaya Jacobo is a trans feminist poet, theorist, scholar, and dramaturg. She holds the PhD in Comparative Literature from the State University of New York through a Fulbright Scholarship and was Postdoctoral Fellow of the Global Grace: Gender and Cultures of Equality Programme supported by the United Kingdom Research Innovation at the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro and the Observatório de Favelas where she began her work alongside Brazilian travestis and transsexual women in art, academe, and community work. As a dramaturg, she has collaborated with Filipina/x/o performers in the Philippines and the Philippine diaspora abroad and was Curator of Discourse at Sincerely Yours, The Philippines: Festival for Dance, Performance, and Karaoke at Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany in 2025. Her book Arasahas: Poems from the Tropics, translated by Christian Jil Benitez and published by PAWA and Paloma Presses in San Francisco, USA, was nominated as Best Book in Transgender Poetry at the 2025 Lambda Literary Awards. 

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