What’s On at the Gallery: October–December 2026
Planning what to do in Singapore during your year-end break? Explore new exhibitions, exciting workshops, programmes and much more at National Gallery Singapore.
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Summary:
- Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush opens 16 October 2026 at the Wu Guanzhong Gallery, City Hall Wing, Level 4, National Gallery Singapore, running until 31 January 2027.
- Let's Imagine the World Together: Art in Southeast Asia opens 5 November 2026 at the Level 4 Gallery, City Hall Wing, National Gallery Singapore, running until 26 September 2027.
- Pop after Pop: Art around Us, the largest group exhibition of Pop Art and its legacy ever staged in Southeast Asia, opens 11 December 2026 at National Gallery Singapore and runs until 4 April 2027, with more than 200 artworks by over 100 artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Barbara Kruger.
- Guided tours of Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush run from 30 Oct 2026 till 31 Jan 2027, with English tours from Thursdays to Sundays at 11am, and Mandarin language tours on weekends at pm.
- Gallery Sketch Chapter, National Gallery Singapore's free and ticketed urban sketching workshop, runs on 21 November 2026, 4pm to 7pm.
- SANTAI: IN PROGRESS, a one-day festival marking National Gallery Singapore's anniversary, runs on 21 November 2026, 11am to 7pm, at the Supreme Court Wing and other locations around the Gallery.
Leave days are finally lining up, friends and family are flying in for the holidays, and your list of things to catch before the year ends keeps getting longer. If you're still working out what to do in Singapore this year-end, here's an easy one to add: National Gallery Singapore.
Three new exhibitions open between October and December, starting with Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush in October and building up to the blockbuster Pop after Pop: Art around Us in December. Add a curator tour, a sketching session, a lecture, and a festival, and you have one of the more varied activities in Singapore to build into a day off or a staycation itinerary. Here's what's on, and when to go.
Exhibitions
Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush | 范昌乾：南方笔韵
When: 16 Oct 2026 – 31 Jan 2027
Where: City Hall Wing, Level 4, Wu Guanzhong Gallery
Ticket information: General Admission ticket required, free for Singaporeans, PRs and Gallery Insider members
This exhibition traces the artistic journey of Fan Chang Tien (范昌乾, 1907–1987), a pivotal figure in the development of Chinese ink art in Singapore. It follows his move south from China to Thailand and finally to Singapore in 1956, a journey shaped by his lifelong commitment to art and education.
Paintings, poetry, and archival material show how Fan built his practice and identity as a scholar-artist, teacher, and master of the Chinese literati tradition.
Let's Imagine the World Together: Art in Southeast Asia
When: 5 Nov 2026 – 26 Sep 2027
Where: City Hall Wing, Level 4, Level 4 Gallery
Ticket information: General Admission ticket required, free for Singaporeans, PRs and Gallery Insider members
Next, Let's Imagine the World Together explores Southeast Asia through art that brings people, stories, and places together. From expressive portraits to the environments that shape everyday life, each section offers a different way to encounter the region, featuring works from the National Collection by artists such as Basoeki Abdullah, Juan Luna, and Raden Saleh.
Pop after Pop: Art around Us
When: 11 Dec 2026 – 4 Apr 2027
Where: City Hall Wing, Level 3, Singtel Special Exhibition Galleries 1 & 2, Special Exhibition Gallery 3, and various locations around National Gallery Singapore
Ticket information: A Special Exhibition or All Access ticket required; free for Gallery Insider members
This December, National Gallery Singapore presents the largest group exhibition of Pop Art and its legacy ever staged in Southeast Asia. Organised in collaboration with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, with key works on loan from its collection, Pop after Pop: Art around Us marks the first collaboration between the two institutions. It brings together more than 200 artworks by over 100 artists, primarily from Southeast Asia and the United States. You'll spot Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Barbara Kruger, alongside leading Southeast Asian artists including Ming Wong, Antipas Delotavo, FX Harsono, and Manit Sriwanichpoom.
Through iconic works, larger-than-life installations, and all things pop culture, the exhibition invites you to discover how artists transformed images, objects, and experiences from everyday life into powerful reflections of the societies around them. Expect paintings, sculptures, prints, installations, and moving image works, and look out for how artists from Southeast Asia reinterpreted Pop Art by turning to the region's pop culture.
With its opening landing right in the middle of the year-end break, this exhibition is one to include in your December plans.
Guided Tours
Guided Tours for Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush | 范昌乾：南方笔韵
When: Till 31 Jan 2027, English: Thu–Sun, 11am, Mandarin: Sat–Sun, 2pm
Where: Register at Padang Atrium, Level 1, Visitor Services Counter
Ticket information: Guided tours are free with a General Admission ticket, subject to schedule and availability.
Prefer to see Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush with a guide? Join a guided tour of the exhibition and learn about Fan Chang Tien's legacy as both artist and mentor, and at the broader themes of artistic transmission, cultural mobility, and cross-regional exchange that run through the exhibition.
Workshops and Programme
Gallery Sketch Chapter: Collective and First Marks
When: 21 Nov 2026, 4–7pm
Where: Various locations around National Gallery Singapore
Ticket information: Collective is free, registration required; First Marks is $35 per person, Gallery Insiders enjoy 15% off
Feel like doing some sketching? This edition of Gallery Sketch Chapter has two ways to join in. Collective is a free, drop-in urban sketching session set within the Gallery's architecture and artworks, so you can slow down and draw whatever is around you.
If you'd like a little more structure, First Marks is a guided sketching session in the Rooftop Studios, looking at how architecture and artworks can be explored through sketching.
SANTAI: IN PROGRESS
When: 21 Nov 2026, 11am – 7pm
Where: Supreme Court Wing, Level 4M, Supreme Court Terrace, and various locations around National Gallery Singapore
Ticket information: Free admission
Commemorating the Gallery's anniversary, SANTAI: IN PROGRESS is a one-day creative gathering bringing together illustrators, artists, and makers at National Gallery Singapore. Developed in response to Let's Imagine the World Together: Art in Southeast Asia, the day includes SANTAI Rhythm (live music and performance), the SANTAI Social Circle (a participatory drop-in making space), and the SANTAI Market, a community makers' market of illustrators, independent publishers, printmakers, and craftspeople. Gallery Sketch Chapter also runs as part of the day from 4 to 7pm.
Plan Your Visit
The Gallery is open daily, from 10am to 7pm (last admission at 6.30pm). Nearest MRT stations include City Hall MRT (Exit B), Clarke Quay MRT (Exit E), and Raffles Place MRT (Exit B).
Got a few exhibitions or programmes already on your list? Sign up as a Gallery Insider to enjoy up to 15% off dining and retail, free and unlimited access to all exhibitions, including priority viewing for special exhibitions like Pop after Pop: Art around Us, complimentary parking for two hours per visit, and priority updates on happenings at the Gallery.
