The Padang Sessions

National Gallery Singapore

Discover the best conversations recorded live at National Gallery Singapore, home to the world’s largest public collection of Southeast Asian modern art. We have handpicked our favourite talks and lectures for you to experience, wherever you are.

  1. 09/25/2025

    The Original is An Illusion | Seng Yu Jin, Simon Soon, and Biljana Ciric

    Can we conceive of exhibitions as a medium? Are exhibitions only neutral spaces for the display of artworks, or do they have agency as an aesthetic, contested and epistemic site Can we conceptualise the exhibition as a medium that generates new ways of thinking about and making art?  When talking about methodology, there is a dilemma in terms of how we can develop approaches to study exhibitions that extend beyond just art history. As part of October Gathering, “Towards a Mystical Reality: A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences by Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa” (Malaysia, 1974) was restaged. It was used as a case study that could be reconstructed, reconsidered and propositioned as an exhibitionary medium, method, and “conceptual performance” that is participatory, critical and reflexive all at once. Reconstructing such exhibitions proposes a way of thinking that sees the exhibition as method and the exhibition as medium approaches as ways to demystify the original exhibition. This discussion was part of a workshop that accompanied the restaging of “Towards a Mystical Reality: A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences by Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa”. Art historian Simon Soon and independent curator Biljana Ciric explored how we could develop approaches to studying exhibitions that extended beyond what we have from art history. This conversation was moderated by then Senior Curator Seng Yu Jin. This discussion took place at National Gallery Singapore on 7 October 2022, as part of October Gathering. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

    49 min
  2. 06/04/2025

    The Distance Between Us | David Hanan, Kaloy Olavides & Ray Lagenbach

    Bringing together Malaysia-based American artist Ray Lagenbach, Filipino artist and musician Kaloy Olavides and the Indonesian film historian David Hanan, this panel sought to explore the intersections between performance and time-based media which emerged during the 1970s which have largely been left outside the ambit of current art histories in Southeast Asia. Through the diverse perspectives and experiences of the invited speakers, the panel sought to locate early collaborative and interdisciplinary instances of art-making from the 1970s to the 1990s in order to search for a more multi-modal approach to reading art in relation to the moving image in the region. The programme opened with a screening of ‘Meta Ekologi’, an experimental film by artist-filmmaker Gotot Prakosa which captures a performance choreographed by Sardono Kusomo, and which was held at the Taman Ismail Marzuki in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1979. This programme was moderated by Clarissa Chikiamco and Cheng Jia Yu, Curators at National Gallery Singapore. Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to publish the film online. This film screening and discussion took place at National Gallery Singapore on 16 Oct 2022, as part of October Gathering. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

    1h 1m
  3. 02/05/2025

    Archival Intelligence: Opening the Archive | Joel Sherwood-Spring, Simon Soon & Tammy Nguyen

    Join Joel Sherwood-Spring, Simon Soon and Tammy Nguyen as they advocate for open-access knowledge. This session explored different strategies for reclaiming and granting greater access to knowledge. From institutional partnerships, to leveraging the public domains of specific nations, and to the individual labour involved in creating resource guides and artworks, this panel delved into the techniques and urgencies that have empowered individuals and collectives to resist the legacies of neocolonialism. The conversation also touched on the increasing levels of exclusivity when it comes to who gets to study, write and speak about our cultural histories. This discussion was moderated by Gallery Curator Kathleen Ditzig. This discussion was part of an online workshop, “Archival Intelligence,” that brought together artists, researchers and archivists from the region alongside lawyers and Arweave, a blockchain seeking to create a ‘permanent Internet’. Together, they discussed about sustainable Web3 solutions that could serve marginalised artists, independent spaces and cultural histories which are at risk of being lost. This programme took place at National Gallery Singapore on 9 October 2022, as part of October Gathering. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

    1h 9m
  4. 12/04/2024

    Concert for the Haunted | SEMBUH (HEAL) by Kamal Sabran ft. Arif Ayab, Ahmad Taquidin & Syimah Sabtu

    “SEMBUH” is an expanded version of Kamal Sabran’s Ssegar Angin performance, presented at the Venice Biennale in April 2022. Based on Kamal’s sound therapy research on performance as a method for Malay traditional healing, the project offered an alternative take on the revitalisation of the angin (wind) transpiring within the panggung (physical space) through an immersive sound and dance experience. Anchoring the panggung and charging the space with aural energy, the performance moves the public towards healing and recovery. About Concert for the Haunted As the sonic programme accompanying October Gathering, Concert for the Haunted invited sound artists, musicians and movement artists to respond to the thematic threads and inquiries arising across its sister programmes. How do binaries of self/other, nature/culture, body/mind continue to haunt us even in the present? Through encouraging deep listening, sound becomes a seeding moment for healing, cross-pollination and the unearthing of neglected but deep connections between the human and non-human. Concert for the Haunted proposed a re-alliance with intuitive and embodied ways of knowing and encouraged expanded imaginings of togetherness through modes of listening. This performance took place at National Gallery Singapore on 15 October 2022, as part of October Gathering. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

    29 min

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Discover the best conversations recorded live at National Gallery Singapore, home to the world’s largest public collection of Southeast Asian modern art. We have handpicked our favourite talks and lectures for you to experience, wherever you are.