Singapore Biennale's full line-up

SRI Lankan artist Pala Pothupitiye's Other Map Series looks beyond officially constructed maps and imagines a different past or an alternate future by creating an atlas of maps.

Meanwhile, Desert Islands - another atlas of 100 engraved mirrors each bearing an island and its coordinates by Hong Kong artist duo MAP Office - imagines a world of islands in the Anthropocene, when the history of the 21st century will be written on water. These two works explore the notion of space and place through mirrors and cartography - a good illustration of Singapore Biennale's 2016 theme The Atlas of Mirrors, which will look at topics that the world is grappling with today.

The notion of space and place is one of the nine sub-themes of the upcoming Singapore Biennale starting in October. Hot topics include contested borders and man-made walls, resistance, the powerless and the silenced who find agency and representation, and forgotten histories.

The 60 works will be created by 63 artists and art collectives from 18 countries in South-east Asia, South Asia and East Asia. More than half (49, to be exact) are newly commissioned and adapted artworks. The complete list of artists was released by the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) on Thursday.

This year marks the fifth edition of the Singapore Biennale. It was established in 2006 as the country's pre-eminent platform for international dialogue in contemporary art.

"We've gone back to focusing on Asia, deepening the work that began in the last Singapore Biennale. From the centre of South-east Asia, we've encompassed a wider Asia," says Tan Siuli, curator of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and one of the curators for the Biennale.

Although there are slightly fewer works than in the previous 2013 edition, there are a number of large works in public spaces which have a lot of presence, says Ms Tan. "So I don't think the audience will feel there's less art to look at."

The artworks, which use a range of media, will be presented across seven venues: Singapore Art Museum and 8Q at SAM; Asian Civilisations Museum; de Suantio Gallery at SMU; National Museum of Singapore; Stamford Green; The Old Parliament House; and The Peranakan Museum.

The additional artists who complete the list are: S Chandrasekaran, Chou Shih Hsiung, Debbie Ding, Made Djirna, Faizal Hamdan, Abeer Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Gregory Halili, Agan Harahap, Kentaro Hiroki, Sanjay Kak, Marine Ky, HH Lim, Lim Soo Ngee, Htein Lin, Jiao Xingtao, Perception3, Niranjan Rajah, Sharmiza Abu Hassan, Nillima Sheikh, Praneet Soi, Adeela Suleman, Melati Suryodarmo, Nobuaki Takekawa, Jack Tan, Tan Zi Hao, Ryan Villamael, Wen Pulin, Made Wianta, Xiao Lu, Zang Honghua, and Zulkifle Mahmod.

The artists previously named are: Ade Darmawan, Ahmad Fuad Osman, Martha Atienza, Noor Azizan Rahman Paiman, Rathin Barman, Hemali Bhuta, Bui Cong Khanh, David Chan, Chia Chuyia, Deng Guoyuan, Dex Fernandez, Eddy Susanto, Patricia Eustaquio, Fyerool Darma, Han Sai Por, Sakarin Krue-On, MAP Office, Nguyen Phuong Linh, Ni Youyu, Phasao Lao, Pala Pothupitiye, Qiu Zhijie, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Melissa Tan, Tcheu Siong, Titarubi, Tun Win Aung and Wah Nu, Munem Wasif, Pannaphan Yotmani, and Harumi Yukutake.