Ho Tzu Nyen mounts 2023’s best art show

HO TZU Nyen, arguably Singapore’s biggest contemporary art export, is having a mid-career survey at Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in Tanjong Pagar Distripark – and the show is quite simply this year’s best art show. 

Sprawled across several rooms and galleries, Time & The Tiger demands more than a cursory glance; it is an immersive experience that challenges the temporal constraints of a mere couple of hours. His most important works are videos of different lengths, playing in a loop, making it hard to catch their start and finish and to savour them in their entirety. Other video works can be watched sporadically, with each discrete section yielding its own meaning. 

Yet, it is worthwhile to set aside time to navigate the show and piece together its fragments – the rewards are considerable.