Singapore Art Museum welcomes the acclaimed Seeing Forest exhibition by Robert Zhao Renhui, debuting at Singapore Art Week 2025 after its global recognition at Biennale Arte 2024.
Singapore, 10 January 2025 – Following its successful run at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (Biennale Arte 2024), the Singapore Pavilion, Seeing Forest, by artist Robert Zhao Renhui will return to Singapore. The exhibition will be presented at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) at Tanjong Pagar Distripark as part of Singapore Art Week (SAW) and will run from 15 January to 18 May 2025.
Organised by SAM and commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore (NAC), the Singapore Pavilion at Biennale Arte 2024 was officially opened in Venice by Mr. Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth on 17 April 2024. Seeing Forest was well received in Venice, having welcomed over 320,000 visitors from across the globe by the end of its run on 24 November 2024. This also marked Singapore’s 11th participation in the prestigious Biennale Arte, which spotlights global artists that stand at the forefront of contemporary art research.
Seeing Forest invites audiences in Singapore to discover a largely unknown and unexplored side of the city’s urban landscape. The works feature footage captured from the artist’s extensive exploration of secondary forests in Bukit Panjang and Gillman Barracks, revealing a rich ecology not often seen, from sambar deer—once thought to be extinct in Singapore—grazing at the boundary of the forest in the West of Singapore, to migratory Japanese sparrowhawks pausing for a drink at a concrete drain in Gillman Forest. The return show will feature the full assemblage of videos and sculptural installations presented in Venice, with one of the key works, Trash Stratum, nearly tripling in scale for the Singapore edition.
Using sounds, sights, and stories that convey the richness and multiplicity of secondary forests, the return show addresses Singapore audiences more intimately, inviting them to revel in how these undomesticated and free forests have found ways to thrive around them in their home country despite rapid urban development. Seeing Forest nudges audiences to discover these multifaceted spaces brimming with the wonder of life, and to reflect on our relationship with our natural environment — a question that is especially pertinent today.
Organised by Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore (NAC), Seeing Forest garnered international acclaim, attracting over 320,000 visitors during its Venice run from April to November 2024. Officially launched by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, on 17 April 2024, the exhibition highlighted Singapore’s 11th participation at the prestigious Biennale Arte, a platform showcasing cutting-edge contemporary art.
Three key works anchor the multi-dimensional environment of Seeing Forest. When visitors enter the gallery, they encounter the sculptural video installation Trash Stratum (2024), which has been scaled up for the Singapore presentation. Imagined as a deconstructed cabinet of curiosities comprising stacked wooden boxes, screens showcasing found footage from Zhao’s research, and objects collected from the forest, the work speaks to the endless reconstitution of the forest and our entangled existence.
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.
The two-channel video installation The Owl, The Travellers and The Cement Drain (2024) grounds the presentation with its uncanny juxtaposition of forest scenes meticulously compiled from years of patient observation, and an inexplicable narrative of two human characters journeying across the forest. Through this, the artist reveals the interdependence between humans and nature and its far-reaching impact on the forest. At SAM, Buffy (2024) the fish owl still has its back turned to visitors, alluding to nature’s inherent tendency to conceal its truths. With no windows in the gallery to look out of, visitors must wonder where the contemplative fish owl is casting its gaze.
As with the Venice exhibition, A Guide to a Secondary Forest of Singapore (2024) will be presented alongside the three key works, offering an overview of Zhao’s explorations and a guide to the characters and their stories that dwell within Seeing Forest. The works collectively encourage visitors to consider the complex and deeply connected inter-relationship between humans and the natural world.
While Singapore’s secondary forests have been at the heart of Zhao’s practice for nearly a decade, they remain liminal spaces that go unnoticed by most. Seeing Forest raises awareness of secondary forests as a universally relatable phenomenon to those living in any urban environment.
Eugene Tan, Chief Executive Officer and Director of SAM said: “As one of the foremost multidisciplinary artists in our contemporary art scene today, Robert Zhao sparks important conversations on the natural world through his projects rooted in both scientific inquiry and the fantastical. It has always been SAM’s mission to support Singapore artists and connect their art practice to audiences, and it has brought us immense joy to play a part in this significant milestone of Zhao’s artistic journey. We look forward to bringing his Singapore Pavilion presentation to audiences here, and seeing how Seeing Forest will transform SAM’s space as Tanjong Pagar Distripark comes to life for SAW 2025. Through Zhao’s stories of the secondary forest, we invite everyone to reimagine these transitional spaces and discover how Singapore’s urban history is interconnected with our natural environment in unexpected ways.”
Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer of NAC, Singapore, said: “Over the years, we have supported many Singapore artists to showcase their art at major overseas platforms along with their international counterparts. We are proud that visitors worldwide could explore Singapore’s complex and ever-changing urban landscape through Seeing Forest at the Venice Biennale. Opening in conjunction with SAW, we are delighted to welcome the exhibition back to our shores as we celebrate the vibrant community that fuels our visual arts scene. The homecoming of Seeing Forest is a testament to the success and potential of our artistic talents and Singapore’s growth as an arts hub in Southeast Asia.”
To commemorate the return of Seeing Forest to Singapore, visitors can look forward to the launch of Seeing Forest Volume 2, an accompanying art book conceptualised as an extension of the exhibition, which will be available from February 2025. In addition, an artist talk, featuring Zhao alongside Singapore Pavilion curator Haeju Kim, will be held on 18 January 2025, where the artistic team will share insights into the exhibition’s development along with perspectives on secondary forests from conservator Yong Ding Li.
Visitors can also take part in other programmes happening at SAM during SAW 2025, including a live performance on 17 January 2025 by Park Minhee, a collaborator featured on Zhao’s The Owl, The Travellers and The Cement Drain, who will create a subtle layer of sound that permeates the gallery, complementing the soundscape of the work. Sonic Sessions will also return, featuring a performance by HAEPAARY, an electronic duo consisting of Park Minhee and Choi Hyewon.
Beyond SAW, SAM will be hosting a dynamic range of programmes throughout the exhibition, such as a series of expert talks and sharing sessions by the teams working on the project, guided exhibition tours (several of which include Singapore Sign Language interpretation), hands-on workshops offering fresh insights and interactive ways to explore Seeing Forest.
Seeing Forest runs from 15 January to 18 May 2025 at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Admission is free for all visitors during SAW from 17 to 26 January 2025. General Admission (free for Singaporeans and PRs) applies for the rest of the exhibition period. More information is available on SAM’s website: bit.ly/SAM-SeeingForest. Media assets can be accessed via bit.ly/SeeingForestReturnShow2025.
