This lecture presentation “Images and Times: Some Notes on the Retro/Prospective” by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen is organised in conjunction with the exhibition Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger. Hear from the artist as he reflects on two decades of his practice through the past, the present and the future, and the many ways these temporalities flow and loop into one another. Through recurring images and motifs in his art, Ho presents a retrospective survey of his own practice as a way to generate and prospect for new horizons.

The past seems at first glance to be a fixed and frozen horizon, but it is in fact constantly re-presented, revised and reconfigured in new discursive regimes. But more importantly for me, there is also in the past, certain energies which recur and return – the past as something unfinished, like the project of decolonization. And like a trauma, or perhaps a ghost, such energies incessantly return to haunt the present. The present then for me is a kind of compound which is endlessly bifurcating into both the future and the past. – Ho Tzu Nyen

*Specially created drinks inspired by the exhibition will be available by donation on a first-come-first-serve basis at the end of the event.

About the artist

Ho Tzu Nyen (b. 1976) is one of the most internationally recognised contemporary artists from Singapore, having represented the Singapore Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). Drawing from historical events, documentary footage, art history, music videos, and mythical stories, Ho’s films and video installations investigate the construction of history, myths, and the plurality of identities. Since 2012, Ho's The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia has framed many of his projects and installations. His works have been collected internationally by institutions including The Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Gwangju Biennale Foundation, and SAM.

Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger is now on view at the Singapore Art Museum until 3 March 2024.