Heman Chong: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness reads as a survey of artworks by Heman Chong. From artworks first made in 2003 to new works, the exhibition charts his prolific conceptual practice over the last two decades. An invitation into Chong’s incisive use of words, objects, situations, logics and affinities, the exhibition presents his critical and affective interrogation of our shared human condition in the 21st century.
about the artist
Heman Chong is an artist whose work is located at the intersection between image, performance, situations and writing. Characterised by acerbic wit, Chong’s art address contemporary geopolitics and the infrastructural ironies of our data-driven and networked society. His practice can be read as an imagining, interrogation and sometimes intervention into infrastructure as an everyday medium of politics. His work has been the subject of institutional solo exhibitions at Singapore Art Museum, UCCA Dune, STPI, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Weserburg Museum, Jameel Arts Center, Swiss Institute New York, Art in General, Artsonje Center, Rockbund Art Museum, South London Gallery, NUS Museum, amongst many others. Chong is the co-director and founder (with Renée Staal) of The Library of Unread Books, a library made up of donated books previously unread by their owners. It was recently installed in the Serpentine Pavilion 2024, designed by Minsuk Cho and in 2025, installed for the summer at MOT, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
Banner image: Heman Chong, Perimeter Walk, 2013–2024. Offset print postcards, 550 pieces. Commissioned by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art. Development of Perimeter Walk supported by M Art Foundation. Courtesy of the artist
• The Library of Unread Books (2016-Present): Daily | 10am–7pm
Level 1
By Heman Chong in collaboration with Renée Staal
We are surrounded by books we have purchased or been given, but have not read. We feel it is such a waste that these books go on unread. This is the starting point for @TheLibraryOfUnreadBooks.
The Library of Unread Books is a reference library made up of books that are unread by their previous owner. It is also a simple way to transform an object that was once private property, to one existing in the commons and shared by all.
The price for a lifetime membership to the library is the donation of a single unread book. Each book is stamped with a small description of the project, with your name and date of donation recorded. You may wish to write within its pages the reason for your donation or for not having read the book.
The library will grow over time. Come and visit the library and give us a book. Someone else will read it for you.
• A Short Story About Geometry (2009) | Every Sat, 2pm
Level 1, Gallery 1
Durational performance involving an instructor, a participant and an approximately 500-word short story written by the artist.
A short story written by Chong is taught by an instructor to an audience participant who willingly commits it to memory, demonstrating this through an exact retelling within the session of instruction. This act is described by the artist as ‘publishing a text via a performance, an intense process that is full of repetition and failings, tears and laughter.’
The performance has no fixed duration. It will last as long as the participant requires to memorise the short story or until they decide to quit. The average time needed to memorise 500 words is approximately 3 hours, but there have been instances of accomplishing this in as short as 20 minutes, as well exceeding 5 hours.
Promised by the artist to never publish in print or online, the story exists only through oral transmission, requiring an immense amount of time and effort to experience the work.
To participate, please send email with name and contact information to [email protected].
Durational performance featuring readings of Wikipedia via a mobile device
Commissioned by Rockbund Art Museum
Collection of Singapore Art Museum
Signifying the nature of knowledge production, validation and circulation in contemporary society, Wikipedia’s “free encyclopaedia” is presented in an ever-changing recitation of its crowd-sourced content. Beginning with the Wikipedia page of the day, a performer reads entries aloud while navigating the platform’s multitude of hyperlinks, leading to an apparently endless trove of information.
Take home a piece of the exhibition with our exclusive, limited-edition tote bag and publication. Available at the Level 1 vending machine in SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, while stocks last!
related information
Categories
Admission
Singapore Citizens and PRs
Tourists and Foreign Residents
Adult
Free.
Not required to purchase a ticket.
Please present valid proof of identity (e.g. NRIC, Student Pass) at SAM's ticketing counter to enjoy free admission.
SGD 10
Concession1
Overseas student/teacher
Senior (60 years and above)
SGD 5
Children 6 years and below
Local/locally-based students/teachers
Person with disabilities (PWD) and their caregiver2
Free.
Not required to purchase a ticket.
Please present valid proof of identity (e.g. Student Pass) at SAM's ticketing counter to enjoy free admission.
School Visits (Self Directed)
Educators may self-guide their students between 10.30am and 4.30pm on weekdays, admission fees apply. Bookings must be made at least five weeks in advance by completing the School Visit Booking Form and emailing it to [email protected].
To ensure a smooth visit, we recommend a maximum of 50 students per gallery at a time. Larger groups may need to rotate through the galleries.
Educators who wish to book guided tours may email us at [email protected] for more information, subjected to availability.
All ticket prices are inclusive of booking fees 1Valid proof of identity (e.g., passport, school pass) must be presented at the ticketing counter to enjoy concession admission. 2One caregiver accompanying visitors with disabilities will enjoy free admission, regardless of the caregiver's nationality.
Monument to the people we've conveniently forgotten (I hate you)
Calendars (2020 - 2096)
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Monument to the people we've conveniently forgotten (I hate you)
Commissioned by Singapore Biennale 2008 | Collection of the artist
2008
One million offset prints on 300-gsm paper
An underfoot monument, blacked-out name cards multiply to engulf the floor, introducing both texture and instability, even as its title fills the viewer with an overpowering sense of finality and the existential weight of unrealised connections.
Image credits: Detail view of Monument to the people we've conveniently forgotten (I hate you) (2008). Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.
Calendars (2020 - 2096)
Commissioned by NUS Museum | Collection of Singapore Art Museum
2004-2010
1,001 offset prints with matt lamination
Presenting 1,001 photographs captured in Singapore between 2004 and 2010, arranged across seven decades of calendar pages, the artwork projects these paradoxically emptied images of public spaces into the unknowable reaches of the future. This chronological order and design recall the strategies of 1960s conceptual art in the representation of sequential time through grid and repetition. Devoid of human presence and activity, the work seems reminiscent of the lockdowns of the recent pandemic as much as it might portend an eerily dystopian future.
Image credits: Installation view of Calendars (2020 - 2096) (2004-2010). Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.
Heman Chong: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness
Heman Chong: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness
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Premium Canvas CottonTote Bag
Designed in the artist’s distinctive typographic style, this limited-edition tote bag embodies the exhibition’s exploration of ambiguity—where text becomes artwork and meaning remains intentionally open.
Retail price: SGD28.00 incl. GST
Material: Premium Canvas Cotton
Color: Navy Blue
Size: 16 oz
Specifications: Width 40 x Height 45 x Base 15 cm
PublicationHeman Chong: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness
A key artist in Singapore’s art history, Heman Chong’s multi-faceted practice dates back to the early 2000s. This publication accompanies a survey exhibition of the same name, which presents recent artworks including new commissions that reconsider canonical pieces from his oeuvre. Known for his acerbic wit, Chong’s art addresses contemporary geopolitics and the infrastructural ironies of our data-driven and networked society. Heman Chong: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness surveys the artist’s practice, with essays by international curators who have collaborated with him throughout his career.
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