TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
S.E.A. Focus 2025 blurs the line between modern and contemporary art
Through more than the 200 pieces of art exhibited at S.E.A. Focus 2025, it is apparent that Southeast Asian artists dealt with the powers that be in their work — be it Western art hegemony, local politicians or the flow of time itself.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Wong Keen’s installation titled Forest, featuring what the Singaporean artist calls “flesh sculptures”, is exhibited during the S.E.A. Focus 2025 contemporary art showcase, running from Jan. 18 to 26 at the boutique gallery in Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore. () (S.E.A. Focus/Darren Soh)
I
nside a serene warehouse by a busy port in Singapore, artwork from countries across Southeast Asia stand still and unmoving in time.
Just like the bustling region, these pieces of art vary in style and interest — one talks of dead creatures, another of borders, buildings, meats and bones.
But their differences are tied under one prominent theme: the ever-ticking clock, which leads to either decay or permanent scars.
Time is of the essence in this year’s showcase of S.E.A. Focus, a heralded Singaporean contemporary art boutique focusing on the rich tapestry of Southeast Asian artists in our modern world. S.E.A. Focus is led by Singapore’s creative workshop and gallery STPI and, this year, involves 21 exhibitors across eight SEA countries.
A central highlight during the annual Singapore Art Week (SAW), the weeklong 2025 edition of S.E.A Focus held at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, will conclude Sunday.
This year, the SEA-championing showcase appears to veer away from general art themes and wades into a meta commentary on itself, questioning the line that separates “modern” art from “contemporary” art.
