Colourful, Cultural, Curated Arts at SAM Tanjong Distripark

It's colourful, challenges your mind and teaches you about Asia culture and history - No its your old CCE Textbook. It's the Singapore Art Museum.

Written by Y.S. Chia

With many major museums being free entry for Singaporeans, most of us have visited the National Gallery, National Museum of Singapore and ACM.

While many may consider revisiting one during the long weekend, we have an alternative that might interest you. It’s FREE too.

SAM - Singapore Art Museum!

With its original building undergoing construction till 2026, they have faded slightly from the public eye. That said, they've made an interesting home for themselves at the Tanjong Pagar District Park.

With such an ulu location however, you're probably wondering- is it worth the travel?

Well we took the trip to help you decide if you should.

What we saw:

SAM at Tanjong Pagar District Park has a relatively small space that currently hosts two exhibitions, Lonely Vectors - till 4 September 2022 and Superfluous things - 14 August 2022. That said I felt they have put a lot of thought into the curation so that each artwork deserves its spot.

Art connects with Geography and eventually History

Lonely Vectors intertwines the lines of art, geography and as a result history through its multimedia artworks. While I was initially confused - I realised I - and many visitors who treat SAM like another museum would be seeing it wrong.

Rather, each artwork is largely independent and they’re intriguing because the artists paint their perspective on history.

Artworks like Dioramas for Tanjong Rimau - challenged me with a thought-provoking perspective shedding light on a side of Singapore’s history rarely seen in other museums. It also made me rethink Singapore’s constant redevelopment.

Meanwhile, Penitent Plant took me to the Philippines, tracing a journey of Banana production back to its routes and the labourers. It was an insightful piece which I wish was expanded on further so I could have seen a bigger picture.

Experience rather than Exhibit: Perhaps the biggest selling point of SAM’s artworks is that quite a few are experience based. Diorama for Tanjong Rimau feels like a self-contained reflection. It felt exclusive to see the artefacts uncaged.

Being able to make an offering using the wind instruments gave the artwork grounding and the 10-minute artsy short film felt like a conversation to summarise our thoughts.

SAM also markets a part 2 for this artwork however it’s underwhelming and a pain to get to. It requires you to get to level 5 by stairs- yes there’s no lift, there lies a wind-driven replica of the offering device but it looks like it was simply left there. It does give a cool view of the port- but that's beside the point.

As part of the gallery, Loading/Unloading hosts special performances every Saturday. On other days- like today, we could scan a QR code to watch the performance and understand the art better. However, we were disappointed to find out the poor signal had prevented us from reliving it.

Over at Superfluous Things - the gallery opposite, 100ish Meaningless Statements at Superfluous Things felt like I was reading someone’s personal diary and knew exactly what went through their mind.

Art truly felt universal when I found myself agreeing to some of the statements too.

For the Gram and for the Brain

Unlike most art galleries - which nowadays flaunt their vivid exhibits as “grammable”, SAM treats its artworks with a certain regality.

One thing I enjoyed was that these artworks struck a balance. They provided art lovers with details and deeper analysis but their vivid portrayals were also great to just look at.

Eccentric City is a prime example - I found the monochromatic illustrations at the start cool but when the colourful psychedelic surface adjacent revealed itself, I couldn't help but go wow.

Meanwhile “Just a Little at a time” has little dioramas that are the result of an artist’s quest for perfection. At the surface level, however, I really enjoyed it and honestly felt it could make for a great wallpaper when you get them close up.

Child-friendly?!?

I was honestly surprised to see a paper crafts station for kids in conjunction with Superfluous Things’ Land of Fairy Tales but it looks like a lot of fun and its free to

That said, the reason for my surprise is that some of SAM’s artworks follow the simple yet iconic quote “Art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable.”

I’m far off from being a parent but given I was creeped out to be greeted by UKI VIRUS SURGING’s humans back at Lonely Vectors - I think it might scare the kids abit.

The same could possibly be said about a few other artworks.

Location & Service:

In terms of location, this holding location is definitely a pain to get to - you either have to take a bus from Harbourfront MRT or near Tanjong Pagar MRT. Given it's a temporary space there also isn’t your iconic “attractions” signboard to look out for. Perhaps placing a map at nearby bus stops would help visitors immensely or draw curious onlookers.

With this said - the place was nice and quiet.

Service-wise- I was really happy with the friendly, helpful staff, from the security guards to the counter staff and people stationed at the artworks. The sheer number of staff in such a small area also meant if you had any queries you could get them addressed quickly.

Our Honest Opinion:

"SAM I am." - 4/5

In all honesty - SAM “isn’t like other museums”. Don’t expect the grandiosity of the National Gallery or the pristine organisation of ACM. The artworks are aesthetically pleasing but be prepared to think deeper about the meaning and perspective behind each one. Each artwork is a love letter and you undoubtedly will feel something from at least one of the artworks you visit. That being said, art is subjective and I have been known to be a more artistic person. The biggest caveat is probably the location which makes the limited offerings a pill a little harder to swallow. This will eventually course correct once they return to their Bras Basah site. For now, the people at SAM acknowledge it's hard-to-get-to location and have partnered with Gojek for a $5 promo(which I didn’t know till after the visit) Enjoy $5* off your Gojek ride to SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark (39 Keppel Road) with the promo code, 'GOSAM'

If you’re ready to reassess the way you see history and perspective, you can head on down to the Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Districtpark, 39 Keppel Road #01-02. It opens at 10 am and closes at 7 pm. The Lonely Vector exhibit goes on till 4 September 2022 and Superfluous Things goes on till 14 August 2022. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looking for something more mainstream? Go check out our review of the On/Off exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore.

You can also contact us via getahonestreview@gmail.com

About the Writer: - Writer Bio: 18px Y.S. Chia(he/him) is our 20-year-old Honest Agent who loves going on adventures - be it hiking nature trails or checking out Singapore's latest festivals. When he's not out and about, you can find him being a potato watching netflix or on the rare occasion - at the gym.