Granted, our island may be small, but there’s certainly no shortage of art to discover. This year’s cultural calendar is packed with world-class exhibitions, featuring works by celebrated international artists ranging from the late David Hockney to maestro Fernando Botero.
Step into the pages of history through an exciting collaboration between the world’s most prestigious museum, the Louvre, and our city’s Asian Civilisations Museum. For something entirely different, get up close with real human specimens in a thought-provoking exhibition that explores the wonders of the human body.
And if you’re looking to escape the everyday – lose yourself in the contemplative works of acclaimed Japanese contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto at the ArtScience Museum, where photography, philosophy and time converge to leave you in deep reflection. Here are the best exhibitions in Singapore to check out.
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Best art exhibitions in Singapore
1. Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form is Emptiness
Renowned Japanese contemporary artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto’s first major solo exhibition in Southeast Asia is now at the Singapore Art Museum. Titled Form is Emptiness, a line drawn from a foundational Buddhist text, the exhibition features over 60 works and fossils from his personal collection that outline five decades of artistic journey and expression.
Inspired by the concept of the Five Elements in Buddhist philosophy (earth, water, fire, air, and space), the showcase unfolds as a mandala, inviting viewers to explore the works in a continuous, seamless loop. It also reflects the themes in Sugimoto’s works, which are marked by his curiosity and fascination with time and metaphysics. Beyond photography, the exhibition also explores the expansion of the Tokyo-born artist’s photographic thinking, featuring his works in sculpture, large-scale installations, writing, and architectural design. Artwork highlights include the Brush Impression, Heart Sutra (2023), a magnificent curved wall with 288 gelatine silver calligraphy prints of Kanji characters, as well as U.A. Walker, New York (1978) and Tyrrhenian Sea, Scilla (1993), a series of black-and-white photographs of theatres and landscapes.
2. David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)
Titled David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), the show is happening at the newly opened IMBA Theatre at Gardens by the Bay from now to June 30, 2026.
The exhibition is a full-body encounter with an artist who has spent a lifetime challenging how we perceive art. Look forward to towering projections of Hockney’s works flooding IMBA Theatre – think vivid California pool scenes and dreamy Yorkshire landscapes filtered through multiple perspectives. The presentation unfolds over six loosely structured segments, charting six decades of evolution in Hockney’s work. Along the way, catch glimpses of how he thinks, constructs an image, and rewrites rules.
3. Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre
Here’s your chance to see masterpieces from one of the world’s most significant collections of Islamic art. Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is collaborating with the Louvre, one of the world’s most prestigious museums, on Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre, running from June 19, 2026 to January 24, 2027.
The Singapore show turns the spotlight on three of history’s great empires: the Mughal Empire, the Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, these dynasties dominated large regions of Asia, shaping everything from trade routes and political alliances to artistic trends. Today, their courts and artistic traditions are often studied within what museums and historians call the “Islamic world” – a cultural and historical space that spans West, Central and South Asia, and beyond.
5. Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy
It’s not every day you get to come face-to-face with real human specimens – and that alone makes ArtScience Museum’s latest exhibition, Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy, worth the visit. Alongside this unforgettable encounter, the show explores how the human body has been examined, imagined, and interpreted in countless ways, shaped by diverse cultures, technologies, and artistic lenses.
Bringing over 160 works, this exhibition presents life-sized illustrations, detailed woodcut artworks, rare books, and medical manuscripts across nine thematic sections.
6. The Portals Experience
Calling all sci-fi and fantasy fans: have you ever wondered what it might feel like to step into the world of your favourite novel or game? Now you can experience it for real with The Portals Experience at Fever Exhibition Hall. Billed as the world’s most extensive collection of original fantasy and science-fiction art, the exhibition invites you to step into eight richly imagined realms to explore more than 300 masterpieces, alongside over 10,000 books and miniatures that have inspired beloved universes, such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Dune and Warhammer 40,000.
Displayed are also original book cover art for classic titles, including David Wingrove’s White Moon, Red Dragon, and The Day After Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein. The experience is completed with immersive, larger-than-life sets that’ll transport you to these magical worlds. No digital screens or VR technology, just elaborate backdrops and plenty of imagination to create the ultimate photo op.
7. Botero: A Life in Fullness
Botero: A Life in Fullness pays homage to renowned Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero with a 40-minute audiovisual portrait narrated by his eldest son. The installation at IMBA Theatre marks the world’s first-ever immersive experience dedicated to the artist’s journey – both as a creative and a father. Combining large-scale projections, animations, and soundscapes, the showcase plays out like a detailed biography, tracing and celebrating Botero’s life and enduring legacy from his humble beginnings to his rise as a global icon. The exhibition is told through anecdotes and family memories, giving the audience a peek into his personal struggles, humour and joys of making art.
Life in Fullness runs alongside Botero: Garden Grandeur, featuring his monumental bronze sculptures scattered around Gardens by the Bay – free and accessible to all, as the artist intended.
8. Juju World by Cj Hendry
Juju World, the world’s first inflatable experience built around Cj Hendry’s collectible toy series, Juju, is coming to IMBA at Gardens by the Bay. This is her cult character series centred on a plush, rabbit-like figure with a flower over one eye. Fluffy and soft to the touch, the plush comes in an array of colours and is typically packaged in a blind box – so you’ll never know what colourway you’re about to get.
But for the first and only time, Juju World in Singapore will present the toy in a bold new yellow colourway. At the event, you can also expect a dreamscape filled with larger-than-life inflatable JuJu figures, a pit of yellow balls, and playful sculptural installations. As for merch – there’ll be oversized Juju dolls for sale, available nowhere else in the world.
9. i Light Singapore 2026
i Light Singapore has returned to Marina Bay (until June 28), bringing together 14 light installations by 17 artists, with a strong showing from Singapore and across Asia. The theme for this year’s showcase is Movement, and each artwork is built with eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient lighting, reflecting how our actions – no matter how big or small – can affect the things around us. Among the highlights is Wave by Japanese artist Masamichi Shimada. The interactive installation visualises the ripple effect through light and audio. For something a little more trippy, head to Raffles Place Park, where Arch Flower by Cyril Lancelin stands, a mesmerising tubular sculpture inspired by the city’s tropical gardens.
Over at the Marina Bay mist walk, step into a garden of wildflowers created with reclaimed metal offcuts and recycled carpet that glow and sway when touched. See the full lineup of featured installations here.
10. Inside Van Gogh, Monet and Gustav Klimt at Groundseesaw
‘Monet Inside’ is an immersive 360-degree art experience at Parkview Square, featuring Claude Monet alongside other world renowned artists Gustav Klimt and Vincent van Gogh.
Expect floor-to-ceiling digital projections across towering screens, original soundtracks, and narrated storytelling that brings each artist’s world, inspirations, and key works – like Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ and Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Sunflowers’ – to life.
Each segment runs about 45 minutes of guided audiovisual storytelling plus 15 minutes for exploration and photos, with the full visit taking roughly 1.5 hours. Separate tickets are required for each artist experience, offering a cinematic, museum-meets-theatre journey into three iconic art movements.
