Five must-see works at National Gallery Singapore’s Crossings and Art Remembers shows

SINGAPORE – Two new exhibitions at the National Gallery Singapore – Art Remembers and Lai Foong Moi: Crossings – make a trip to the museum worthwhile. The Straits Times picks five works not to miss at the exhibitions, which are free for Singaporean citizens and permanent residents.

1. The Fish Does Not Know The War Is Over (2025) by Robert Zhao Renhui

The tilapia swims feral in Singapore’s drains today – but it was not always the case, as the fish species was introduced experimentally in the country only in 1944 by the Japanese to address wartime protein shortages.

A cheeky documentarian of the region’s natural history and species, Singaporean artist Robert Zhao Renhui takes his camera to Singapore’s longkangs (Malay for canals) and farms in Taiwan – a major tilapia supplier – to reveal what nature remembers of war. What he fishes out is the revelation that nature, too, can disobediently record movements and migrations during a war even as memories of it fade for younger generations.

2. Fading Marks (2015) by Vanghoua Anthony Vue

The Vietnam War of 1955 to 1975 might be a major conflict during the Cold War, but less known is the United States’ “secret war” waged in nearby Laos. Australian artist Vanghoua Anthony Vue, of Hmong heritage, would learn of the war only through a Hmong television documentary and his father’s re-enactment of wartime experiences alongside the show.

The fuzziness of these small-format oil on wood paintings, which draw on images from the documentary, reveal the unstable workings of memory. Yet, despite what looks deliberately low resolution, the work’s grainy quality ironically challenges the viewer to look closely at family histories that do not easily meet the eye.

3. Mendjelang Hari Gemilang (Towards A Glory Day) (2024 to 2026) by Krack!

Drawing on popular imagery during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Yogyakarta-based print-making collective Krack! has assembled a colourful archive of colonial propaganda across banners, videos, print materials and a mural. Its vibrant colours restore the archive to its original uses – uplifting the spirit of the occupied.

Watch a video of a Yogyakarta-based heavy metal band and youth orchestra re-enacting the score of Japanese propaganda music Poelang (Going Home), which is, in fact, written by an Indonesian composer. The work, juxtaposing propaganda from various sources, raises questions about complicity and collaboration.

4. The Japanese War Art 1946 (2022 to 2026) by Fujii Hikaru

There is something haunting about seeing large empty frames occupying the entire City Hall Chamber, the exact room where the Japanese proclaimed their surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945. Japanese contemporary artist Fujii Hikaru’s installation of stretched fabrics are ghostly remnants of 54 wartime propaganda paintings that depict South-east Asia.

The actual propaganda paintings, interestingly, were confiscated by the United States after the war and remain on “indefinite loan” to the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo up till today. The display of the actual paintings is still a testy subject in Japan even as some military paintings have begun to be shown in exhibitions in 2025 – although, according to Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, with little fanfare and publicity.

5. Repairing (1960) by Lai Foong Moi

What is on show at Nanyang artist Lai Foong Moi’s first solo exhibition in 63 years is predominantly her contemplative portraits of women and introspective shots of urban life.

But Repairing, which abstractly depicts men working on docked ships, is a stylistic departure from her usual realist work and worth closer consideration.

Flattened onto a single plane, Lai’s bold use of colours and geometric outlines stand out. This exceptional work is a reminder of the possibility of nascent aesthetic experiments in her work.