Singapore Biennale 2025, Civic District edition: Five must-see artworks, one in a law firm

SINGAPORE – The Civic District might be one of Singapore’s most familiar arts precincts, but there are still unexpected venues to see art on this route – from a law firm office to Peninsula Plaza shops.

See art at both indoor and outdoor venues from Oct 31 to March 29

as part of Singapore Biennale 2025

. Here are five must-see artworks curated by The Straits Times, in this romantic 1.5km route that is also family-friendly. Admission is free.

1. Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s Temple (2025)

A modernist temple in bright neon orange has been erected atop the National Gallery Singapore, offering a different chime to the bells of the nearby St Andrew’s Cathedral.

Defused unexploded ordnance from Vietnam has been repurposed into percussive elements in Vietnamese-American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s Temple (2025). Visitors will be surprised at how these lethal weapons can be made to produce sonorous tones that offer a sense of calm.

The arc’s striking colour is a reference to the exact hue used to mark out areas contaminated by unexploded ordnance, as about 1.5 million tonnes have been left behind after the American bombing of the country during the Vietnam War (1955 to 1975).

Where: Level 5 Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Gallery, City Hall Wing, National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Road
When: 10am to 7pm daily

2. Maha Maamoun’s The Subduer (2017)

In the bureaucratic labyrinths of Egypt’s public notary offices, there is another paper trail – sheets containing prayers and aphorisms line their walls. Egyptian artist Maha Maamoun has brought some of this aesthetic to the front lobby of Peter Low Chambers, situated on a stern floor of The Adelphi lined with law firms. Visitors are reminded to be respectful of the workplace environment.

On the way to Oldham Theatre (see below), pop by Peninsula Plaza for Burmese food – Inle Myanmar Restaurant is a popular spot with the Burmese community. Look around the shops in “Little Myanmar” and see if you can spot poems by migrant workers on pink picnic sheets for sale in four units – a project by artist Colombia-born Gala Porras-Kim.

Where: 05-06 The Adelphi, 1 Coleman Street
When: 11am to 3pm, Tuesdays to Fridays

3. The Observatory & DuckUnit’s Membrane (2025)

There might not be any deep caves in Singapore to go spelunking in, but this virtual-reality work will give you a 15-minute experience of subterranean landscapes, combining field recordings with foley and synthesizer effects.

It is located within the Asian Film Archive’s Matter Matters exhibition, which explores how images are preserved by archives and artists. The Observatory & DuckUnit’s Membrane takes the concept a step further – harking back to the cave as a prehistoric cinema.

Where: Oldham Theatre, National Archives of Singapore, 1 Canning Rise
When: 11am to 7pm, Fridays to Sundays

4. Taiwanese art collective lololol’s Light Keeper (2025)

Take a sonic walk through Fort Canning Park by scanning a QR code at the Fort Canning Lighthouse. The location-based artwork Light Keeper throws up a cryptic range of sounds that evoke the history of the inactive lighthouse that was built in 1903.

At night, a light installation will play on the lighthouse – bringing it back to life since it was decommissioned in 1958. If you are too tired to make the trek up to the hill, you can try to catch the work from the Hill Street entrance at Funan.

Where: Fort Canning Lighthouse, Fort Canning Park
When: Sound walk – 24 hours daily; light installation – 7 to 11pm daily

5. Faysal Altunbozar’s Feeder No. 8, 9 and 10 (2025)

Things come full circle as Istanbul-born artist Faysal Altunbozar’s bird feeders, shaped like ballistic missiles, recall Nguyen’s Temple at the start of the route. Enter Fort Canning Centre and get some respite from the heat with a room of works that reference the lush tropical environment of the park.

Look closely and you can see the camouflage prints on the surface of these “missiles”. These patterns were designed for American army personnel to camouflage in South-east Asia’s jungle environment during the Vietnam War.

Where: Gallery@L3, Fort Canning Centre, Fort Canning Park
When: 10am to 6pm daily