Amanda Heng Selected for Singapore Pavilion at 2026 Venice Biennale

At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Singapore will showcase a solo exhibition by feminist performance artist Amanda Heng, curated by Selene Yap from the Singapore Art Museum. At 74, Heng will be the oldest artist to have a solo presentation at the Singapore Pavilion, following Shubigi Rao, who was the first woman to do so in 2022. Heng's artistic journey began during Singapore's late-1980s experimental art movement, utilizing physical actions such as walking to explore themes of gender, societal norms, and memory. In 1999, she made a statement against performance art limitations with her piece Walking the Stool. The government had prohibited performance art funding in 2004, imposing a decade-long ban. In 2010, she was awarded Singapore's prestigious Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts. Eugene Tan, CEO of SAM and co-chair of the commissioning panel, commended her work for its poetic engagement with body and lived experience. The exhibition will take place from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Sale d'Armi in Venice.