Singapore Biennale co-artistic director on giving the arts exhibition a name

“What’s in a name? We pose this question as the Singapore Biennale returns in 2022 with the name Natasha. The act of naming a biennale may seem surprising, as exhibitions of this nature are usually developed around themes or curated statements.

However, for the Co-Artistic Director team (comprising Binna Choi, Nida Ghouse, Ala Younis, and myself ), the time of developing the biennale, when a pandemic and escalating climate crisis occurred, meant it was necessary to think a little differently about our curatorial approach. We were then drawn to how naming shifts the focus of the biennale from grand purposes to human-scale.

Natasha has meanings relating to birth and new beginnings

The name Natasha was already familiar to us through friends and people in the arts community. Its meanings relating to birth and new beginnings also seemed quite appropriate. It could have been any name, but what interested us is the simple but fundamental transformation that occurs the moment a name is given, as everything appears materially the same, yet it is drastically different. Moreover, naming holds the key to a story waiting to be told.

With a name, a relationship is forged and encoded; a name given at birth establishes relationships within a family or community; the exchange of names in an introduction performs a recognition of one another; and the application of names to objects, places and natural phenomena enables us to comprehend them better and feel an intimacy with the world around us.

Related: 7 stunners from the 2019 Venice Biennale

A call to journey with art in an investigation of life

Photo: Veronica Tay

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Artists participating in Natasha, both local and international, will present works that explore life, our attempts at understanding the world, and our stories and beliefs that connect and entangle us.

With the idea of being in the world a central aspect of the biennale, the event extends beyond gallery spaces to outdoor exhibits, such as on Lazarus and St John’s Islands. When on these islands, we cannot help but consider the environment and the cosmic questions of being.

Natasha is therefore more than a viewing of artworks. It is a call to journey with art and artists in an investigation of life from a perspective that is deeply personal and self-aware.”

Related: Singapore Biennale 2019 aims to effect positive change