Lai Foong Moi. Crossing. 1964. Oil on canvas, 77 x 65 cm. Collection of Singapore Airlines
Framed through the experience of “crossing(s)” as moments of transition, encounter and becoming, the exhibition on Nanyang Artist Lai Foong Mooi (1931-1995) positions her practice as a site to consider how identity was pictured and lived in the 1960s in Singapore and Malaya – a productive period in her career which intersected with profound social transformation and national reimagination.
Although working within conventional genres of portraiture, still life, and landscape painting, Lai’s attention to subjects of gender, labour, and urban development offer a distinct perspective about modern life in Singapore during the immediate pre-and-post independence period.
Dalam Singapore is a series of exhibitions in the annexe of DBS Singapore Gallery 3 which is periodically refreshed with focused explorations of specific artists or themes that give deeper insights into lesser-known figures and stories from Singapore’s art history.
Project Director: Seng Yu Jin
Curator: Teo Hui Min
Venue: National Gallery Singapore
When: 14 Aug - 3 Oct 2026,
By: National Gallery Singapore
