Boedi Widjaja and geneticist Dr. Eric Yap in conversation on DNA as medium, the body as archive, and memory as inheritance. Moderated by Lu Xiaohui, curator, NTU Museum.
What if a poem becomes DNA, and history is inheritable code? Since 2019, Boedi has collaborated with Dr. Yap, drawing on molecular biology to extend his investigations into language, lineage, and memory. Through this cross-disciplinary exchange, Boedi has developed DNA-encoded verses, molecular nanosculptures and shape-shifting DNA forms that speak to diaspora and displacement. Presented internationally, from Chiang Rai, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, to Paris, Liverpool, New York, and Monterrey, the projects embody a rare, long-running artist–scientist dialogue that foregrounds DNA as both material and metaphor. For Boedi, whose practice repeatedly returns to migration, estranged origins, and inherited histories, DNA becomes a medium for the diasporic condition: fragile, mutable, and endlessly recombined.
Venue: ShanghART Singapore, 9 Lock Road, #02-22, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108937
When: 24 Jan 2026, 4.30pm - 6pm
