Things To Do In Singapore: An Archival Fashion Market, i Light Singapore & More

WEEK OF JUNE 1

STEP INTO A LIBRARY OF RARE JAPANESE MAGAZINES

For five days only, Supper House gallery turns into a browsing library of rare Japanese magazines from the 1990s and early 2000s, brought together by Dirt Fruits and em___porium. More than 60 titles — including cult staples like FRUiTS, KERA and CUTiE — are available to flip through, offering a snapshot of Japan’s Heisei-era street style, subcultures and visual experimentation. It’s less an exhibition to look at than a space to sit in, leaf through, and get lost in — a kind of time capsule of youth culture before algorithms and feeds.

June 1 - 5, 12pm - 7pm, at Supper House, 37 Keppel Road, #04-02

SHOP ARCHIVAL FASHION, CONTEMPORARY ART, AND CULTURE ALL IN ONE ROOM

‘See See Look Look’ is one of the largest independent fashion archival markets to take place in Singapore — but what makes it interesting isn’t just the scale. It’s the way it deliberately collapses different scenes into the same space: archival fashion, emerging local labels, contemporary art, rare publications, food, and music, all happening at once inside Supper House at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

Across 33 vendors from eight countries, you’ll find everything from archival grails and cult designer pieces to smaller independent makers from Singapore and across the region. The point isn’t just to shop — it’s to see what happens when these usually separate worlds are placed side by side, without hierarchy.

June 6 - 7, 12pm - 8pm, at Supper House, 37 Keppel Road, #04-02

SETTLE INTO AN EXPERIMENTAL LISTENING SESSION

Parallel Playground returns for its second edition with a night that sits somewhere between a listening session and a club experience. Led by Kin Leonn and Yetpet, the programme moves away from standard dancefloor sets into something more open-ended — less about building to a peak, more about exploring different directions in sound.

DJs Kin Leonn steps outside his usual ambient style into more varied territory, while Yetpet brings an unpredictable approach that keeps the night from settling into one mood for too long. The idea is simple: you’re not here for a typical club set, but for something looser and more experimental in form.

Get your tickets here

June 6, 5pm - 10pm, at a hidden venue (location will be shared with ticket holders 24 hours before)

HEAD FOR SINGAPORE’S LARGEST HARAJUKU-INSPIRED MARKET

Popular J-fashion market Konbini returns for its fifth edition — and this time, it’s the biggest one yet. More than 80 booths will take over *SCAPE Ground Theatre, bringing together preloved J-fashion and alt fashion, handmade accessories, trinkets, and independent local labels in one sprawling market space.

But it’s not just a shopping event. Konbini leans fully into its Harajuku-inspired energy, with visitors encouraged to show up in full looks, get photographed, and move through the space as much as they shop it. There are also styling stations, photobooths, and small perks built into the day — from makeup and hair touch-ups to stamp-based rewards and giveaways.

June 6 - 7, 11am - 7pm, at *SCAPE Ground Theatre, 2 Orchard Link

WALK THROUGH LIGHT, ART, AND A CITY TRANSFORMED AFTER DARK

Light festival i Light Singapore is back, expanding beyond Marina Bay into the Singapore River and Raffles Place for the first time. This year’s theme, To Gather, unfolds across 17 large-scale light installations that turn the city into a walkable night circuit of art and public space.

The works are designed to respond to movement. Some shift with footsteps, others with biometric inputs, while oversized installations remake familiar waterfront spaces into something slightly disorienting. The effect is a city that doesn’t just light up, but reacts to people moving through it.

Among the line-up is Japanese artist Masamichi Shimada, whose work WAVE (pictured) turns the ground into a responsive field of light and sound. Visitors tap a series of silver rods embedded in the floor to trigger ripples that spread across the surface like raindrops on water — a simple interaction that becomes a visual reminder of how small actions can create larger effects.

More details here

June 5 - 28, 7.30pm - 10.30pm, at various locations across Marina Bay, South Beach, Singapore River and Raffles Place

ENTER ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST SCI-FI & FANTASY EXHIBITIONS

Sci-fi geeks, you don’t want to miss this one. Opening this month, PORTALS turns a 13,000 sq ft space on Scotts Road into an immersive walk-through journey across eight themed “realms” inspired by fantasy, sci-fi, and gaming worlds. It’s part exhibition, part set build — moving visitors through fully constructed environments rather than a traditional gallery display.

At its core is something you almost never get to see in public: original sci-fi and fantasy book cover paintings. These are the physical works — oil, acrylic, gouache canvases — that defined the Golden Age visual language of the genre. Not prints, not reproductions, but the actual originals, shown at full scale.

The experience also includes a new Singapore commission, Future Singapore: 2126, a series by illustrator Kristal Melson that reimagines the city a century into the future and is available in limited form at the gift shop.
At a time when most imagery is digital and disposable, PORTALS is built around something slower and more physical — paint, texture, and worlds made by hand.

Get your tickets here

On now till Sept 2, 9am - 9pm, at Fever Exhibition Hall, 25 Scotts Road

CATCH NIALL BREEN’S FIRST SHOW IN SINGAPORE

Heartware Store & Gallery presents the first Singapore exhibition by Irish comic artist Niall Breen, best known for his quietly funny, deeply comforting Dog & Frog comics that have built a cult following online over the years.

At a time when everything feels like it’s moving faster, Breen’s work sits in the opposite direction. His daily comics focus on small, ordinary moments — the kind you usually scroll past — turning them into something tender, funny, and unexpectedly grounding. Lazy Days with Dog & Frog extends that world into physical space, with an exhibition built around slowness, stillness, and doing very little on purpose.

Alongside the works is a range of collaborative objects — blankets, mats, pillowcases — designed less as merch, more as permission to stay in bed a little longer. It’s a simple idea, but an easy one to miss in a city like this: nothing happening can still be something worth paying attention to.

On now till July 26, 12pm - 7pm daily, at Heartware Store & Gallery, 350B Joo Chiat Road

SEE HOW A TRADITIONAL CRAFT GETS A CONTEMPORARY UPGRADE

Chinese seal carving is usually something you see at the end of a painting or calligraphy work — a small stamp, almost like a signature. This exhibition Rock and ? puts the seal squarely n the spotlight instead.

Rock and ? brings together artists Michelle JN Lim and Tan Seow Wei, who are rethinking what seal carving can be today. Instead of sticking to traditional formats, they use seal carving in collage, prints, painting, and mixed media works, turning it into something more experimental and playful.

Lim’s works look at modern dating, heartbreak, and emotional burnout, using carved phrases that feel personal and relatable, while Tan’s works draw from everyday Singaporean food and local slang, turning familiar words and ideas into visual art. The result is a simple idea: a traditional craft, shown in a way that feels fresh, current, and easy to connect with.

June 6 - 14, 11am - 7pm at Art Outreach, 5 Lock Road, #01-06 Gillman Barracks

WEEK OF MAY 25:

CATCH QUEER STORIES ACROSS CLASSICS, CULT FILMS, AND CONTEMPORARY CINEMA

The beloved queer film festival Pink Fest is back for its ninth edition: this year’s programme moves between camp classics and contemporary queer cinema, tracing LGBTQ+ lives across generations, geographies and moods — from Hollywood drag-road-trip chaos in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), to the aching quiet of Brokeback Mountain (2005), and newer regional stories like Cactus Pears, which explore love, duty, survival and resistance in South Asian contexts. We’d also recommend Queer As Punk (pictured), the plucky documentary focusing on Malaysian queer punk band Shh … Diam! and its struggles in a country known for being conservative.

More than a screening series, Pink Screen feels like a reminder of what cinema can still do: pull people into the same room and make them sit with stories that are funny, painful, tender, defiant — sometimes all at once. It’s less about neat representation and more about the messy, very human ways people try to love, live and find themselves in the world.

Get your tickets here

May 29 - June 28, various times, at Filmhouse, 6001 Beach Road, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower

GET EDUCATED ON SUSTAINABILITY

Earthopia Fest is bringing climate action out of policy decks and into something more immediate — workshops, thrift racks, sound baths, and upcycled art. Organised by City Sprouts, the three-day festival gathers youth groups, artists, green businesses and community collectives across more than 100 partners and 5,000 participants, all orbiting a simple idea: sustainability only works if people can actually take part in it.

Across the weekend, that plays out in plastic turned into pouches, clothes reworked into identity experiments, soil and urban farming demos, climate anxiety conversations, and panel talks on heat, pollution and nature-based solutions — all threaded through installations that turn waste into something unexpectedly visual. Nights tip into live sets from Sobs, Heema Izzati, Club Mild, Shye and The Jukuleles, turning the park into something closer to a gathering than a programme. This is sustainability activism that’s not asking for perfect habits, just participation.

More details here

May 29 - 31, 10am - 10pm, at Fort Canning Green

HEAD TO PULAU UBIN FOR AN UNUSUAL ARTS FESTIVAL

Drama Box’s latest festival, Under Ubin Night Skies, takes over Pulau Ubin this weekend, inviting you to experience the island after dusk through theatre, sound, light and slow encounters with nature. The festival unfolds across a series of guided and open experiences, from forest therapy walks and a night nature tour, to promenade theatre In the Middle of the Water, which moves audiences through jetty, quarry, kampong and temple as stories of the island unfold in real time.

There are also acoustic sets by the jetty, hands-on art workshops using found materials, and the reprise of There is No Tiger in the Mountain, reflecting on how villagers live alongside wildlife. At night, Sai Hua Kuan’s Roam installation lights up the temple grounds, drawing from local tiger folklore and the idea of the island as a living, protective presence — while the festival closes with puppet theatre by The Finger Players and a concert of songs drawn from Ubin’s own histories and memories.

More details here

May 30 - June 5, various times, at Pulau Ubin

CATCH A SEAFOOD POP-UP THAT TURNS THE DINING TABLE INTO A WET MARKET STORY

Pasarfish — the education-meets-food-sustainability platform founded by Kenny Lek and Elliott James Ong — is best known for its wet market tours and research-led work on Singapore’s seafood culture, and for the first time, they’re doing a F&B pop-up at Chef X. (FYI, Chef X is a rotating F&B space launched by Far East Organization where chefs and food creators run short-term pop-ups and experimental dining concepts — basically a launchpad for new food ideas).

The result is part restaurant, part exhibition — where what you eat is tied directly to how it’s sourced, understood, and remembered. Across lunch, dinner and dessert, the 16-dish menu reworks familiar flavours through a whole-fish approach — from kaya toast reimagined with fish sauce and tee poh butter, to wolf herring brioche, fish bone broths, and desserts like tobiko tiramisu and anchovy caramel flan. It’s playful, but rooted in a deeper look at Singapore’s seafood heritage and how we eat today.

May 27 - July 26, at Chef X, Clarke Quay Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #03-103/104

SUPPORT SMALL LOCAL BIZ AND ARTISTS AT APPLE FARMACY

A market filled with merch from the cutest small biz owners, illustrators, and artists, all unique and unlike anything you’ll find in a mall - all gathered in one spot. What’s not to love?

May 30 - 31, 12pm - 7pm, at Venue+, 601 MacPherson Road, #06-08 Grantral Mall

ENTER A SONIC WORLD SHAPED BY VOLCANOES

Yes, it may be the earliest you’ll ever wake up for a performance, but we guarantee The Observatory’s RUPTURE work, shown as part of the ongoing Singapore International Festival of Arts, will be worth it. Inspired by volcanoes and seismic activity, the local art rock group gathered field recordings and seismic data from the Earth’s hidden movements and transformed it into an immersive soundscape that takes place at dawn.

Admission is free

May 28 - 30, 6.30am - 7.30am, at Empress Lawn outside Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place

CATCH SINGAPORE’S BEST INDIE ACTS ALL IN ONE SPOT

If your ideal night involves live music, sweat, distortion, and leaving with your ears ringing a little, this one’s for you. Housekeeping wraps up a month of Filmhouse’s housewarming festivities with one final night of fuzz and groove featuring live sets from Fickle, Tomo Blu, Krunkle, Bellied Star and ABSRD., plus DJ sets by Disco Hue, failtrylagi and New Masculine. Entry is free, with pay-as-you-wish donations encouraged.

May 30, 7pm till late, at Filmhouse, 6001 Beach Road, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower

STEP INTO HIROSHI SUGIMOTO’S MESMERISING WORLD

The first major Southeast Asian solo exhibition by internationally renowned Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, the show gathers over 60 works across photography, sculpture, and installation — from his quietly hypnotic seascapes to works that feel more like objects of thought than objects of art.

Structured around the Buddhist idea of the Five Elements, the show doesn’t really behave like a traditional exhibition so much as it loops back on itself — earth into water into fire into wind into void — like it’s trying to dissolve the usual way you move through a gallery. It’s a rare chance to spend time with the work of one of the world’s most quietly influential contemporary artists.

 May 29 - Oct 4, 10am - 7pm, at Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road

HIT UP A FLEA MARKET FOR THE VINTAGE LOVERS

A rotating flea market for things that deserve another chapter. What started as a casual, slightly chaotic living-room hang where neighbours wandered in and left with armfuls of finds is now back for its second edition, bigger, looser, and still built on the same simple thrill of giving old things somewhere new to go. Expect to score treasures from some of the island’s most stylish folks, including our favourite food artist Gong Hua.

May 30 - 31, 10am - 6pm, at Objects.re, 51 Tannery Lane, #08-01

WEEK OF MAY 18:

STEP INTO A SCHOLAR’S GATHERING THIS MAY

What happens when artisanal fashion, handmade objects, tea, coffee and a food installation collide in an industrial building along Shaw Road? You get ‘the scholar’s gathering’, a new two-day showcase presented by emerging artisanal clothing label A Looming Lily (pictured).

Started earlier this year by Timothy Ho and Reinard Risman — fresh graduates from NAFA’s Design Practice course — A Looming Lily approaches clothing-making with almost obsessive levels of care. Think hand-stitched buttonholes, garments produced in tiny batches, and buttons sculpted by the duo themselves using ceramic, 925 silver and even bog oak. Their slow, artisan-led approach feels almost like a quiet rebellion against mass production; less trend cycle, more Arts and Crafts movement. Elsewhere, Songs From The Pantry will be presenting a food installation, while Kurasu Singapore serves coffee and tea throughout the showcase.

If fast fashion and algorithm-churned aesthetics have you feeling a little spiritually exhausted, this exquisite showcase might just be the antidote.

May 23 - 24, 12pm - 8pm, at Tokonoma, 16 Shaw Road, #03-10

CHECK OUT THE LASALLE SHOW 2026

Graduation season is officially upon us and if you’re curious about what the next generation of Singapore creatives are making right now, The Lasalle Show 2026 is probably one to have on your radar. Returning this May, the annual showcase transforms the school’s McNally campus into a sprawling exhibition featuring over 600 works by graduating students across diploma, BA (Hons) and MA programmes.

Expect everything from contemporary art, design and film to animation, creative writing, art therapy and music therapy projects, all spread across various spaces within the campus. And yes, if you caught the buzz around last week’s Lasalle Graduate Fashion Show staged inside Cantonment MRT station, this is where you’ll also be able to get a closer look at the graduating fashion cohort’s collections.

Opens May 21, 7pm - 9pm, on till June 3, 12pm - 8pm daily, across various locations at Lasalle’s McNally Campus, 1 McNally Street

CATCH LAUFEY LIVE IN SINGAPORE

She’s back — and this time, it’s her biggest Asia tour yet. If you’ve been following Laufey’s journey (or just quietly replaying her songs on late-night walks), you’ll know this has been a long time coming. Laufey returns to Singapore this week, bringing her A Matter of Time Tour to the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Since we last spoke to her, Laufey’s rise has only sharpened — from sold-out shows across North America and Europe to picking up the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for A Matter of Time. But what hasn’t changed is the way her music feels: intimate, slightly old-world, a little cinematic, like it’s always been waiting somewhere in the background of your life. This tour sees her stepping onto much bigger stages, but still holding onto that signature softness — jazz-tinged melodies, classical textures, and lyrics that somehow feel like they know you personally.

Get your tickets here

May 19, 8pm, at Singapore Indoor Stadium, 2 Stadium Walk

IMMERSE YOURSELF INTO RISING ART STAR VANESSA LIEM’S SURREAL WORLD

What does it actually feel like to be watched? Not in a dramatic way, but in the everyday sense — when you’re aware of your body, your face, your presence in a room. That quiet tension sits at the centre of The Third Person in the Room, a new solo exhibition by fast-rising Singapore artist Vanessa Liem, who’s best-known for her introspective paintings, using an uncanny combination of colours, an unflinching presentation of the female body and distorted, alien-esque proportions to manifest her inner worlds.

This is Liem’s first solo show in Singapore after finishing her BA at the University of the Arts London, and it feels very much like a return — not just geographically, but emotionally. The works were made in her London studio, but they circle around something more internal: how it feels to exist when you’re aware of being observed.

In the paintings, people sit in rooms, stand under harsh light, or appear in mirrors that split them into fragments. Nothing is overly dramatic, but everything feels slightly heightened — like the moment you realise you’re being perceived, even when no one is speaking. At its core, the show isn’t asking you to decode anything. It’s more interested in that simple, slightly uncomfortable idea: what changes when you know you’re being seen?

On now till June 27, 12pm - 7pm, at Cuturi Gallery, 61 Aliwal Street

CATCH A FILM PROGRAMME THAT PRESENTS ALTERNATE VISIONS OF SINGAPORE

Singapore is often presented as a success story but what lies beneath its shiny exterior? The Asian Film Archive’s new programme, Reel Singapore, brings together films made in and about the city (pictured here: Kelvin Tong’s gritty ’90s classic Eating Air), from across different eras and perspectives.

Running throughout the month of May at Oldham Theatre, the programme is presented alongside Raphael Millet’s new book Singapore: A Cinematic Portrait, which traces more than a century of local cinema through archival material, interviews, posters and photographs. Together, they build a layered picture of Singapore on screen — shaped not just by locals, but also by migrants, visitors, and those passing through.

Check out the full line-up here

On now till May 30, various times, at Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise

CATCH A FILM SCREENING ABOUT MIGRANT LIVES AND A POETRY READING

Culture programmer Weekend Culture returns with its sophomore edition this May, this time turning its attention to labour — not just as work, but as process, craft, and the often unseen systems that hold a city together.

Across film, music, workshops and community sessions, the programme opens up questions about what gets hidden behind Singapore’s surface of efficiency and progress. From construction sites behind blue tarps to the quiet realities of migrant life, it looks at the people and practices that rarely sit in plain sight.

One of the centrepieces is Lei Yuan Bin’s I Dream of Singapore (2019), a documentary that follows migrant worker Feroz between Singapore and Bangladesh, tracing the fragile line between aspiration and precarity. Alongside it is Bridging Worlds, Carrying Dreams, a poetry gathering by non-profit Migrant Writers of Singapore, spotlighting migrant voices writing through lived experience rather than observing from a distance. There’s also a DIY Pocketbook workshop by radioriotgrrrl invites audiences to build their own field notebooks using scrap materials — a hands-on way of thinking about documentation, memory, and everyday labour.

Get your tickets here

May 24, 1.30pm, at Filmhouse,6001 Beach Road, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower

HIT UP A VINYL MARKET

If your idea of a good weekend involves crate digging while someone spins dusty gems in the background, Bizarro Bazaar is probably worth clearing your Saturday for. Happening as part of Filmhouse’s opening month celebrations at Golden Mile Tower, the one-day music marketplace brings together a mix of record stores, collectors and independent vendors under one roof.

Expect stacks of vinyl, CDs, cassettes, merch, tees and zines — from rarities and collectibles to the kind of bargain-bin finds that somehow end up becoming your most-played purchase. Vendors this edition include Bizarro Market, BINYL, Alcoholiday, Indie Uncles and more. There’ll also be a rotating lineup of vinyl selectors soundtracking the day live, including Daniel Peters, KiDG, Nicolette, Phillson R and weelikeme, so expect plenty of reasons to linger longer than intended.

May 23, 2pm - 8pm, at Filmhouse,6001 Beach Road, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower

CATCH A SHOW REIMAGINING HOW WE SEE DISABILITY

What happens when everything that makes us human is erased? YEAR ZERO: Disability Redefined by non-profit organisation (which advocates for persons with disabilities in the arts) ART:DIS throws audiences into a world after collapse, where bodies are controlled, voices are silenced, and even memory feels unstable.

Commissioned by the ongoing Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), the outdoor production brings together eight disabled and non-disabled performers in a work that questions conventional ideas of ability, productivity and power — and asks who gets to be visible, heard, and remembered in the futures we build.

Rather than offering easy answers, YEAR ZERO leans fully into discomfort, urgency and collective rebuilding. The result feels less like traditional theatre and more like stepping into a fractured future still trying to imagine another way forward.

Admission is free

May 20 - 22, 8pm - 9pm, Empress Lawn, Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place

WEEK OF MAY 11:

SAVOUR THE FIRST LOEWE FOUNDATION CRAFT PRIZE EXHIBITION IN SINGAPORE

One of the world’s most prestigious craft awards is landing in Southeast Asia for the first time — and yes, it’s happening right here in Singapore. From May 13 to June 14, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize will take over the National Gallery Singapore with works from 30 finalists across ceramics, textiles, metalwork, furniture, jewellery, lacquer, bookbinding and more.

Started by Loewe and its cultural arm, the Loewe Foundation, the annual prize has quietly become one of the most respected platforms for contemporary craft today — less “traditional artisan fair”, more “what happens when centuries-old techniques get weird, conceptual and incredibly beautiful”. This year alone saw over 5,100 submissions from 133 countries.

Among the finalists is Singaporean bookbinder Adelene Koh, only the second Singapore artist to ever make the shortlist. Her work, Endless (pictured), takes one of bookbinding’s tiniest details — the embroidered endband stitched onto a book spine — and blows it up into a sculptural, architectural form made from folded pages, embroidery thread and aluminium wire. It’s meticulous, slightly obsessive, and exactly the kind of thing that makes you realise craft can be just as conceptually rich as contemporary art. Trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this show.

Check out our interview with Koh before you head down for the show here

May 13 - June 14, 10am - 7pm, at National Gallery Singapore, 1 St.Andrew’s Road

SHOP UP A STORM AT BOUTIQUES FAIR

If your wardrobe has been due for a seasonal refresh, Boutiques Singapore is back with over 300 brands spanning fashion, jewellery, beauty, homeware, food and more. This year’s Spring Summer edition puts a sharper spotlight on fashion, with a wave of new regional labels and homegrown designers making their Singapore debut or launching exclusive collections.

Among the names to look out for: Bali-based label SANJE (pictured), known for its cute embroidery, locally launched fashion project LIAU by erhu musician Calista Liaw, and viral jewellery brand Sunnyside with its playful glass flower charms and one-of-a-kind rings. There’s also Vietnamese cult label Bunnyhill Concept, outdoor apparel brand Goliath, and plenty of sculptural bags, modular jewellery, and “where did you get that?” pieces waiting to wreck your bank account a little.

But beyond the shopping, this year’s edition is leaning harder into lifestyle territory. Expect a new Art & Chess Circle lounge by GOFY and Aliwal Chess Club with workshops, live portraits and artist-led activities, alongside a vinyl-focused Music Lounge curated with Avant Culture Club. There’ll even be a spot where you can record your own message onto a personalised vinyl.

Get your tickets here

May 15 - 16, 11am - 9pm, May 17, 10am - 6pm, at F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard

GO TO A DAWN SOUND RITUAL, A RAVE, OR AN AERIAL SHOW AT SIFA 2026

This year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts wants you to stop thinking of performance art as something you quietly sit through in a dark theatre. Under new festival director Chong Tze Chien, SIFA 2026 is leaning into something far more playful, social, and a little unpredictable — from dawn sound rituals and immersive outdoor performances to giant aerial sculptures, interactive movement workshops, and late-night raves.

Part of a new three-year festival arc titled Legacy, Roots, Renaissance, this year’s edition focuses on “Legacy” — but not in a dusty-history-book way. Instead, many of the works explore rituals, traditions, memory, and everyday behaviour through contemporary performance, sound, dance, and installation art. Think less high art homework, more wandering around the city accidentally stumbling into something surreal.

A few highlights already stand out. There’s Noli Timere (pictured), a jaw-dropping aerial performance where dancers move inside a giant floating net sculpture suspended 25 feet in the air; Rupture by local experimental band The Observatory, a dawn sound installation built using volcanic recordings and seismic data; and AUTOMATA: Excess Without Return, a free closing-night rave by Big Duck Music that slowly spirals from ambient listening session into full dancefloor chaos. We’ve done the homework for you — our SIFA 2026 picks here

Check out the full programme here

May 15 - 30, various times and locations

DANCE TO BABY J

If your algorithm has fed you one of Baby J’s euphoric live sets before, chances are you already get the appeal. The Jakarta-born, Australia-raised DJ has gone from bedroom mixes to playing festivals like Glastonbury Festival and supporting acts like Peggy Gou — all while building a reputation for dance sets that feel emotional, high-energy, and deeply online in the best way possible. Her sets pull from house, techno and euphoric club sounds, but never in a way that feels overly polished or distant. There’s still something communal and slightly chaotic about them — the kind of atmosphere that makes even a massive venue feel weirdly intimate.

Now she’s bringing her Asia tour to Singapore for a one-night open-air show at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, with a centre-stage setup surrounded by the venue’s industrial warehouse backdrop. Expect sunset-to-night energy, food trucks, drinks, big lighting setups, and the kind of crowd that probably knows how to curate a very good Instagram dump.

Get your tickets here

May 16, 6pm, at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road

GET CRAFT-Y WITH GOFY

Need a break from shopping at Boutiques Singapore? Southeast Asian art platform GOFY is turning part of the fair into a more laidback art-and-community hangout. Taking over Space 07 in Room 2A alongside Aliwal Chess Club, they’re bringing together artist talks, live portrait drawing sessions, workshops, stamp activities, and small interactive programmes.

Part of GOFY’s appeal has always been the way it approaches art through community and collectability rather than intimidation. The platform has quietly become known for spotlighting emerging artists and playful artist-made objects from around Southeast Asia, often presenting contemporary art in ways that feel more casual, tactile, and genuinely approachable. Alongside artist goods and new releases, visitors can also join hands-on activities throughout the weekend — including paper collage lampshade workshops, zine-making sesssions, and live portraits drawn on-site.

Honestly, the programming alone is worth heading down for, regardless of the fair. Check out the full line-up here

May 15 - 18, various times, at Space 07, Room 2A (Level 2), at F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard

TRY A MYSTICAL “MEDICINE” FOR BAD VIBES AT THIS ART SHOW

Feeling spiritually off? Slightly cursed? Emotionally buffering? A new “remedy” has arrived at indie art space I_S_L_A_N_D_S — though whether it actually heals you or just convinces you it might is kind of the point.

Created by artists Hoo Fan Chon, Hasanul Isyraf Idris, and Izat Arif under the collective Tiga Tabib HooHaZat, the new exhibition Ubat Tolak Bala (“Medicine to Ward Off Misfortune”) takes the form of a fictional wellness ointment inspired by Nusantara healing traditions, commercial remedies, ritual practices, and a slightly techno-mystical sense of humour.

Part installation, part performance, part pseudo-spiritual product launch, the work plays with the language of wellness culture and inherited belief systems — especially our tendency to trust things that sound ancient, holistic, or vaguely magical when life feels unstable. The “medicine” itself remains intentionally ambiguous, leaving visitors somewhere between skepticism, curiosity, and “okay but what if it actually works?” Dosage, side effects, and emotional breakthroughs presumably not guaranteed.

May 16, 2pm - 5pm, May 17 - June 27, 10am - 10pm, at I_S_L_A_N_D_S, B1 Passageway between Excelsior and Peninsula Shopping Centres

SEE A SOLO SHOW THAT REIMAGINES THE HUMAN BODY

At Richard Koh Fine Art, emerging Singapore artist Siew Guang Hong presents his first solo exhibition with the gallery — a new body of work that looks at the human body less as a fixed form and more as something constantly shifting, breaking apart, and reassembling.

Across photography, sculpture-like prints, and performance, the show, titled The Body Improper, takes apart familiar images of the body and rebuilds them into something slightly unsettling. Hands, feet, and limbs are layered, stretched, and digitally collaged until they begin to resemble non-human organisms — part insect, part fish, part something harder to name. From far away, they might read as natural forms; up close, you realise they’re made entirely from fragments of the human body.

The exhibition also unfolds beyond static work. A live performance on May 23 (11am - 5pm) and a series of artist walkthroughs turn the show into something more temporal and embodied, reinforcing its interest in the body as process rather than object.

May 16 - June 13, 11am - 7pm (closed on Mondays), at Richard Koh Fine Art, Blk 47 Malan Road, #01-26 Gillman Barracks

WEEK OF MAY 4:

GO TO AN INTIMATE HOUSE PARTY AT ROWELL ROAD

Singaporean illustrator and visual artist Hafizah Jainal and musician Sean Sundaran are opening up their Rowell Road home one last time — a space that’s quietly held a whole ecosystem of people, pets, and in-betweens over the years — before they move out of the space.

It’s bittersweet, but the mood leans warm rather than heavy. Think: a loose, come-as-you-are gathering with a small art market folded in. Expect prints, objects, and zines from names like Aanchovies, Auntie Make Flower, AlmostAsthma, Empatmata, Hello Ari, Sendok Rakyat, and Your Local Newsstand. Fuel comes in the form of matcha by Ceremonial Poison, while the soundtrack is handled by a rotating lineup including Adel Alsagoff, Saiful Pxxl, Ella Hadid, 54bbyyy, KB Killstar, and Irwan Salim.

May 9, 12pm - 7pm, at 32 Rowell Road

GO SEE THE NEXT WAVE OF ARTISTS AT THE NTU ADM GRAD SHOW

If you want a read on what the next generation of artists and designers are thinking about right now, this is where to start. The annual grad show by Nanyang Technological University School of Art, Design and Media returns with Altered Variables — a theme that leans into flux, uncertainty, and everything in between.

Across disciplines, the show brings together a mix of practices shaped by shared conditions — think shifting technologies, cultural crosscurrents, and the general weirdness of entering the “real world.” The result: a body of work that feels experimental, transitional, and very much in process, in a good way.

May 10 - 17, 11am - 8pm, at New Bahru, School Hall, Level 2, 48 Kim Yan Road

TURN UP FOR A BLIND BOOK SWAP

Local publisher Epigram Books is hosting its first blind book swap — and the idea is as simple as it sounds, but a little more revealing than you’d expect. Participants bring one book, wrap it up, and leave only clues on the outside. Not titles, not authors, not summaries — just fragments of opinion and memory. Why it worked. Why it didn’t. Why it was abandoned halfway through and never picked back up. The kind of honesty you don’t usually write on a book.

Everything gets placed on a table, and everyone picks one at random. Then comes a short round where people share what they chose — not the book itself, but the clues that led them there. After that, the room goes quiet for 30 minutes. Everyone reads. Together, but separately. The focus is loosely on Singapore literature, but anything is welcome — fun, no?

More details here

May 7, 7pm - 8.30pm. at Epigram Books, 1008 Toa Payoh North, #03-08

This edition of queer house series House Ur Head leans fully into chaos, with Madrid-based DJ and producer Daddy Squad taking over the decks. Formerly one half of Monarchy, Daddy Squad has since carved out a sound that moves between disco, italo, electro and something a little more feral. As co-founder of Yes, Bitch!, he’s no stranger to dancefloors that sweat first and think later — expect a set that builds, spirals, and doesn’t really let up.

House Ur Head stays rooted in that same energy. Drawing from house music’s queer origins — bodies, rhythm, release — the night keeps things intentionally loose. Less about control, more about what happens when things start slipping a little out of place. Support comes from Agus Danny and IVΛN, with dancers Irzie Kasicunt and Nana Sun in the mix.

Get your tickets here

May 8, 10pm - 3am, at Rasa, 9 Raffles Place, #02-01, #02-02 Republic Plaza

GO CELEBRATE BINGO BAKERY’S SECOND BIRTHDAY

Bingo Bakery’s been one of our go-to since it first opened a couple of years back for its warm vibes, dog-friendly space, and of course, excellent bakes. Somewhere between reflection and celebration, Bingo turns two — and they’re marking it the only way they know how: by bringing people back into the fold through good food: you can expect special pastries all weekend to mark the occasion.

May 9 - 10, 8.30am till sold out, at Bingo Bakery, 174 Joo Chiat Road

SPEND A FINAL WEEKEND AT SING SEE SOON

It’s the end of an era for Sing See Soon Nursery’s Simei space — and rather than quietly winding down, they’re going out with a full, two-day send-off alongside Sunday Social Market. Think of it as part market, part reunion. Over 30 brands will be set up across the grounds, mixing familiar collaborators with newer names, while the rest of the programme spills into music, food, and a few unexpected detours — from a graffiti jam to a kombucha pairing moment.

There’s also a softer undercurrent running through it. A Mother’s Day flower bar, a long lunch on Saturday, and, of course, a proper nursery clearance (everything must go). You could come for the shopping, but this one lands more as a goodbye — to a space that’s quietly hosted a lot of the community over the years.

May 9 - 10, 11am - 7pm, at Sing See Soon, 5 Simei Lane

HIT A CROSS-BORDER HOUSE + DISCO TAKEOVER

Two scenes, one dancefloor. Ice Cream Sundays (ICS) returns with a special edition of its 10 Years of ICS series, linking up with Manila-based platform UNKNWN for a joint anniversary party that feels more like a regional exchange than a one-off collaboration.

ICS brings its signature day-to-night, DIY-heavy approach to space and staging, while UNKNWN brings a different rhythm from Manila — a more deliberate, tightly curated approach to club programming built around sound-system thinking and long-form sets.

That’s part of what makes this line-up meaningful. UNKNWN has become a key voice in Manila’s underground scene, known for shaping how nights are paced rather than just who is booked. DJs like Emel, JAV/, and Tomas come out of that context — where sets are less about peaks and more about sustained energy and control. Expect merch, ice cream for early arrivals, and afterparty access at Headquarters (limited shuttle spots available).

Get your tickets here

May 9, 3pm - 10.30pm, at 37 Keppel Road #01-02

CATCH A RACY SHOW ON DESIRE AT NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE

Desire isn’t usually something museums say out loud — but this one does, and then goes a step further. At National Gallery Singapore, a new exhibition looks at how desire, the body, and sexuality have quietly shaped Southeast Asian art all along — not as a side theme, but as something deeply embedded in how images are made, read, and understood.

Bringing together over 70 works from pre-modern references to contemporary practice, Passion is Volcanic connects time periods that are usually treated separately. Instead of separating “traditional” and “modern” art, it asks what happens if you look at them as part of the same ongoing story — one where ideas of the body, intimacy, power, and identity keep shifting, but never disappear.

The show is split into three broad sections: how desire appears in myth and ritual, how the nude and the erotic were reworked in modern and postcolonial art, and how contemporary artists bring private life, sexuality, and identity into public space. Across these, familiar works are re-read alongside lesser-known ones, changing what you think you already know about Southeast Asian art history.

Get your tickets here

On now till Aug 30, 10am - 7pm, at National Gallery Singapore, 1 St.Andrew’s Road

WEEK OF APRIL 27:

CHECK OUT A CERAMICS SHOW THAT PAIRS OBJECTS WITH TEA

Here’s a show that’s less about looking and more about living with the work. Where Things Live flips the usual exhibition format by placing ceramics into a real, usable setting — the kind where cups are picked up, plates are passed around, and nothing feels too precious to touch.

The first edition features pieces by ceramicist Ken Lu, presented in a way that feels closer to a home than a gallery. It’s intentionally low-key: no heavy framing, no over-explaining — just objects doing what they’re meant to do. It’s also happening inside Inner Teahouse, which means the experience goes beyond just viewing. Expect a small menu of tea and snacks designed to be enjoyed with the wares themselves, turning the whole thing into something between a show and a slow afternoon hang.

May 1, 10am - 9pm, and May 2 - 3, 11am - 7pm, at Inner Teahouse, 87B Keong Saik Road, third floor

GO TO A LISTENING SESSION ON FELA KUTI’S MOST POLITICAL ALBUM

This one’s for anyone who likes their music with context. Softer Fields’ latest listening session centres on Zombie, the 1976 album by Fela Kuti — the legendary godfather of Afrobeat — and it’s as much about the story behind the record as it is the sound.

Zombie is one of Fela’s most direct works, calling out the Nigerian military for blind obedience. The backlash was immediate: shortly after its release, soldiers raided his home, Kalakuta Republic, in an attack that turned violent and personal. It’s heavy history — but it also reframes how you hear the music.

Expect a proper needle drop setup (no skipping around), plus a bit of context on how Fela’s use of rhythm, repetition, and long-form composition went on to influence artists far beyond Nigeria.

Sign up for a spot here

May 1, 7.30pm onwards, at 194 Joo Chiat Road

HIT A COFFEE PARTY (NOT THE KIND YOU’RE THINKING OF)

If you’ve been following beloved small-batch coffee roaster Kopistan and its journey from Haji Lane to Golden Mile Tower, this is their next chapter. They’ve now a new permanent home at Filmhouse and to mark it, they’re throwing a small party this weekend, taking over the foyer with a mix of what they do best — coffee, music, and a small but thoughtful retail lineup. Expect their hot-selling flavours alongside new merch, plus a live DJ/band lineup that leans casual rather than clubby.

There’s also a tableware component featuring pieces by Project Coal, Mouldy Hues, and Goni Room, turning the whole thing into more than just a caffeine stop. Think of it as part pop-up, part hang, part soft celebration of how far they’ve come.

May 1, 5pm till late, at Filmhouse, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road

DROP BY AN ART MARKET RUN BY YOUR FAVOURITE CRAFTERS

There are art markets practically every weekend these days, but here’s one that stands out: Popular photo studio Say Chunkie!’s upcoming market focuses on older makers — the kind who’ve been honing their crafts long before it became a trend. Don’t come expecting the usual cutesy trinkets - think handmade toilet miniatures by Uncle Richard, numerology readings by auntie Zi Yi, comic strips drawn by caricaturist Faizal Bin A Bakar, new photobooths by Say Chunkie and more.

RSVP here

May 2 - 3, 12pm - 8pm, #07-11, 22 New Industrial Road

CHECK OUT THE JANVIER TAKEOVER OF UPSTAIRS GARMENTS

If you like catching brands before everyone else does, this one’s worth your time. Archival fashion store Upstairs Garments is hosting buzzy Indonesian label Janvier for a one-day pop-up, offering a first look at their Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Jelajah.

Alongside the new pieces, there’ll be a selection of rare archive items pulled from the founders’ personal wardrobe — plus an open Q&A where you can hear directly from them about the collection and process. It’s part preview, part conversation, and a rare chance to get up close with a label that’s been quietly building momentum beyond Indonesia.

More details here