Introduction

Amanda Heng adopts an interdisciplinary approach to explore memory, identity, social relationships and urban transition in post-war Singapore. Gaining recognition in the 1980s for her performance-based works, Heng was involved in the founding of the artist initiatives The Artists’ Village and Women In The Arts in 1988 and 1999 respectively, and is widely regarded as a pioneering figure in Singapore’s contemporary art landscape.

Emphasising everyday gestures over grand statements, Heng's practice stems from a desire to facilitate human connection, often involving visitor participation to engage diverse perspectives. Let’s Chat (1996–ongoing) is a performance that invites the audience to converse while drinking tea and cleaning raw bean sprouts, recalling a communal spirit that characterised pre-modern Singapore. Another Woman (1996–1997), a photographic series portraying Heng and her mother in intimate poses. Growing up in a traditional patriarchal household, Heng’s relationship with her mother was marked by a sense of estrangement due to generational, ideological and linguistic differences. The desire for reconciliation in middle age led the artist to conceive this work. These portraits were restaged several times until her mother’s passing in 2023, documenting a gradual process of healing and reconnection over a thirty-year period.

Heng obtained her Diploma in Printmaking from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 1988 and her BFA from Curtin University of Technology, Perth in 1993. Her work is found in various collections, including the Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and Singapore Art Museum. She was the winner of the 12th Benesse prize in 2019, and was conferred the prestigious Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts in 2010 for her contributions to the local art landscape in Singapore.

She is currently representing Singapore in their national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026). Notable exhibitions include Presentation of Works by Benesse Prize Artists in collaboration with Singapore Art Museum, Benesse House Museum, Naoshima (2024); Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Seoul (2024); Nation, Narration, Narcosis Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2021); Awakenings: Art in Society in Asia 1960s–1990s, National Gallery Singapore, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan (2018-19); as well as her retrospective exhibition Speak To Me, Walk With Me, Singapore Art Museum (2011).

The artist has also participated in major international festivals including Nurture Gaia, 4th Bangkok Art Biennale (2024); Every Step in the Right Direction, 6th Singapore Biennale (2019); Belief, 1st Singapore Biennale (2006); One Closer to the Other, 7th Havana Biennial (2000); real[work], 4th Werkleitz Biennale (2000); 3rd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (1999); and 4th Asian Art Show Fukuoka, Fukuoka Art Museum (1997).