Cycle 10 of Residencies Programme (2023–24)

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Centre, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) is pleased to announce that the Artists-in-Residence selected for the 10th cycle of its Residencies Programme (April 2023–January 2024) are:

Yanyun Chen (b. 1986, Singapore), Anthony Chin (b. 1969, Singapore), Irfan Kasban (b. 1987, Singapore), Ben Loong (b. 1988, Singapore), Shahmen Suku (b. 1987, Singapore, lives in Australia) and Zulkhairi Zulkiflee (b. 1991, Singapore).

Working across a variety of mediums which span from drawing and sculpture to lens-based media, installation, and performance, the artists’ research projects will lead them to unearth identity and disciplinary formations sedimented into unspoken family histories (Yanyun Chen and Shahmen Shuku), conduct investigations into the material and acoustic dimensions of the built environment (Irfan Kasban and Ben Loong) as well as into the history of biological warfare (Anthony Chin) and the implications of global belonging (Zulkhairi Zulkiflee).

Welcoming artists at different phases of their career, the NTU CCA Singapore’s Residencies Programme is a research-oriented and studio-based platform that enables multiform manifestations of creative processes and facilitates the production of interdisciplinary knowledge. Since April 2021, the Residencies Programme has zoomed in on the local and has worked exclusively with Singaporean artists. 

The Artists-in-Residence are supported by the NTU CCA Singapore’s curatorial team along their respective research trajectories and they become active contributors to the Centre’s cultural life. During the fully-funded residencies, they develop a wide range of programmes—artist talks, workshops, open studios, screenings, panel discussions and performances—aimed at sharing their practice with the public. Furthermore, the residents can benefit from the international network of curators, fellows, scholars, and researchers involved in the Centre’s research projects and activities.

In 2021, the Residencies Programme added a new feature to its programmes by launching AiRCAST, a podcast that broadcasts the inner lives of the Artists-in-Residence entering their studios at the time of the residency and inviting them to share about ideas, materials, processes, influences, and research methodologies behind their practice. Totalling 12 episodes so far, AiRCAST will move into its third season with Cycle 10.

For its first seven cycles (2014–2021), the Residencies Programme has maintained a global reach hosting artists, curators, and researchers from around the world.  Overall, it has supported more than 210 Artists-, Curators- and Researchers-in Residence and it has organised a large number of public programmes and display presentations reaching an audience of over 115,000 people. Many of the projects developed by the artists during their residencies went on to be presented at international exhibitions, biennials, and festivals and, in some instances, the resulting artworks have been acquired into museum collections.

The NTU CCA Singapore’s Residencies Programme unfolds on yearly cycles and it runs by nomination only. The participants to the 10th Cycle were selected by the Residencies Committee which comprised of: Ute Meta Bauer (Chair), Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore and Professor, NTU School of Art, Design and Media; Helmi Yusof, Deputy Editor (Lifestyle), The Business Times; Phoebe Scott, Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore; Tay Tong, Director, Sector Development (Visual Arts), National Arts Council, Singapore; and Zarina Muhammad, Artist, Educator, and Residencies Alumna (Cycle 6).

In charge of the Residencies Programme since 2016, Dr Anna Lovecchio, Assistant Director, Programmes, remarks: “It was not easy to discontinue the global scope of the programme but in the delicate transition to a smaller configuration, the Residencies Programme managed to find buoyancy by embracing a ‘local turn’. That prompted us to invigorate our commitment to cultivate proximities and make bridges between local practitioners and the international artworld. We have also begun to broaden the reach of the programme beyond the visual arts as a way to engage the diversity of the local creative ecosystem and trigger encounters across different disciplines within Nanyang Technological University and beyond.”

The 10th Cycle of the Residencies Programme is made possible thanks to the generous support of the National Arts Council Singapore.

To learn more about the current and former Artists-in-Residences, visit here.

The podcast of NTU CCA Singapore’s Residencies Programme is available here.  

About the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
A national research centre of Nanyang Technological University Singapore, with a focus on Spaces of the Curatorial, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) addresses the urgencies of our time such as the climate crisis and its impact on communities. A leading international art institution, driven by dynamic thinking in its three-fold constellation: Research and Academic Education; Residencies Programme; and Exhibitions, it brings forth innovative, multi-disciplinary, holistic and experimental forms of emergent artistic and curatorial practices that intersect the present and histories of contemporary art embedded in social, geo-political, geo-cultural spheres with other fields of knowledge. NTU CCA Singapore’s office and research centre is located at Gillman Barracks.

About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Medicine, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges. NTU is also home to world-renowned autonomous institutes—the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering—and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N).

Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new knowledge, and the sustainability of resources. Ranked amongst the world’s top universities, the University’s main campus is also frequently listed among the world’s most beautiful. Known for its sustainability, over 95% of its building projects are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a medical campus in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district. For more information, visit ntu.edu.sg.