Bored of the usual weekend plans of cafe hopping or wandering the city’s countless malls? If you are looking to switch up your routine, spending an afternoon at a museum exhibition is an incredibly fun and engaging way to spend your days off. These art spaces are the perfect way to slow down, get inspired, and experience something completely out of the ordinary. Wonderfully, a monumental international showcase is landing on our shores this week that you will not want to miss. Opening on May 29, Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness makes its highly-anticipated Southeast Asian debut at Singapore Art Museum (SAM). Here’s why it is unmissable at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.
Why is the Hiroshi showcase a must-see in Singapore?
The iconic new exhibition, Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness, brings together 63 remarkable works from 11 series, alongside 14 ancient fossils from a globally-recognised Japanese contemporary artist. Interestingly, the exhibition traces five decades of artistic inquiry and sustained conceptual exploration.
Running until October 4, this exhibition isn’t your typical walk-through gallery. Sugimoto himself designed the spatial layout in the shape of a mandala—a geometric figure representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism. Instead of a strict linear path, the space deliberately invites you to wander, loop back, and explore at your own pace. This creates a deeply personal and meditative experience across Gallery 1 and The Engine Room.
Notably, Sugimoto is celebrated worldwide for his rigorous black and white photography. But this must-see exhibition proves that his genius extends far beyond the camera. It features stunning sculptures, architectural interventions, and large-scale installations—each artwork grounded in the Buddhist concept of the Five Elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void).
Some highlights are the new Spacescape (2024), depicting Earth and moon in orbit, developed in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the University of Tokyo, and Sony. Similarly, Brush Impression 1547 (2024) creates images in the near darkness by dipping a brush into fixer and writing on photographic paper before exposing them to light-transforming a gesture into an image.
Overall, these artworks beautifully challenge our perceptions of time, reality, and the material world. We expect it to be like the previous exhibition at LA’s Lisson Gallery. Certainly, a rare opportunity to reflect at one of Singapore’s top exhibitions for 2026.
