What you need to know about National Gallery Singapore’s new art exhibition

This isn’t just another art show – City of Others is a long-overdue spotlight on the Asian trailblazers who shook up the Parisian art scene between the 1920s and 1940s. For the first time, their diverse experiences are extensively presented side by side, offering a fresh, nuanced look at Paris as a vibrant crossroads of artistic and cultural exchange. The exhibition traces how these artists navigated a city bursting with modern ideas, while also grappling with the weight of colonial politics, shifting social tides, and what it meant to be seen as the ‘other’ in the heart of Europe’s cultural capital.

Wander through three gallery spaces filled with a treasure trove of artworks and archival gems, sourced from over 50 public and private collections across the globe. Paintings, sculptures, lacquerware, jewellery, posters, and even films, each a portal into the time, the city, and the minds of these extraordinary artists. There are also illustrated maps in each gallery to help you trace the key locations and zones of the artists' journeys through the French capital.

The exhibition unfolds across seven themed sections, beginning with Preface, where self-portraits, including Georgette Chen’s iconic Nanyang-style piece, reveal how Asian artists in Paris presented themselves in a world that often viewed them as outsiders. 

From there, journey through Workshop to the World, featuring decorative objects like lacquer wares from the atelier of Jean Dunand, and precious keepsakes from Maison Cartier which responded to the popular demand for Asian aesthetics; Theatre of the Colonies, spotlighting Paris as a stage for both colonial propaganda and resistance; and Spectacle and Stage, which traces the development of ‘Asian’ dance forms from the likes of Indonesia’s Raden Mas Jodjana, Japan’s Komori Toshi and India’s Uday Shankar. Sites of Exhibition recreates moments when these artists first showed their works in Paris, while Studio and Street invites you into their everyday lives through evocative paintings. 

The final section, Aftermaths, offers a moment of pause, reflecting on how war and decolonisation reshaped the art world and pushed artists to forge new visual languages. Sink into one of the seats here and let the art, stories, and history linger a little longer.

One of the exhibition’s quiet triumphs? Shining a light on those who’ve been overlooked by mainstream art history. Many Vietnamese artisans were employed in lacquer workshops, including that of Jean Dunand, where they helped realise the elaborate lacquered pieces that the atelier was renowned for. However, the curators of City of Others have gone full art-detective mode and have brought some of their names into the limelight through archival research. It's a powerful reframing of who gets remembered and why.

In the Sites of Exhibition section, prepare for a goosebump moment – three paintings by Liu Kang, Noguchi Yararo, and Yen Shui-long are displayed side-by-side for the first time since their work was exhibited in the same exhibition nearly 100 years ago. And the reunion doesn’t stop there – four of Georgette Chen’s works, last seen together in 1936 in the French capital, now hang alongside the work of her teacher and mentor in City of Others.

But beyond the eye-catching artworks, City of Others also asks tough questions that are still relevant today as they were a century ago. In a world shaped by globalisation, migration, and shifting identities, how do we find our voice when we’re seen as the ‘other’? And how does creativity thrive in the face of adversity? Whether you're an art history buff, casual gallery-goer, or just seeking a spark of insight, City of Others is a powerful, thought-provoking experience best felt in person.

Standard tickets are priced at $25, and $15 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. Enjoy 20 percent off your exhibition pass with code COO20OFF for a limited time only. Book yours today here.