FILIPINO-AMERICAN artist Josh Kline’s Powdered iPhone (2025), made from pulverized iPhone SE devices and dyed cotton pulp, is featured in National Gallery Singapore’s ‘Art Remembers’ exhibition. The work explores how everyday technology can become an archive of collective history.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of Josh Kline
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A new exhibition at National Gallery Singapore is bringing Southeast Asia’s overlooked histories and memories into focus, including a new work by Filipino-American artist Josh Kline.
“Art Remembers,” which opens 21 August 2026, features 20 works, including new commissions and pieces from Singapore’s National Collection. The exhibition examines how contemporary artists use archives to revisit history, preserve memories and imagine new futures.
Kline’s “Powdered iPhone” (2025), created during his residency at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, is making its debut presentation at the exhibition.
The work explores the iPhone as an archive of everyday life. Kline pulverized iPhones into handmade paper, prompting audiences to consider how technologies used today could eventually become records of collective history.
The exhibition also features works by artists from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, using photography, video, print, digital technology and multimedia installations to challenge familiar historical narratives.
Among the featured works is Malaysian artist Ahmad Fuad Osman’s “Recollections of Long Lost Memories,” which digitally modifies archival photographs from Malaysia’s post-independence period.
Singaporean artist Robert Zhao Renhui’s “The Fish Does Not Know the War Is Over” traces the journey of tilapia from Singapore during the Japanese occupation to Taiwan after the war, exploring migration, belonging and cultural exchange.
Yogyakarta-based collective Krack! also revisits wartime propaganda in its mural “Mendjelang Hari Gemilang (Towards a Glory Day),” examining the relationship between history, power and collective memory.
National Gallery Singapore CEO and Director Dr. Eugene Tan said the exhibition presents archives as art and positions artists as interpreters of history and memory.
“We hope audiences will rediscover familiar histories from fresh perspectives,” Tan said.
“Art Remembers” runs from 21 August to 18 October 2026 at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery 1 and City Hall Chamber at National Gallery Singapore. General admission is required, while entry is free for Singaporeans and permanent residents.
