AMANDA HENG

Heng’s decades-long practice has drawn draws global attention for its poetic reflections on memory, gender, and embodied experience. She was part of The Artists Village art collective in Singapore and also was involved in the establishment of the first artist-run women collective in Singapore, Women In The Arts (WITA), in 1999.

Early Years

Born and raised in Singapore, Amanda Heng (Amanda Heng Liang Ngim), made a pivotal life change in her late 30s by leaving the civil service to pursue arts education at LASALLE College of the Arts, graduating in 1988 (the same year she founded The Artists Village), with a diploma in printmaking. Heng deepened her commitment to art through further studies at Central St Martins, London, and Curtin University, Western Australia, earning her BA in 1993. She continues to live and work in Singapore.

Artworks

Heng’s artworks span performance, installation, photography, and socially engaged projects, consistently exploring the interplay of personal memory, collective identity, and the female experience in contemporary art. Her practice is renowned for using simple daily acts—walking, speaking, touching—as vehicles for cultural reflection and social transformation.

Key Artistic Developments

• She and Her Dishcover (1991): This installation investigates domestic labour and feminine identity through household materials, challenging prescribed gender roles.
• Missing (1994): A poignant installation confronting female infanticide and the undervaluation of girls in Asian societies, marked by haunting suspended baby dresses.
• S/HE (1994): Performance art examining cultural identity and the pressures on women in Singapore, featuring language deconstruction and symbolic gestures.
• Another Woman (1996–97): Mixed-media photographs with her mother, reflecting generational shifts and the dislocation experienced by women in nation-building Singapore.
• Let’s Chat (1996): A participatory performance inviting the public to chat while cleaning bean sprouts, referencing traditional kampong life and community ties.
• Let’s Walk (1999–ongoing): Street performances exploring the resilience of women post-Asian financial crisis, where participants walk backward holding high heels in their mouths, symbolising solidarity and social critique.
• Singirl (1999–ongoing): Online art project subverting conventional images of female beauty and national identity through anonymous photographs.
• Every Step Counts (2019): Performance at the Singapore Biennale where walking becomes a meditation on aging and communal experience.

Select Public Commissions

Major presentations include large-scale performances at the Bangkok Art Biennale and significant installations for the Singapore Biennale and other international events.

Select Awards and Accolades

• Announced to represent Singapore at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
• 12th Benesse Prize (2019/20).
• Induction into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (2023).
• Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts, Singapore (2010)
• Recognised as a co-founder of The Artists Village (1988) and Women in the Arts, Singapore’s first women artists’ collective (1999).

Exhibitions

Amanda Heng has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions at important institutions and galleries. Below is a selection of exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions

• Amanda Heng: Speak To Me, Walk With Me, Singapore Art Museum, 2011
• Presentation of Works by Benesse Prize Artists, Benesse House Museum, Naoshima, Japan, 2024

Group Exhibitions

• Venice Biennale, Singapore Pavilion, 2026
• Bangkok Art Biennale, 2024
• Singapore Biennale, 2006, 2019
• Werkleitz Biennale, Germany, 2000
• Women’s Performance Art Festival, Osaka, 2001

Amanda Heng FAQs

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