Opening Hours: Daily, 11.00 a.m. –7.00 p.m. (Saturdays till 9.00 p.m.)

Location: New Bahru School Hall, 46 Kim Yam Road, School Block, #02-02, Singapore 239351

Rituals of Perception gathered works born from intimate dialogues between body and matter, unfolding through slow, contemplative, and iterative processes. Against the backdrop of digital acceleration and collective disenchantment, the exhibition turned toward practices that reattuned us to presence, where every gesture and touch became a quiet act of resistance against an increasingly dehumanised sense of time. Linking practices from over twenty international artists, the exhibition sought a shared sensibility across geographies, especially in traditions where material history intertwined with personal stories and bodily knowledge.

At its core lay the notion of presentiment, an intuitive awareness that extends beyond rational understanding. Defined by philosopher Byung-Chul Han, presentiment does not concern only what is to come; it traverses the full expanse of temporality, revealing what already exists yet escapes articulation. Within this awareness, process and trace became vital, transforming abstract time into something both visible and felt. Through gestures of kneading, weaving, casting, folding, cutting, stitching, or even copying and pasting, the artists in Rituals of Perception embodied presentiment by dwelling within the temporal cyclicality of making. Their works invited viewers to pause, to linger, to inhabit a duration rather than move through it.

In these works, materials remember. Clay, cement, paper, and fibre—man-made or natural—were not inert substances but vessels of ancestral and societal histories. This awareness of material history invited a reimagining of perception. It asked us to consider how the body reads textures, weights, and atmospheres beyond cerebral functions, and how it recognises in plants or plastics something that precedes thought. Such recognitions became rituals that withstood the contemporary compulsion to perform and produce. In a world driven by speed, reflective perception was an act of reclamation.

Staged at Singapore’s New Bahru School Hall, the exhibition featured works from the Tanoto Family Collection, loans and new commissions. Rituals of Perception was curated by Xiaoyu Weng, TAF Artistic Director. During the opening reception, artist Sriwhana Spong presented a new performance as part of her ongoing research, presented in Singapore for the first time.