On the opening day of Art SG, Singapore’s premier contemporary art fair, visitors stopped and occasionally posed in front of a billboard-scale painting, titled palindromeanagramBy Indian artist Jitish Kallat. Just behind it, a richly woven, almost apocalyptic tapestry by renowned British-Indian artist Raqib Shaw gleamed in the exhibition light. The conversation continued between English and Mandarin and in some corners even Tamil. Far away from Delhi or Mumbai, the presence of Indian and South Asian art felt unexpectedly familiar.
Jitish Kallat’s Palindrome/anagram painting
| Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
Rakib Shaw’s practical pessimist
| Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
More than 10 Indian galleries – a record attendance for the fair – participated in the recently concluded fourth edition of Art SG, joined by three international galleries with a strong South Asia focus. His appearance was organized by South Asia Insights, a dedicated section supported by the TVS Initiative for Indian and South Asian Contemporary Art. “Singapore has long served as a meeting point for the region,” says Magnus Renfrew, one of the fair’s co-founders. “The increasing visibility of Indian artists and galleries reflects a broader shift from an Asia-Pacific to an Indo-Pacific imagination.”
This moment constitutes a long-lasting change within India’s art ecosystem. Over the past decade, the cultural infrastructure has steadily expanded: new museums and private institutions have opened, philanthropic foundations and artist-run spaces have grown, and a more stable support system has taken shape. Simultaneously, commercial platforms – notably the India Art Fair established in 2008 and Art Mumbai, launched in 2024 – have strengthened the market, encouraging galleries to look outwards. Its influence is increasingly visible, with Indian artists appearing regularly in major fairs, biennales and museum exhibitions from Venice and Sharjah to institutions across Europe, the United States and increasingly Asia.
renewed interest
Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, curator of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi, who advised on South Asia Insights, sees this moment as part of a longer trend. “There has always been exchange between South Asia and Southeast Asia,” he says. “But as the market for South Asian art moved toward the West, regional connections slowed down. What we’re seeing now is a new dynamic.”
Installation view of South Asia Insights Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
That momentum was reflected in the choice of artists: established figures like Shaw and Kallat, who interacted with Mopidevi alongside works by artist-printmaker Surendran Nair, Pakistani-American contemporary artist Anila Qayyum Aga, Colombo-based multidisciplinary artist Phiri Rahman, interdisciplinary artist Ayesha Singh and Pakistani-American contemporary artist Zam Arif, while Jamini Roy, MF Hussain and SH Raza Modern masters including modern masters added historical depth, setting contemporary practices within a long South Asian tradition. Linage.
However, interactions between South Asia and Southeast Asia are not new. was an early institutional marker Traditions/Tensions: Contemporary Art in AsiaStaged by the Asia Society in New York in 1996, it brought together artists from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand, challenging the rigid binaries of East and West, modern and traditional. In recent years, this exchange has emerged through platforms such as the Jogja Biennale in Indonesia, the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, the Bangkok Art Biennale, and trans-Asian initiatives such as the Japan Foundation’s under-construction exhibitions.
In Singapore, artists from the region have appeared in the Singapore Biennale and exhibitions Awakening: Art in Society in Asia 1960-1990 The National Gallery in Singapore, while the Singapore Art Museum has exhibited and collected South Asian artists including Nalani Malani, Amar Kanwar and Shubigi Rao.
Visitors to Art SG 2026 | Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
Installation view of Neugeriemschneider’s booth. Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
shared regional dialogue
In the years since the pandemic, Singapore – long a financial center and home to large numbers of South Asian immigrants – has begun to act as connective tissue within Asia’s art scene. With efficient logistics, active collectors and deep cultural familiarity, the city offers conditions for continuous exchange.
Citra Sasmita, Taimur Merah Project X Bedtime Story | Photo Credit: Courtesy Art SG
“Singaporean audiences are incredibly open to art,” says Ashwin Rajagopalan. Chennai-based gallery Ashvita, known for its focus on Madras Modernism, is now expanding into contemporary practice, having showcased young Chennai artists C. Krishnaswamy, G. Presented the works of Gurunathan, Manas Udayakumar and Jagat Ravi. “Chennai and Singapore feel closely linked. It was heartening to see people stopping, watching and reacting and most of our works went to non-Indian collectors.”
The significance of this moment is less in scale than in alignment: South Asian art came to the fore not as an export, but as part of a shared regional conversation, once again across Asia.
The writer specializes in reporting on art, design and architecture.
published – February 03, 2026 07:43 PM IST