Arts & culture

The best exhibitions to see in Singapore: October and November

Edited by Jamie 15 October 2026

This is a very good season to be indoors in Singapore, and the museums have planned for it.

If you see one thing this season, make it the Asian Civilisations Museum, which has two shows that would each justify the trip: four life-size Dunhuang caves, and a hundred Islamic masterpieces on loan from the Louvre while Paris renovates. National Gallery Singapore pairs a major ink retrospective with the overdue return of Lai Foong Moi, a Nanyang painter the spotlight drifted away from.

The National Museum's Singapore History Gallery has reopened after its first major revamp, with a few surprises among the familiar objects, and Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark has a quietly absorbing show that closes in November; that is the one with a deadline. Looking ahead, SAM's Lost & Found finale arrives on 27 November, the Affordable Art Fair the same week, and the Gallery's Guggenheim pop art blockbuster in December.

Many of these are free for citizens and PRs; check each museum's page for ticket prices.

Valid Sunday 11 October 2026 – Monday 30 November 2026 · Refreshed monthly

The roundup

1. Sacred Caves: Dunhuang, Buddhism, and the Silk Road
Until 7 Mar 2027 · Civic District
The show of the season, and the one to see if you only see one. Presented with the Dunhuang Academy, it recreates four Mogao caves at life size, including the Western Wei Cave 249. Look for the brick showing a Sogdian man leading a camel, a neat reminder that this was a trade route as much as a pilgrims' road. It runs until March, so there's no rush; go on a Friday, when the museum stays open until 9pm and you can take your time.
2. Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musee du Louvre
Until 24 Jan 2027 · Civic District
A hundred objects from the Louvre, most shown here for the first time, woven together with about 30 pieces from ACM's own collection. Principal curator Noorashikin Zulkifli's argument is that "globalisation is not new", and the show makes the case object by object. Find Louis XIV's jade cup, the Safavid poetry-contest tiles and the chicken-shaped Minangkabau ewer. Pair it with Sacred Caves in the same building for one long afternoon, and see this one first: it closes in January, the caves in March.
3. Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush
16 Oct 2026-31 Jan 2027 · Civic District
More than 70 paintings, calligraphy, poems and seal carvings by the ink master who reached Singapore in 1956, in the Wu Guanzhong Gallery on Level 4 from 16 October. Read it as a travelogue in brushwork, from China to Thailand to here. It rewards slow looking more than most shows this season, so save it for an unhurried weekday afternoon and give it the time on its own rather than tacking it on to something louder.
Book on Klook for Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush (opens in a new tab)

4. Lai Foong Moi: Crossings
Until 3 Oct 2027 · Civic District
The first Malayan-born woman to hold solo exhibitions in Singapore and the Federation of Malaya gets another, her first since the 1960s, and it is overdue. The paintings of workers caught mid-pause are the reason to go; stand with them a while. It is free for citizens and PRs and runs until October 2027, so there's no hurry, but paired with Fan Chang Tien in the same building it makes a strong Nanyang afternoon now.
Book on Klook for Lai Foong Moi: Crossings (opens in a new tab)
5. Maria Taniguchi: Afterimage
Until 22 Nov · Tanjong Pagar
Brick-pattern canvases, each rectangle pencilled and painted by hand over days or months, plus towering duhat-wood sculptures and four films. Curator Haeju Kim's line sums it up: "no two rectangles are exactly the same", and standing close enough to check is the pleasure of it. This is the show on the list with a deadline: it closes on 22 November, and the curator tour on 21 November is the visit to aim for.
6. Lost & Found: How We Remember
Opens 27 Nov; until 18 Apr 2027 · Tanjong Pagar
The last chapter of SAM's multi-year project on forgotten stories turns to oral histories, language and historical narrative. SAM's chief curator framed the question as "how, and for whom" we preserve, which is a good question to carry round the rooms. It opens on 27 November and runs until April, so there's no need to go on opening weekend; note the date and fit it in after the November shows close.
7. Affordable Art Fair Singapore
26-29 Nov · Marina Bay
Four days, 97 galleries and every work under S$15,000, at the F1 Pit Building from 26 to 29 November. It is the one art event this season where asking the price is the point, since the price is usually on the wall. Go with a budget and a shortlist rule, and choose a weekday session if you want room to look properly.
8. Pop after Pop: Art around Us
Opens 11 Dec; until 4 Apr 2027 · Civic District
National Gallery Singapore's first collaboration with the Guggenheim, opening on 11 December with more than 200 works by over 100 artists. Warhol and Lichtenstein share the billing with Ming Wong, FX Harsono and Manit Sriwanichpoom, and the show spills into the building's public spaces. It falls outside this list's window, so treat it as the December plan, and see Fan Chang Tien upstairs before the blockbuster arrives.
9. The new Singapore History Gallery
Reopened 10 Oct; permanent · Civic District
Ended. Not a current recommendation; see its page for the latest.
More than 700 years across seven zones, from the Singapore Stone to Zubir Said's piano and a restored HDB lift. The best addition is the voice stations, where your recorded reflections feed into the final section, which makes it a history gallery that asks you something back. It is permanent, so let the reopening weeks pass and come on a quiet weekday.
10. Sunflower Surprise: Garden by the Ocean
Until 9 Nov · Marina Bay
Ended. Not a current recommendation; see its page for the latest.
Strictly a floral display rather than an exhibition, but the Flower Dome's Portuguese set-dressing is as much installation as garden: an Alfama hillside, a Porto shopfront and a 6m lighthouse among 5,000 sunflowers. It closes on 9 November, so do it before anything else on this list. The cool air counts for a lot in this heat, and it is the gentlest hour on the page.