Singapore Art Museum’s new exhibition, Lost & Found: Embodied Archive, explores the body as a vessel of memories, where personal and collective histories converge through art
They say the eyes are the window to one’s soul, and the body a vessel of memories–every scar and line hold a lifetime of stories. In Lost & Found: Embodied Archive, Singapore Art Museum (SAM) invites viewers to consider the body as an enduring archive, capturing a lifetime of memories and experiences. Running from 25 October to 24 November 2024, the exhibition brings together nine striking works by artists who challenge traditional notions of archiving, drawing deeply from the interconnected realms of personal narrative, cultural identity, and collective memory.
This latest showcase by SAM is part of a larger multi-year curatorial project, Lost & Found, which probes the limits of archival practices to highlight overlooked and intangible histories. The current instalment, Embodied Archive, positions the body as an active, evolving record–one that gathers, layers, and reinterprets its own history with every movement and event. Through various mediums such as videography, ceramics, to even performative art, each artist’s work presents the body as a custodian of both intimate and societal memories.
Two artworks exemplify this concept vividly. Lee Kung Seung’s Skin is a moving video installation that depicts the body of 80-year-old celebrated dancer Meg Harper, capturing the essence of a life etched in experience. Harper’s skin and scars are a map of lived stories–an evolving archive marked both by resilience and vulnerability. Skin ultimately serves as an homage to the body’s capacity to preserve and communicate deeply personal histories.
Another captivating piece is Karagatan (The Breadth of Oceans) by Gregory Hall, which depicts 50 mother-of-pearl shells carefully carved, engraved and painted with the eyes of coastal workers from the Philippines. This piece poignantly honours those whose lives and livelihoods are intertwined with that of the sea. The intricate, miniature eyes evoke a sense of intimacy, while presenting a collective portrait of resilience among the ocean-based community.
At Lost & Found: Embodied Archive, visitors are invited to explore embodied stories spanning generations and geographies. Each artwork calls upon us to engage with the past, question the present, and imagine the future through the profound language of the body.
