Asia Art Weekly News Bulletin – ISSUE 54 Week of 2 March 2026
Former Hong Kong pop idol Aka Chio Wai-san debuts her largest solo exhibition, Fluttering Wishes, at Gallery by the Harbour, which will run through March 22. Shifting from introspective black-and-white ink drawings to outward-facing works with gold foil, canvas, and a glowing pen-nib installation, Aka aims to send blessings and hope to viewers.
(2) Gripping London samurai exhibition explores Japan’s warrior class and cuts through myths
The British Museum’s “Samurai” exhibition, running until May 4, explores 800 years of samurai history through 280 objects, from armour and swords to art and literature. It highlights their evolution from warriors to cultural patrons during 250 years of peace, while addressing myths, women samurai, global interactions, and modern pop culture reinventions.
(3) 14th century shipwreck reveals huge cargo of rare Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain
A 650-year-old shipwreck off Singapore has yielded a record haul of Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, including shards and intact pieces. Discovered after four years of challenging dives, the cargo dates to the 14th century and highlights extensive trade networks, elite demand, and technological breakthroughs during Mongol rule.
(4) Goodbye for now: National Gallery Singapore’s Southeast Asia Gallery will shut its doors from April 2026 for a major revamp
The Southeast Asia Gallery at National Gallery Singapore will close from April 1, for a major revamp, with reopening planned for November 2027. Levels 3-5 of the Former Supreme Court Wing, including the Rotunda Library and UOB Theatrette, will be inaccessible. A scaled-down interim gallery will open in October 2026.
(Photo Credit: The Standard)
At Gallery by the Harbour, former pop idol Aka Chio Wai-san presents her fourth and most ambitious solo exhibition, Fluttering Wishes, running through March 22. The show marks a clear evolution: after more than a decade of deeply personal, often dark pen-and-ink drawings in black, white, and gold, Aka now creates with an outward focus, shifting from self-healing to offering comfort and blessings to the world.
“In the past, my creations were introspective conversations with my inner self,” she explains. “This time, I want to send light and hope outward.” Her signature limited palette remains, chosen for its timeless quality. “Black and white force viewers to look closer, to discover layered meaning,” she says. Gold accents symbolize hope amid darkness.
The exhibition introduces canvas works and gold foil for added texture and dimension, a deliberate break from her comfort zone of paper and fine lines. A central lighting installation, Also Known As, created with KOFFA, features thirteen oversized sculpted pen nibs glowing in tribute to her thirteen-year creative journey.
Curator Rikko Lee Oi-kei notes Aka’s growth from fine ink doodles to large-scale murals and now mixed media. The show includes the whimsical Lucky Cat Zodiac series, which are twelve mini works pairing the fortune-bringing cat with Chinese zodiac animals, available as signed limited-edition prints.
Aka hopes visitors leave feeling gently blessed. “Every heart deserves to be held, every wish cherished,” she says. Fluttering Wishes transforms her introspective style into a shared, restorative gesture.
News Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/arts-and-culture/article/325410/When-ink-begins-to-glow
(2) Gripping London samurai exhibition explores Japan’s warrior class and cuts through myths
(Photo Credit:TSCMP)
The British Museum’s latest blockbuster, “Samurai,” running until May 4, arrives amid a surge in UK interest in Japanese culture. The surge comes from the public’s exposure to the historical warriors from Netflix’s Last Samurai Standing and the FX Shōgun series to Assassin’s Creed Shadows topping 2025 game sales and Crunchyroll’s rapid subscriber growth. The exhibition features over 280 objects from the museum’s collection, including a newly acquired suit of armour, plus loans from 29 international lenders.
It begins with the popular warrior image: elaborate armour (including a child’s ceremonial suit), katana swords, bows, and arrows, underscoring samurai prowess as mounted archers and swordsmen. Clips from Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, PlayStation games, and even a samurai-inspired Darth Vader costume connect the myth to contemporary media.
The show then delves deeper into the history of samurais. Highlights include Hokusai prints, calligraphic poetry praising feudal lords, Buddhist and neo-Confucian texts, and ukiyo-e erotica depicting urban pleasure-seeking.
The exhibition spotlights samurai women, such as the legendary warrior Tomoe Gozen from The Tale of the Heike, alongside embroidered robes and strict Edo-period etiquette for samurai wives. It also covers global encounters, such as Hasekura Tsunenaga’s 17th century Christian mission to Europe.
(3) 14th century shipwreck reveals huge cargo of rare Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain
(Photo Credit: Michael Flecker / Science Direct)
Marine archaeologists have uncovered a 14th-century shipwreck in the shallow waters off Singapore, containing the largest recorded haul of Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain. Led by Michael Flecker of Heritage SG, the team spent four years excavating the site amid strong currents and poor visibility, recovering about 3.5 metric tons of ceramic shards, including roughly 136 kilograms (300 pounds) of Yuan porcelain and several intact or near-intact pieces.
The vessel, likely a Chinese junk sailing from Quanzhou to Temasek (modern Singapore) has mostly disintegrated, but surviving designs allowed precise dating. Motifs include four-clawed dragons, phoenixes amid chrysanthemums, and mandarin ducks in lotus ponds, which is a pattern restricted to Emperor Wenzong’s personal use. Its widespread commercial production post-deposition, combined with the 1350s Red Turban invasions halting imperial kilns and the Yuan Dynasty’s fall in 1368, narrows the wreck to the late 1320s–1371.
Yuan porcelain, prized across Eurasia for its translucency, hardness, and rumored poison-detecting properties, blended Chinese craftsmanship with Persian cobalt. It travelled along Mongol-controlled Silk Roads, reflecting thriving maritime networks. Historian Shane McCausland notes the material’s “miraculous” quality and its role as a cultural breakthrough under Mongol rule, long misattributed due to later biases against the dynasty.
The find underscores Temasek’s wealth and role as a key duty-free port. The study, published in the Journal of International Ceramic Studies in June 2025, illuminates 14th-century trade and consumption patterns in Southeast Asia.
News Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/28/science/yuan-dynasty-porcelain-singapore-shipwreck-intl-scli
(4) Goodbye for now: National Gallery Singapore’s Southeast Asia Gallery will shut its doors from April 2026 for a major revamp
(Photo Credit: National Gallery Singapore)
National Gallery Singapore’s Southeast Asia Gallery is preparing for an extended closure. Starting April 1, 2026, the gallery will shut down for a comprehensive revamp, with reopening scheduled for November 2027. The Rotunda Library and Archive has closed earlier on February 14, 2026, and will only be accessible by appointment thereafter. The UOB Theatrette will also be off-limits during the renovation period while the rest of the building will remain partially open.
To maintain engagement during the closure, a smaller interim gallery will launch in October 2026. It will showcase selected highlights from the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery collection, featuring works by influential regional artists such as Indonesian painter Raden Saleh and Thai artist Phra Soralaklikhit, whose practices span the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Chief Curator Patrick Flores explained that the revamp draws on years of curatorial research and reflects a contemporary understanding of Southeast Asian art not as a fixed category, but as a dynamic region shaped by migration, cultural exchange, and overlapping histories. The project aims to present a refreshed, more nuanced narrative when the gallery reopens.
