SAM30 Festival Weekend SAM30 Festival Weekend

SAM30 Festival Weekend

  • Fri & Sat, 2 & 3 Oct 2026

  • SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

  • Various timings

Celebrate 30 years of Singapore Art Museum with a weekend packed with art, music, food and afterhours fun at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

Explore our exhibitions, including the newly launched SAMCollection: The Present is Unstable, experience Ryoji Ikeda: ultratronics as part of SAM Late Nights, and kick back with SAM x Thugshop: Grill & Chill. Challenge your friends to a puzzle showdown, strike a pose at the analogue photobooth, create a personalised keepsake, and explore the galleries after dark.

 

*Programmes are subject to change without prior notice. Information is accurate as of the time of publication.

Fri, 2 Oct

Click on the '+' below to find out more!
SAM x Thugshop: Grill & Chill Sam
SAM x Thugshop: Grill & Chill

Fri, 2 Oct
6PM – 9.30PM
Level 1, Outside SAM (facing the port), SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Free Entry, with food and drinks available for purchase
Recommended for ages 18 and above. Children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 

RSVP here!

 

Kick off SAM30 Festival Weekend with an evening of food, drinks and music, presented in collaboration with Thugshop.

 

Settle in by the port with grilled favourites from Cicheti, La Birria Tacos, and drinks by SIP at SAM. Groove to performances by Sho & Tell and Yihui as the evening unfolds with good food, music and great company.

 

SAM Late Nights ft. Ryoji Ikeda Sam
SAM Late Nights ft. Ryoji Ikeda

Fri, 2 Oct
8PM – 10.30PM
Level 3, #03-09, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
$29 inclusive of one complimentary drink

 

Get Your Tickets here!

 

How does sound occupy the space between form and emptiness?

 

Join us for a special edition of SAM Late Nights, where the depths of Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness are brought to life through an evening of sound and site-specific response.

 

This edition will feature the live set, ultratronics by Japanese sound and visual artist, Ryoji Ikeda, based on his 2022 album release of the same name. ‘ultratronics' featuring audio material recorded between 1989 and 1999 and compositions created between 2013 and 2022, ’ultratronics’ explores sound’s arithmetical and computational essence and renders them into the propulsive auditory experience that constitutes Ikeda’s sound signature. Taking the shape of an audiovisual concert, ultratronics uses raw data and mathematical models to generate music and projections.

 

Opening the night is a collaborative performance featuring Jakarta-based sound artist Wahono (founder of DIVISI62) and RAGAURA, a Singaporean trio consisting of Sonia Kwek, XUE, and Josh Tirados. Presented in partnership with Strange Weather, their live set weaves Wahono's industrial pulses, fractured electronics, and gamelan-deconstruction logic together with RAGAURA’s striking, body-percussion practice.

 

Image credits: @Nowornever.melb / Now or Never

Puzzle & Pint Challenge Sam
Puzzle & Pint Challenge

Fri, 2 Oct
6PM – 9.30PM
Level 1, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
$15 per person, includes a drink and 30mins playtime

Recommended for ages 18 and above. Children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 

Sign up here!

 

Put your puzzling skills to the test with the Maria Taniguchi's Afterimage puzzle set. Gather a team of up to 4 and race against the clock to complete as much of the puzzle as you can in 30 minutes. Teams will compete in each round, with every piece counting towards your place on the leaderboard.

 

Come for the puzzle, stay for the bragging rights.

 

Prizes to be won:
• First Prize — $50 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin
• Second Prize — $30 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin
• Third Prize — $20 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin

 

Winners will be announced at the end of each day on 2 & 3 Oct. Stay till the end to see if your team makes the leaderboard and takes home a prize!

 

SAM X Photomanner Sam
SAM X Photomanner

Fri, 2 Oct
6PM – 9.30PM
Level 1, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

 

Come capture your SAM30 memories with an analogue photobooth experience, in collaboration with Photomanner. Step into The Analog Dept. photobooth and choose from its signature analogue filters, including an exclusive SAM filter created specially for SAM30.

 

Then, turn your photo into a keepsake by choosing your favourite charms and creating a personalised keycharm to take home.

 

Take a snap, customise your charm, and bring home a little piece of SAM.

 

Image courtesy of Photomanner.

Free Exhibition Access Afterhours Sam
Free Exhibition Access Afterhours

Fri, 2 Oct
7PM – 9PM
Free Entry to All Galleries

 

Enjoy free exhibition access and explore the galleries after dark. Discover the newly launched SAMCollection: The Present is Unstable, alongside Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness, Maria Taniguchi: Afterimage, and the Learning Gallery.

3 Oct

Click on the '+' below to find out more!
I Witness: In Conversation with Hao Jingban, Han Nefkens and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Moderated by Elaine W. Ng Sam
I Witness: In Conversation with Hao Jingban, Han Nefkens and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Moderated by Elaine W. Ng

Sat, 3 Oct
2PM – 3PM
Level 1, The Engine Room, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
$10 refundable deposit, by registration (general admission applies)

 

Join the Talk!

 

On the occasion of the opening of SAMCollection: The Present is Unstable, join us for a conversation between Hao Jingban (Artist), Han Nefkens (Founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation) and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa (Chief Curator at Singapore Art Museum), moderated by Elaine W. Ng (Editor and Publisher of ArtAsiaPacific).

 

Hear about collecting practices and how public and private institutions can work together to support artistic practices. Get insights on the development of I Witness by Hao Jingban, commissioned by the Han Nefkens Foundation, Mori Art Museum, M+, Hong Kong, and Singapore Art Museum. Centered on grief and how difficult it can be to express, the work looks at the memories of people who have lost someone close to them, and the ways mourning often happens quietly and in private.

 

 

Curator Tour of SAMCollection: The Present is Unstable Sam
Curator Tour of SAMCollection: The Present is Unstable

Sat, 3 Oct
3.30PM – 4.30PM
Level 3, Gallery 4, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Free, by registration (general admission applies)

 

Join the Tour!

 

Ever wondered how an exhibition comes to life, or how art helps us make sense of memory, identity, and change? Join the curators of SAMCollection: The Present Is Unstable for an insider’s walkthrough of our latest Collection Show.

 

During the tour, discover how the gallery space is choreographed like a musical score—where works by Sin Wai Kin, Hao Jingban, Wei Leng Tay, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Jason Wee, Nadiah Bamadhaj, Chua Chye Teck, Manny Montelibano, and Farida Batool shift and connect as you move through the exhibition space.

 

Alongside behind-the-scenes insights into the exhibition, this walkthrough offers an open space to ask questions, exchange ideas, and share your own interpretations.

 

Curator Tour of Maria Taniguichi: Afterimage with SgSL interpretation Sam
Curator Tour of Maria Taniguichi: Afterimage with SgSL interpretation

Sat, 3 Oct
4.30PM – 5.30PM
Level 3, Gallery 3, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Free, by registration (general admission applies)

 

Join the Tour!

 

Join the exhibition curator, Duncan Bass, for an in-depth tour of Maria Taniguchi: Afterimage, the first monographic exhibition of the acclaimed artist in a Singaporean institution. This session offers a behind-the-scenes look at Taniguchi’s meticulous artistic practice and the painstaking labour behind her work. By uncovering the hidden logic of the exhibition, the tour helps visitors move beyond the visual surface to explore recurring concerns of repetition and time. Discover how her towering canvases and sculptures redefine architectural boundaries while documenting a steady, human rhythm.

 

This tour will be delivered in English. Singapore Sign Language Interpretation by Equal Dreams will be provided.

 

Puzzle & Pint Challenge Sam
Puzzle & Pint Challenge

Sat, 3 Oct
2PM – 6.30PM
Level 1, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark
$15 per person, includes a drink and 30mins playtime

Recommended for ages 18 and above. Children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 

Sign up here!

 

Put your puzzling skills to the test with the Maria Taniguchi's Afterimage puzzle set. Gather a team of up to 4 and race against the clock to complete as much of the puzzle as you can in 30 minutes. Teams will compete in each round, with every piece counting towards your place on the leaderboard.

 

Come for the puzzle, stay for the bragging rights.

 

Prizes to be won:
• First Prize — $50 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin
• Second Prize — $30 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin
• Third Prize — $20 SIP at SAM voucher + Afterimage puzzle set + SAM30 pin

 

Winners will be announced at the end of each day on 2 & 3 Oct. Stay till the end to see if your team makes the leaderboard and takes home a prize!

 

SAM X Photomanner Sam
SAM X Photomanner

Sat, 3 Oct
10AM – 6.30PM
Level 1, SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark

 

Come capture your SAM30 memories with an analogue photobooth experience, in collaboration with Photomanner. Step into The Analog Dept. photobooth and choose from its signature analogue filters, including an exclusive SAM filter created specially for SAM30.

 

Then, turn your photo into a keepsake by choosing your favourite charms and creating a personalised keycharm to take home.

 

Take a snap, customise your charm, and bring home a little piece of SAM.

 

Image courtesy of Photomanner.