top of page

Curriculum Vitae

Education

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2015)

MA Cultural Management | Dean's List | GPA: 3.788

Thesis: Assessing the Effectiveness of Arts-Led Cultural Development in Singapore


LASALLE College of the Arts (2014)

BA (Hons) Arts Management | Second (Upper) Honours

Conferred by Goldsmiths, University of London

Languages

English (Native)
Chinese - Mandarin (Conversational)

Chinese - Cantonese (Conversational)

Career History (Selected)

From the Woods LLP (UEN: T13LL0793F), September 2020 – Present

Director/Owner

  • Self-employed.

  • Overseeing exhibition curatorial, production, and project management for a range of clients spanning governmental, public, and private clients.

  • Development and execution of self-initiated projects.

  • Provision of arts education to secondary and tertiary institutions in Singapore.

​

LASALLE College of the Arts, Aug 2022 – Nov 2022

Part-Time Lecturer (BA Fine Arts)

  • Part-time (contract) work.

  • Course Lecturer for "Artist as Curator" elective

  • Overseeing and mentoring the curation of the One Night Only festival 2022 edition.


Singapore Art Museum, Sep 2015 - Aug 2020

Assistant Curator

  • Full-time (permanent) work.

  • Curator/Co-Curator of 9 exhibitions. Co-Curator of 2 editions of the Singapore Biennale: An Atlas of Mirrors & Every Step In the Right Direction.

  • 3 associated Benesse Prize nominations and award(s).

  • Editor of Singapore Art Museum – An Index of Exhibitions (1994 – 2018), the first publication to catalogue the museum's exhibition history.


The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jun 2015

Assistant to the Festival Coordinator | The Umbrella Festival

  • Part-time (contract) work.

  • Assisting the Festival Coordinator of the Umbrella Festival 2015.

  • Stage Manager for A Shaggy Dog Story performed by comedian Chan Ka Ming.


SUPER STUDIOS, Aug 2014 – Sep 2014

Production Assistant

  • Full-time (contract) work.

  • Provision of logistical and technical support. Highlights include working on the Singapore Sports Council advertising campaign featuring Joseph Schooling, and the Tampines East MRT station artwork commission Welcome to Jingapore.


i-AM Festival, Sep 2010 – Mar 2011

Producer | 1937

  • Diploma Project

  • In charge of securing exhibition location and sponsors for the exhibition The Origin of the World.

  • Coordinating team operations, developing marketing strategies as well as development of curatorial concepts and sourcing of artists.

  • Exhibition was opened by 2010 Cultural Medallion Winner Amanda Heng and the official launch of the i-AM Festival 2011.


Geeleinan Art Gallery, Mar 2010 – Dec 2010

Gallery Administrator

  • Part-time (contract) work.

  • In charge of marketing gallery and services to corporate clients such as DAMCO Logistics and Freedom To Create.

  • Assisting in corporate team bonding events, administrative work, writing, and preparation and execution of exhibition plans – including, design-outsource and sending out of Electronic Direct Mailers, exhibition set-ups and tear-downs, logistics requirements.

  • Secured exhibition with the American Club which took place in October/November 2011.

Exhibition History

  1. Feb ’24 – 浪子回头十年不晚 (The Vagrant’s Return is Never Too Late): Kim Whye Kee Homecoming Solo Exhibition – (Curator)

  2. Feb ’24 – Tree Management Agency (Curator, Warin Lab Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand)

  3. Jan ’24 – UNDESCRIBED #9 (Mentor, DECK)

  4. Jan ’24 – Turning Points – (Curator, ART:DIS)

  5. Jan ’24 ­– SEAFocus 2024 – Serial and Massively Parallel (Curator, STPI)

  6. Nov ’23 – Which is Which? (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  7. Oct’ 23 – This Moment Now is Past and Future All At Once (Curator, ShanghART, Singapore)

  8. Sep ’23 – Re-Connect/Centre/Converge, The Arts Festival (Festival Director, The Substation)

  9. Sep ’23 –  Dancing with the Cosmos: 3 Decades of Work from Kumari Nahappan (Curator, The Private Museum)

  10. Aug ’23 – SG Contemporary (Curator, Gajah Gallery, Jakarta)

  11. Jun ’23 – A Piece of Home – ART:DIS Artist-in-Training Exhibition (Curator, ART:DIS)

  12. Mar ’23 – UNDESCRIBED #8 (Mentor, DECK)

  13. Mar ’23 – New Futures for the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs 66th Session in Vienna (Curator, Ministry of Home Affairs – Singapore Prison Service)  

  14. Feb ’23 – IMPART Award Winners’ Showcase: Personal Profiles (Curator, Art Outreach)

  15. Jan ’23 – Jane Lee: Neti Neti  (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  16. Jan ’23 – For the House; Against the House – The Museum is Dead  (Associate Curator, OH! Open House)

  17. Nov ‘ 23 - Yellow Ribbon Community Arts Festival 2022: Home is Where the HeART Is (Exhibition Curator, Singapore Prison Service)

  18. Sep '22 - Listen... Don't Ask What Bird is Singing (Co-Curator, DECK, for SIPF)

  19. Sep '22 - Placemaking at the Moment Between Times (Curator, DECK, for SIPF)

  20. Sep '22 - Worlds and Spacing, by Maleonn (Curator, DECK, for SIPF)

  21. Sep '22 - 8th Singapore International Photography Festival: Future Known as Unpredicted (Festival Curator, DECK)

  22. Sep '22 - SeptFest, Uproot/Rootless: Across Narrow Waters (Curator, Substation)

  23. Aug '22 - The Commoner's House, by Dusadee Huntrakul (Curator, Bangkok CityCity Gallery, Thailand)

  24. Jul ’22 - Thought Sample Return, by Susie Lingham (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  25. Jul ‘22 – Teens & Kin (Curator, MAELab/NUHS)

  26. May ‘22 – Objects (II): Siew Keeliong (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  27. Apr ‘22 – Thasnai Sethaseree: The Four Elements (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  28. Apr ‘22 - A Matter of Scale and Perspective (Curator, Art Galleries Association Singapore)

  29. Feb ‘22 – The Gathering: 千岁宫 (Curator/Producer, From the Woods LLP)

  30. Jan ‘22 – A World at Every Turn (Guest Artistic Director, Art Galleries Association Singapore)

  31. Jan ‘22 – The Forest Institute (Co-Initiator/Curator/Producer, From the Woods LLP)

  32. Jan ‘22 – For the House; Against the House – Life Imitates Art (Associate Curator, OH! Open House)

  33. Nov ‘21 – Yellow Ribbon Community Art and Poetry Exhibition (Curator, Singapore Prison Services)

  34. Oct ‘21 – Tawatchai Puntusawasdi: Shifts in Perception (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  35. Sep ‘21 – 5th Passage: In Search of Lost Time (Curator, Gajah Gallery)

  36. Jan ‘21 – For the House; Against the House - Passion Made Impossible (Associate Curator, OH! Open House)

  37. Nov ‘20 – 7th Singapore International Photography Festival: Departing and Arriving (Festival Curator, DECK)

  38. Nov ‘19 – 6th Singapore Biennale: Every Step in the Right Direction (Co-curator, Singapore Biennale)

  39. Jul ‘19 – Hoarding Commissions: Walking in the City Series (Curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  40. Sep ‘18 – Yellow Ribbon Community Art Exhibition: Transitions, Crossroads, and Choices (Curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  41. Jun ‘18 – Installation in Progress: Exhibition Making and the Singapore Art Museum (Curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  42. Nov ‘17 – Cinerama: Art and the Moving Image in Southeast Asia (Lead Curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  43. Oct ‘17 – Yellow Ribbon Community Art Exhibition: For Better Endings and New Beginnings (Co-curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  44. May ‘17 – Imaginarium: To the Ends of the Earth (Co-curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  45. Oct ‘16 – 5th Singapore Biennale: An Atlas of Mirrors (Co-curator, Singapore Biennale)

  46. Aug ‘16 – Yellow Ribbon Community Art Exhibition: From Night to Light (Co-curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  47. Jun ‘16 – Odyssey: Navigating Nameless Seas (Co-curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  48. Mar ‘16 – Imaginarium: Over the Ocean, Under The Sea (Co-curator, Singapore Art Museum)

  49. Mar ‘11 – i-AM Festival 2011: The Origin of the World (Producer, 1973)

Associated Awards and Nominations

  1. IMPART Art Awards 2023, Tan Boon Hui Curatorial Prize, Winner.

  2. Dusadee Huntrakul, The Map for the Soul to Return to the Body, 2019. 12th Benesse Prize finalist. Role: Commissioning, curator-in-charge.

  3. Robert Zhao Renhui, Queen's Own Hill and its Environs, 2019. 12th Benesse Prize finalist. Role: Commissioning, curator-in-charge.

  4. Pannapan Yodmanee, Aftermath, 2016. 11th Benesse Prize Winner. Role: Commissioning, curator-in-charge.

Selected Lectures, Talks & Panel Discussions

  1. Jan ’24 – SEAFocus Spotlight: Not Just a Show: Exhibition-Making in Southeast Asia – STPI (Panelist)

  2. Nov ‘ 23 – Between Space and Place – DECK (Panelist)

  3. Jul ’23 – Level Up, Professional Development Workshop – Art Outreach (Conductor)

  4. Mar ’23 – MA Cultural Management Alumni Symposium – The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Panelist)

  5. Oct ’22 – Industry Experience Conference (Dip. Arts Management) – Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Guest Speaker)

  6. Aug ’22 – Artist as Curator (BA Fine Arts, Programme Elective) – LASALLE (Part-Time Lecturer)

  7. Jun ‘22 – Exhibition-Making Workshop (Singapore Management University, 8-lesson curriculum) – DECK (Lecturer)

  8. Jul ‘21 – Exhibition-Making Workshop (CHIJ Katong Convent, 7-lesson curriculum) – DECK (Lecturer)

  9. Jun ‘21 – A Studio of One’s Own – DECK (Host)

  10. May ‘21 – Are Art Museums Instruments of Hegemony? – Inappropriate Book Club, Talk-Talk-Villion, Bangkok Biennial 2020 (Discussant)

  11. May ‘21 – 2nd Workshop on Cultural Mediation – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, MA in Cultural Management Programme (Respondent)

  12. Feb ‘21 – Walking With Photographers Series – DECK (Host)

  13. Dec ‘20 – Artist Talks and In Conversation Series – Singapore International Photography Festival (Facilitator and Moderator)

  14. Mar ‘20 – Art at a Time of Pandemic – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, MA in Cultural Management Programme (Speaker)

  15. Oct ‘19 – Artist Panel Discussion with Dennis Tan And Post Museum – LASALLE, Baby Tropical Lab "Erase" (Panel Moderator)

  16. Nov ‘18 – Southeast Asia: Cultural Challenges and the Curatorial – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, MA in Cultural Management Programme (Guest Lecture)

  17. Sep ‘18 – Behind the Scenes with Artist Mentors – Yellow Ribbon Singapore (Panel Moderator)

  18. Aug ‘17 – On Curating – LASALLE, MA Art Histories Programme (Guest Lecture)

  19. Jun ‘17 – Singapore Art Museum – Beyond a National Platform – Chiang Mai Art Conversation (Guest Lecture)

  20. May ‘17 – Art History (a 5-part art history module in Singapore Changi Prison for inmate artists) – Yellow Ribbon Singapore (Programme Lecturer)

  21. Nov ‘16 – Curating Southeast Asia – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, MA in Cultural Management Programme (Guest Lecture)

Publications and Writings

  1. Nov ’23 – Author (Essay), The Physiology of Gesture in Rhythmic Resonance: A Collaboration Beyond Boundaries By Andy Yang & Ian de Souza (Exhibition Catalogue). The Private Museum.

  2. Nov ’23 – Author (Artist Conversation), Cross-Continental Canvas: In Conversation with Andy Yang and Ian de Souza in Rhythmic Resonance: A Collaboration Beyond Boundaries By Andy Yang & Ian de Souza (Exhibition Catalogue). The Private Museum.

  3. Sep ’22 – Author (Artist Conversation), Dusadee Huntrakul Doubles Down on Looking in Ocula Magazine (Online Publication). Ocula.

  4. Jan ‘22 – Author (Essay), DEVOTIONS DELIBERATIONS UPON EMERGENT OCCASIONS MMXXII in Islands Time Based Art Festival 2022 (Exhibition E-Catalogue). Islands Time Based Art Festival.

  5. Sep ‘21 – Editor/Author (Publication), 5th Passage: Time Regained. (ISBN978-981-18-2595-8). Gajah Gallery.

  6. May ‘21 – Author (Essay), The Heart of the City in Room no. 2 and Sunset on Unnamed Lanes (Exhibition Collateral). Bangkok CityCity Gallery/ Discoveries Section, Art Basel Hong Kong. Bangkok CityCity Gallery.

  7. Jan ‘21 – Author (Essay), The Warden At The Gates / An Essay on the Margins in The Immortals Are Quite Busy These Days (Exhibition Collateral). Bangkok CityCity Gallery.

  8. Nov ‘19 – Author (Essay), Southeast Asia: The Geographic Question in Singapore Biennale 2019: Every Step In The Right Direction (Exhibition Catalogue). (ISBN:978-981-14-3278-1) Singapore Art Museum.

  9. Mar ‘19 – Author (Essay), Phantom on the Horizon in Once lost but now found (Exhibition Catalogue). Oi! (Hong Kong).

  10. Aug ‘18 - Editor/Author (Publication), Singapore Art Museum: An Index of Exhibitions (1994 – 2018). (ISBN: 978-981-11-8479-6/ISBN: 978-981-14-0736-9). Singapore Art Museum

  11. May ‘18 – Author (Essay), Nipan Oranniwesna, Memories of Progress in Singapore in Cultural Connections, Volume 3. (ISSN:2424-9122). National Heritage Board.  

  12. Oct ‘16 – Author (Essay), Curatorial Introduction - An Everywhere of Mirrorings in Singapore Biennale 2016: An Atlas of Mirrors (Exhibition Catalogue). (ISBN: 978-981-11-1164-8). Singapore Art Museum.  

  13. Oct ‘15 – Author (Essay), Die Wunderkammer der schmutzigen Geheimnisse, or A Museum History of Omitted Facts in the Journal of Theatrex Asia, Volume 2. Peer-reviewed. (ISSN: 2345-7678)

  14. Jun ‘15 - Author (Essay), Precursors to Audience Development in the Management of Performing Arts Organisations: An Evaluation of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in the Graduate Journal of Cultural and Creative Industries (GJCCI), Issue no. 1. Peer-reviewed. (ISSN: 2424-7928)

  15. Jun ‘11 – Author (under alias John Savage; Poetry), A Sense of Weightlessness in Ceriph, Issue no. 3. (ISBN: 978-981-08-7735-4). Math Paper Press.

C.V.: List

john@johntung.com

Logo design by Stephanie Wong
Profile photo by Caleb Ming
©John Tung, 2021

bottom of page