Singapore International Photography Festival’s 10th edition features 47 Singaporean artists; a rare archive by filmmaker Tan Pin Pin; and photography from more than 56 countries, including the Philippines.
The Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) will mark its 10th edition and 18th anniversary with a program focused on 25 years of Singaporean photography. The festival runs from October 16, 2026 to January 31, 2027, featuring 47 Singaporean artists, international photographers, and a rarely seen archive by filmmaker Tan Pin Pin. This year’s theme, In My End Is My Beginning, takes its title from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Artistic director and co-founder Gwen Lee said the theme reflects photography’s ability to take on new meanings as different generations revisit the medium.
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Here’s What To Expect At The 10th Edition Of The Singapore International Photography Festival
25 Years Of Singaporean Photography
The festival’s anchor exhibition, Shifting Images, surveys Singaporean photography from 2000 to 2025 through seven exhibitions across partner venues.
The shows examine photography’s changing relationship with technology, archives, identity and the city. Image After Image at Mizuma Gallery traces the shift from analog prints to generative AI, while Systems of Seeing at ShanghArt Gallery looks at how photographs can form larger networks and records of urban life.
At Figment, After the Archive examines colonial records and historical omissions. The Stories We Carry, presented in two parts at Geylang East Library and STORIES Joo Chiat, considers photography as both a record of its making and a way of organizing knowledge and memory.
SingPost Geylang Post Office will host States of Becoming, which explores gender, intimacy and belonging through portraiture and performance, alongside In Circles, which considers photography through speculation and imagination. Where We Stand at Guoco Midtown focuses on rapid urbanization, nightscapes, and Singapore’s built environment.
Tan Pin Pin’s Archive
At Shop-House by DECK, Singapore Index presents 63 photographs from Tan Pin Pin’s extensive archive of Singaporean life.
Tan began the project in 1991, after returning to Singapore at 22 following time abroad. Over 12 months, she shot 2,800 black-and-white negatives using a wide-angle lens and direct flash. The photographs document funerals, weddings, religious gatherings, school reunions, matchmaking outings, society balls and other public events.
Tan said she called the series Singapore Index because she wanted to document the country’s rituals and events after returning as a young adult. The exhibition offers an early look at the observational approach that would later define her documentary films, including Singapore GaGa, 80km/h and In Time to Come.
Over 700 Works From 56 Countries
SIPF’s international open calls will also return. Since 2008, its portfolio and photobook showcases have featured more than 700 projects from 56 countries. This year’s portfolio showcase includes 20 portfolios from 16 countries. The photobook showcase features 41 shortlisted entries from 188 applications representing more than 37 countries.
The wider program will bring artists, curators and publishers from China, France, Italy, the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, and elsewhere to Singapore for the Asia Meet Symposium, portfolio reviews, talks, a photo market and masterclasses. Speakers include British curatorCuratorA specialist who selects, researches, and interprets works for museums, galleries, and exhibitions, shaping the story that visitors experience. Curators also care for collections, and their vision determines how artGo to Curator Glossary Monica Allende, artist and AI expert Boris Eldagsen, and Paris-based practitioner Shi Zhen.
The Singapore International Photography Festival runs from October 16, 2026 to January 31, 2027. “Where We Stand,” Part two of “The Stories We Carry,” and “Singapore Index” will remain on view through January 31, 2027 coinciding with Singapore Art Week 2027. Tickets and festival passes are available at sipf.sg.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Singapore International Photography Festival runs from October 16, 2026 to January 31, 2027.
The 2026 theme is “In My End Is My Beginning,” a phrase from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets.
The festival includes Shifting Images, a seven-part survey of Singaporean photography from 2000 to 2025, as well as Singapore Index by Tan Pin Pin.
Singapore Index is a collection of photographs Tan Pin Pin began in 1991 after returning to Singapore. The exhibition presents 63 photographs from 2,800 black-and-white negatives documenting Singaporean rituals and events.
SIPF 2026 brings together 47 Singaporean artists, alongside international photographers, curators, publishers and artists from countries including China, France, Italy, the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and Thailand.
