In celebration of SG60, Whitestone Gallery Singapore is honoured to present Sama Sama, a significant exhibition featuring 80+ diverse artworks by 60 local contemporary artists and collectives. United through a spirit of artistic togetherness, Sama Sama offers a collective reflection on Singapore’s evolving history and cultural journey.

Curatorial Concept
“Sama Sama”, a term not unfamiliar to Singaporeans, means “all together” or “togetherness.” [“Sama Sama” also means “You’re welcome”, and “same”.] By titling this exhibition “Sama Sama”, we invite a multidimensional engagement with art that revisits Singapore’s evolving history and cultural trajectory through the togetherness of local contemporary artists. From its humble origins to its rise as a global city-state, Singapore’s transformation is nothing short of extraordinary. It has been shaped by collective resilience, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to progress. At the core of this transformation lies the unity of its people — a central theme that underpins this exhibition.

Featuring sixty works by local artists and collectives spanning generations — including Anthony Chin, Boedi Widjaja, Boo Sze Yang, Chow and Lin, Cynthia Delaney Suwito, Heman Chong, Ian Tee, Jackson Tan, Lai Yu Tong, Lee Wen, Milenko Prvački, Ng Hui Hsien, Post-Museum, Dr. S. Chandrasekaran, Sim Chi Yin, Zarina Muhammad and among others — the exhibition showcases a rich diversity of mediums, from film and installation to painting, photography, multimedia, printmaking, socially engaged practices, and performance. Their works explore a spectrum of themes, from ecology, technology, and global crises to society, politics and identity, reflecting the inclusive and multifaceted nature of contemporary art in Singapore. Together, these works embody the core values local artists uphold: freedom, diversity, imagination, creativity, inclusiveness, and resistance – values that resonate with the broader public.

The use of the vernacular term “Sama Sama” challenges conventional discourses on identity and culture, which are rarely linear but instead are constructed from the ground up, shaped through the aesthetic, poetic, political, social and emotional dimensions of art. This exhibition seeks to serve as a collective critical inquiry, using art as a medium to interrogate and reaffirm identity — one that is deeply rooted in history, actively engaged with the present, and continually shaping the future.

Far from a conventional survey of contemporary art history, the group show “Sama Sama” thrives on layered interpretations, material experimentation, and meaningful connections. Each artwork carries its own narrative, historical context, created as a response to or reflection of our current sociocultural conditions. In this way, art, as both a product and a catalyst of shared histories, paints an artistic statement on sixty years of nation building, when these sixty works sama-sama in “Sama Sama”.