In late January, as Singapore commenced the flurry of its annual art week, I headed to the city’s River Valley to meet Belinda Tanoto. Passing luxury condominiums and boutiques, it was difficult to imagine that this upscale precinct was built upon colonial-era pepper and nutmeg plantations—an impressive metamorphosis emblematic of the government’s urban renewal schemes, which began in the 1960s. Still, remnants of the island-country’s fraught past endure in the most unexpected places.

Take New Bahru, a popular creative lifestyle destination on Kim Yam Road, housed within the premises of the former Nan Chiau High School. The refurbished brutalist building dates back to 1969, and has since been thoughtfully reimagined for contemporary use. Here, in what was once the assembly hall, the Tanoto Art Foundation (TAF) mounted its inaugural exhibition, “Rituals of Perception,” marking a new chapter for the Singapore-based nonprofit.

When I arrived at the New Bahru complex, I found Tanoto already seated at a café across from the school hall—it was the day before TAF would unveil its show. Donning a trim dress and her signature bob, the Indonesian art patron radiated warmth and enthusiasm. Over coffee, accompanied by the sound of children frolicking in a nearby playground, we spoke about the beginnings of her foundation and her love for art.

“It really started with my time in China,” she said. “I moved there for the family business.” The youngest daughter of Indonesian businessman and entrepreneur Sukanto Tanoto, she serves as managing director of Royal Golden Eagle, a conglomerate in the bio-based and energy sectors founded by her father in 1973, and sits on the board of trustees at the Jakarta-based Tanoto Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by her parents in 1981. During her stint in Shanghai from 2021 to 2024, she was eager to do more than just look at factories: between professional commitments, she beelined to private museums, galleries, and artist studios across the country, immersing herself in China’s dynamic cultural landscape. Several encounters were particularly formative—among them, seeing American artist Roni Horn’s elegant cast-glass sculptures in her 2023 solo exhibition at the He Art Museum in Foshan, Guangdong. “It was very eye-opening,” Tanoto recalled, “because you could just go to a random city and find a Tadao Ando-designed museum. It opened my mind as to what’s possible through art philanthropy.”