City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s
National Gallery Singapore
Singapore

The place that the French capital holds in popular imagination as well as in art historical narratives is a formidable one, with no period in the city’s history as infamous as the first half of the 20th century. Over five years of research—and three years of curatorial work—culminated in the National Gallery Singapore’s ambitious “City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s,” which approached the city’s indomitable epoch from the perspective of the Asian artists who lived, worked, and were inspired there. Variously understood as foreigners, artisans, students, and colonial subjects, they encountered the city as an arena fraught with anxiety and judgment, yet rich in opportunity and artistry.