Exactly Foundation Exhibit 12
Featuring Tan Wei Keong & Zakaria Zainal
Raising Sam by Tan Wei Keong
Raising Sam is a text-based project that responds to the repeal of Section 377A in 2022. That repeal led to consideration of the societal impact of eliminating a string of text from the Singapore Penal Code, which may ultimately open new possibilities for parenting by same-sex couples. With new possibilities come new responsibilities. The premise in this project is to raise an AI child with the same intention, intimacy and trial-and-error approach that characterizes traditional parenting. Raising Sam is the result of Tan Wei Keong’s year-long collaboration with IT specialist Ryan Tan. Together, they digitally created nearly six virtual years of Sam’s toddler life, an act of “raising” Sam – a bot-child that can react and converse. Like Sam, we may need a “born-again moment” where we unlearn and relearn.
Singapore Surfacing by Zakaria Zainal
Imagine the Singapore Merlion partially submerged by sea water. The average sea level around Singapore is projected to rise by up to 1.15m by 2100, exceeding previous estimates. Singapore Surfacing interrogates the narratives and relationships of man and the Singapore coast — both on the main island as well as the offshore islands — in light of global rising sea levels. In 2019, former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it would take S$100 billion or more, spread over 100 years, to tackle rising sea levels. Assuming 1.5C of warming, prime real estate in the city worth S$70 billion ($50 billion) faces a high risk of flooding, according to Bloomberg estimates using data from a real estate company. According to the former Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore Benjamin Horton, a third of Singapore’s land area is only one meter above the highest tides. The government’s approach to rising sea levels is clear. “We are not planning to lose any inch of land permanently,” PUB deputy director Ho Chai Teck said in a news report.
Exhibition
Objectifs Lower Gallery 1
Exhibition Opening Reception
Thu 19/03/2026, 630pm – 930pm
Guest of Honor: Gwee Li Sui
Free Admission
Artist Talks
Thu 19/03/2026, 730pm
Free Admission
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About the artists
Born in Singapore, Tan Wei Keong studied animation at the island city-state’s Nanyang Technological University. In his films he animates fantasy worlds in which he explores his gay identity through personal storytelling. His highly acclaimed films have been selected at Berlinale Shorts, Toronto International Film Festival and Annecy International Animation Film Festival. He is also an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents and SFFILM FilmHouse Residency. His films have achieved recognition on numerous occasions at the Singapore International Film Festival, including the Best Singapore Short Film Award, Special Mention and Special Achievement Award. His interest in new media led to exhibition pieces including Muybridge’s Birds (2021), a video collaboration with Jim Campbell projected from the top of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco; and Notes of the Lighthouse Keepers (2016), which was shown at Headlands Center for the Arts in California. He was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2019.
Zakaria Zainal makes meaning of the world through his photographs. His photographs and text interrogate space and memory vis-a-vis visual projects exploring national myopia through the lens of communities on the margins. He is best known for the Singapore Gurkhas trilogy—visual books on the diasporic lives of this proud paramilitary tradition in the Lion City. Other projects include: vignettes from the 2013 Little India riot; reclaiming living histories of forgotten Singapore islanders; and the declining Malay-Muslim mutual benefit organisations. Most recently, Zakaria was commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore to document the pandemic, which were exhibited in the Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19. His visual projects are collected by the National Museumof Singapore and exhibited internationally. Additionally, Zakaria was once an adjunct faculty at Nanyang Technological University and a programme officer at the Asia Journalism Fellowship, where he supports and mentors aspiring journalists from the region. He graduated from Hyper Island and NTU’s School of Communication. He also runs a creative studio, Zainal & Zainal.
About Exactly Foundation
Exactly Foundation is a not-for-profit, trademarked registered label established by Li Li Chung to commission photographers to create works that stimulate discussion of social concerns in Singapore. Its goal is to produce new knowledge by having viewers engage with the photographs and share them with friends and family over a 2-3 month period.