VISUAL NATURE

The brilliant minds in architecture and design, and the arts who lend their light to global culture

ANGELENE CHAN

Asia’s Most Influential 2023, 2021

Chairman, DP Architects

Angelene Chan is the chairman of DP Architects, the firm behind famous sites such as the Singapore Sports Hub, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and The Dubai Mall. The company’s work is also evident in more than 20 projects and redevelopments along the Orchard Road shopping belt, including Wisma Atria, The Centrepoint and Mandarin Gallery. Holding the twin precepts of “design” and “people” close to her heart, Chan steers DP Architects in producing authentic and purposeful architecture that fulfils the needs of the community.

Chan first received recognition for her design credentials in 2010, when she was named one of Singapore’s 20 leading architects under the age of 45 by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. She grew from strength to strength, clinching the President’s Design Award (PDA) for her design of Sunray Woodcraft Construction Headquarters in 2015 and being named PDA Designer of the Year in 2018, Singapore’s highest design accolade.

IVAN HENG

Asia’s Most Influential 2023, 2021

Founding artistic director, Wild Rice

Ivan Heng needs little introduction. As the founding artistic director of Wild Rice, the actor and director is noted for his provocative work on stage tackling themes such as identity and migration. Off stage, he makes headlines as a passionate advocate for diversity and freedom of expression.

He founded Wild Rice in 2000, a company celebrated for its boundarypushing work including original musical retellings of fairy tales from the west (Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs) to the east (Monkey Goes West, Mama White Snake).

Wild Rice opens its 2024 Season this month with The Death of Singapore Theatre as Scripted By the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore,

a performance-lecture written by its resident playwright Alfian Sa’at, tracing Singapore theatre’s regulatory history from colonial times to today.

MAGNUS RENFREW

Asia’s Most Influential 2023

Co-founder, Art SG

Magnus Renfrew is a leading light in the international art world. He spent more than two decades shaping and transforming the Asiapacific art landscape through his work at The Art Assembly, co-founded with Sandy Angus and Tim Etchells in 2008. The Art Assembly is behind six of the region’s most important art fairs, including Photofairs Shanghai, Sydney Contemporary, India Art Fair and Taipei Dangdai. In 2023, Art SG and Tokyo Gendai were added to that list, creating multiple touchpoints for art conversations that year.

The second edition of Art SG this January attracted a record attendance of over 45,000 visitors, with galleries reporting solid sales. The fair showcased a dynamic line-up of 114 galleries from 33 countries and territories, including returning international galleries such as Gagosian, White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac, which were joined by regional stalwarts such as STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, along with 39 new exhibitors.

KENNIE TING

Asia’s Most Influential 2023, 2021

Director, Asian Civilisations Museum and Peranakan Museum

Kennie Ting has always been curious about his roots. This innate curiosity would guide him throughout his career, first as a student of culture and history, and now as the director of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and the Peranakan Museum.

In early 2023, the Peranakan Museum reopened, with a new approach of spotlighting people and micro-histories. and concluding almost a decade of major revamps and gallery refreshes. Meanwhile, the ACM celebrated its 25th anniversary the same year with the opening of the retrospective Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World.

The museum is one of the first museums in Southeast Asia to specialise in pan-asian cultures and civilisations, and in the material history of all regions from which Singapore’s cultural diversity originates.