Amidst shifting social currents, industrialized landscapes, and a fast-paced world, how does a community preserve its heritage, rewrite histories, and confront colonial legacies? In this long-term collaboration with the Jrai community, ‘Angin Cloud’ by Art Labor explores these questions through a multi-floor installation at National Gallery Singapore that poetically intertwines Gia Rai (Jrai) beliefs, traditions, and environmental change.
Spanning from street level to the basement of the Padang Atrium, and suspended from the ceiling of the passageway connecting the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, Art Labor’s latest installation, ‘Angin Cloud’ (2025), immediately captures visitors’ attention upon their arrival at the National Gallery Singapore. Developed as part of the OUTBOUND series — unique and site-responsive artwork commissions by leading artists from around the world that reimagine key entrances of the museum — the installation imagines the rural industrialization of a hillside in Vietnam's Central Highlands. It debuted as part of Light to Night Singapore in January 2025, an annual festival organised by the museum as part of Singapore Art Week.
Founded in 2012 by Phan Thảo Nguyên, Trương Công Tùng, and Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, Art Labor collaborated with vn-a (visual network art and architecture), and Jrai artists Puih Glơh, Romah Aleo, Rahlan Loh, Rchâm Jeh, Siu Kin, Puih Hăn, Siu Lơn and Siu Huel to realize ‘Angin Cloud.’ Featuring Jrai wood sculptures, hammocks for reclining, and suspended pillars from the ceiling, this newly commissioned multi-floor wood sculptural installation marks the third phase of their ongoing decade-long collaboration with the Jrai community in the Central Highlands, following Jrai Dew and JUA.
With a long history of environmental extraction driven by colonization, the landscape of Central Highlands has undergone successive waves of industrialization and economic development. Since the 1980s, the rapid expansion of industrial farming of commodity crops, such as peppercorn plantations, has led to the displacement of the Jrai and the reshaping of their land. In previous projects such as Jrai Dew and JUA, Art Labor has been working closely with the Jrai artists and community to conduct research, organize exhibitions, and develop artistic and cultural activities. Their works mostly incorporate elements related to coffee and rice, drawing from the region’s agricultural products to reflect on the changing landscape and the lived experiences of the Jrai people.
At the heart of ‘Angin Cloud’ lies the Jrai concept of “angin,” which refers to the dynamic potential for change found in the natural elements of water and air. The suspended pillars resemble the structures found in peppercorn plantations, while their dissolution into space suggests the evaporation of all matter with water into the air. Here, ‘Angin’ itself is not just a mere transformation, but a powerful force that confronts the viewers with the disappearing landscape of ancient jungles of Central Highlands.
Installation view of ‘Angin Cloud’ at National Gallery Singapore.
At the entrance on the street level, we encounter Jrai wood sculptures of human and animal figures, each with distinct expressions. According to Art Labor and curator Kathleen Ditzig, these sculptures are mostly used for funerals and house decorations, and also believed to provide spiritual protection, which would be abandoned together with the grave into nature after a ceremony Lễ bỏ mả that ended the mourning period. However, in ‘Angin Cloud,’ these sculptures take on a new purpose of self-expression and shift towards a modernist function as art objects.
Jrai wood sculptures featured in ‘Angin Cloud’ at National Gallery Singapore.
Meanwhile, visitors can recline in the hammocks placed in the basement of the Padang Atrium and gaze up at the suspended pillars above them. A common household object in Vietnam, hammocks can be found both indoors and outdoors, often serving as a place of rest. From this point of view, the installation appears to ascend the hillside and slowly dissolves into the air — a reflection of the evaporation of the forest and a gradual loss of cultural heritage. At the same time, this perspective can also be inverted: the installation can be seen as a cloud descending on the Padang Atrium, releasing Brutalist cement pillars like raindrops.
The interplay between the farming structures and the architectural elements of the National Gallery Singapore is one of the key highlights of this installation. The building was constructed primarily with concrete and embodies the Neo-classical style from the British colonial period, while the Brutalist aesthetics of the suspended pillars, resembling farming structures of peppercorn plantations before the vines are cultivated, appear to evaporate into space. As the afternoon light filters through the glass entrance, their interaction creates a dreamlike visual effect, making the pillars seem like they are floating in space. Beyond its aesthetics, perhaps this serves as a quiet confrontation against authority, control, and colonial history embedded in the building’s architecture. The installation resonates with resistance and the enduring spirit of the Jrai community.
Details of suspended pillars in ‘Angin Cloud’ at National Gallery Singapore.
“Art Labor’s long-term collaboration with the Jrai draws into focus the complexities of how we write global art histories, gesturing at the national and regional frameworks that often leave out or instrumentalize particular communities. Art Labor's practice is both rigorous and rich in its consideration of how art in Southeast Asia can produce ethnographies. This is also a critical interest for National Gallery Singapore in terms of its role in making visible Southeast Asian art history internationally,” curator Kathleen Ditzig told Saigoneer.
Through the lens of Jrai beliefs and cosmological concepts, Art Labor, together with the Jrai artists, have brought the visual and spatial experience of ‘Angin Cloud’ into the museum. By installing the works in a national monument with a colonial architectural legacy, they challenge the conventional conceptions of modern and contemporary art, while encouraging a deeper reflection on the frameworks that shape how we perceive art today. Their collaborative approach with the Jrai community also expands the possibilities of museology, offering alternative ways of thinking about complex histories and engaging with art in our world today.
[Photos courtesy of National Gallery Singapore.]
‘Angin Cloud’ is on view at the Padang Atrium of National Gallery Singapore until 30 November 2025. If you find yourself in Singapore, take the opportunity to explore the museum’s extensive Southeast Asian art collection, and don’t forget to pause at ‘Angin Cloud’ for an immersive and thought-provoking experience!
