On view from 4 to 19 July 2026, artcommune gallery proudly presents Romanticisation of the Tropics: Batik Paintings by Chuah Thean Teng, Choo Keng Kwang and Seah Kim Joo, an exhibition curated by Yang Jye Ru that examines the development of batik painting as a modern art form in Singapore and Malaysia. Drawn from special private collections, the show features the works of Chuah Thean Teng (b. 1914, Fujian, China - d. 2008, Penang, Malaysia), Choo Keng Kwang (b. 1931, Singapore - d. 2019, Singapore) and Seah Kim Joo (b. 1939, Singapore), who were amongst the most prominent artists working on batik painting between the 1950s and 1970s.

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Through their works, the show considers how batik became embedded in the formation of a regional visual culture, shaped by the intersecting forces of post-colonial nation-building, cultural policy and the tourism economy during the 1960s and 1970s.