“The city changes every day. What I can do is to leave, in my own way and from my own perspective, a record of my experience of observing this city amid all these changes.”

Artist Tung Yue Nang, 2026

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artcommune gallery proudly presents Textures of Longing and Belonging, a solo exhibition by Tung Yue Nang, opening on 19 September 2026 and curated by Yang Jye Ru. Featuring around 15 works created between 2018 and 2026, the exhibition focuses on Tung’s depictions of Singapore’s urban landscape, including familiar places such as Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Joo Chiat, Pulau Ubin and the Singapore River. Through his artistic treatment, these familiar everyday landscapes become more than representations of the city; they invite us to see the city anew and reflect on our relationship with it.

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Our understanding of a city is shaped not only by what we experience in person, but also by the images, memories and public narratives that accumulate over time. Iconic landmarks repeatedly featured in tourism campaigns, media coverage and representations of the city gradually establish familiar ways of seeing. In Singapore, the urban landscape is often closely tied to the image of the nation. These distinctive urban symbols not only shape how visitors imagine Singapore, but also, often imperceptibly, influence how we see and understand the city in which we live.

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To offer visitors a deeper understanding of the exhibition’s curatorial approach and the relationship between the artworks and the places they depict, artcommune gallery will present its first ever artist-led walking tour, Walking into Chinatown: Art in Situ. Conceived as an extension of the exhibition and led by Tung Yue Nang, the tour invites participants to step beyond the gallery and retrace the streets, histories and perspectives that Tung has observed and painted over the years, while (re)discovering Chinatown through the artist’s lens.

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For Tung, Chinatown is more than a backdrop for his paintings. It is a creative environment shaped by years of observation, sketching and lived experience. As participants walk through these streets, they will be encouraged to consider the places and perspectives from which Tung observed his surroundings: What did he see? Why did he choose this viewpoint? What was it about a seemingly ordinary street that made it worth painting?