Tropical: Stories for SEAsia and Latin America

Exhibited at the National Gallery Singapore, Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America redefines the narrative of modernism, positioning Southeast Asia within a global framework of modern art debates. 

Delving into the work of vanguard artists and challenging Western-centric perspectives, Tropical employs distinct exhibition design and interconnections between the work of writers, poets, architects, and artists to present an inclusive interpretation of Southeast Asian and Latin American practices.

We worked closely with the curatorial team in developing the design of the accompanying publication, embracing the concept of non-linearity in the sequencing of content and graphic treatments, departing from a conventional approach and drawing inspiration from the shape-shifting concept of the Tropical.

We contemplated effective ways to covertly showcase tropical themes: throughout the volume we introduced the use of pastel pink sections as
warm visual detours across the connections created in the exhibition, highlighting the addition of translated and republished texts alongside the curatorial writings. 

Typographic considerations also reflected the essence of the exhibition infusing a modernist feel with subversive twists, referencing the visual language of many of the manifestos and compositions displayed in the exhibition.