Perimeter Walk consists of 550 postcards featuring the images taken by Heman Chong as he measured the borders of Singapore by foot and captured the various landscapes along the edges of the country with his camera. Beyond a single view of the island, the subject matter of the photographs includes sand walls, ubiquitous signs of surveillance, tents in uninhabited woods, workers resting by the roadside in the afternoon, and lush vegetation. These elements reflect a unique microcosm of the tropical nation, reminding viewers of the safety zones that are defined by order, rules, and boundaries.
Printed in a standard postcard format, visitors are encouraged to touch, hold, purchase, exchange or gift them as they would treat a piece of souvenir from a trip. These images weave together a multifaceted narrative about Singapore’s borders. Through the exchange and circulation of these postcards, the largest gallery at UCCA Dune also becomes transformed into a temporary postcard store, diverting the flow of stories and landscapes beyond the confines of the exhibition.
Perimeter Walk will be exhibited next at Sharjah Biennale 16, and a major survey show of Heman Chong’s work at the Singapore Art Museum, both in 2025.
Perimeter Walk, 2013-2024, Offset print postcards, 550 pieces, 9.5 × 13.8 cm each, commissioned by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art; the development of Perimeter Walk supported by M Art Foundation.
Heman Chong (b. 1977, Malaysia, living and working in Singapore) is an artist whose work is located at the intersection between image, performance, situations, and writing. His practice can be read as an imagining, interrogation and sometimes intervention into infrastructure as an everyday medium of politics.
The artist has developed solo exhibitions at Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), Het Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), STPI (Singapore), Weserburg Museum (Bremen), Swiss Institute (New York), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai), NUS Museum (Singapore), Kunstverein Milano (Milan), Motive Gallery (Amsterdam), Art Sonje Center (Seoul), South London Gallery (London), Amanda Wilkinson Gallery (London), Rossi & Rossi (Hong Kong), Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Art In General (New York), Project Arts Centre (Dublin), Ellen de Bruijne Projects (Amsterdam), The Substation (Singapore), and Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin).
His work has also been shown extensively in group exhibitions at different art institutions, including Serpentine Galleries, Tate Modern, New Museum New York, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Kroeller-Muller Museum, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Nam June Paik Art Center, Gertrude Contemporary, Arnolfini, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Hamburger Bahnhof, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, and Kadist Art Foundation.
Chong has participated in numerous international biennales including Sharjah Biennale 16 (2025), Lahore Biennale 3 (2024), 20th Sydney Biennale (2016), 1st Yinchuan Biennale (2016), 10th Gwangju Biennale (2014), Asia Pacific Triennale (2012), Performa 11 (2011), Momentum 6 (2011), Manifesta 8 (2010), 2nd Singapore Biennale (2008), SCAPE Christchurch Biennale (2006), Busan Biennale (2004), 10th India Triennale (2000), and represented Singapore in the 50th Venice Biennale (2003).
Chong is the co-director and founder (alongside Renée Staal) of The Library of Unread Books, a library made up of donated books previously unread by their original owners. It has been hosted by the NTU Center for Contemporary Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design Manila, Casco, Kunstverein Milano, Jameel Arts Center, tranzit.cz, I_S_L_A_N_D_S, 7th Singapore Biennale, Blank Canvas, Seoul Museum of Art, and is recently installed in the Serpentine Pavilion 2024, designed by Minsuk Cho.
