Ho Tzu Nyen
  • Artist

Ho Tzu Nyen

Ho Tzu Nyen makes films, installations and performances that often begin as engagements with historical and theoretical texts. His recent works are populated by metamorphic figures such as the weretiger (One or Several Tigers, 2017) and the triple agent (The Nameless, 2015), under the rubric of The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, an ongoing meta project.

His work is also often characterized by collaborations with researchers, programmers, designers and musicians. In the past, he has collaborated with musicians such as Black to Comm, Vindicatrix, Aki Onda, Oren Ambarchi.

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One-person exhibitions of his work have been held at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] (2021), Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art (Oldenburg, 2019), Kunstverein in Hamburg (2018), Ming Contemporary Art Museum [McaM] (Shanghai, 2018); Asia Art Archive (2017), Guggenheim Bilbao (2015), Mori Art Museum, (2012), The Substation (Singapore, 2003). He represented the Singapore Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011).

Recent group exhibitions include the Aichi Triennale (2019); 12th Gwangju Biennale (2018); 2 or 3 Tigers at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2017), the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014); the 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2014). His theatrical works have been presented at festivals such as TPAM (Yokohama, Japan, 2021, 2019, 2018); The Holland Festival (Amsterdam, 2020, 2018); Wiener Festwochen (2020, 2014); Theater der Welt (2010); the KunstenFestivaldesArts (2006, 2008, 2018). His films have been presented at the Berlin (2015); Sundance (2012); Cannes (2009) and Venice (2009) film Festivals. Together with Taiwanese artist Hsu Chia-wei, he also co-curated ‘The Strangers from Beyond the Mountain and the Sea’, the 7th Asian Art Biennale, at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.

Ho Tzu Nyen was awarded a DAAD Scholarship in Berlin (2014 – 2015) and the Grand Prize of the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize (2015).

  • “The Bohemian Rhapsody Project” (2006)

    “The Bohemian Rhapsody Project” (2006)

    Ho Tzu Nyen's works are rich in historical and ideological contexts, sometimes with a theatrical twist. This particular work is set in the former Supreme Court, now the National Gallery Singapore, and connects the performer’s audition process to the masterpieces of the rock group Queen. In the performances of the judges and the suspects, we catch a glimpse of the origins of Singapore as a multi-ethnic country and a long-time British colony.

    Kawakyu Museum

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    Kawakyu Museum

    Hotel Kawakyu, Japan's pride and joy, is a “dream castle”, a miraculous piece of architecture filled with the dreams and passion of its founder, owner and the craftsmen who were involved its construction. With a fervor that is truly insane, they have created an extraordinary world in Nanki Shirahama. The gold leaf ceiling appears in the Guinness Book of World Records, and there are luxury wine cellars, pillars, ornate chairs, chandeliers, and other fixtures in the hotel which are all of first-class quality. In 2021, the hotel opened the Kawakyu Museum, where you can admire works by masters from various periods and places such as Dali and Chagall, and Taikan Yokoyama respectively.

Collective Archive