A ten-day exhibition, preserved online
In May 2022, the guest suites of Conrad Centennial Singapore became an unconventional gallery for #GBK85, a retrospective celebrating six decades of work by pioneering Singaporean artist Goh Beng Kwan. The physical exhibition ran for only ten days, from 20–29 May, but its rooms, artworks and stories remain available through an immersive 360° virtual tour created by Visual Narrative Singapore.
The exhibition brought together 85 works to mark Goh’s 85th year, spanning approximately 60 years of artistic practice. Its name joined the artist’s initials with his age, while the letters were also associated with values that shaped the event: G for Generosity, B for Brave and Bright, and K for Kind and Kinship. The number 85 represented both the milestone and the 85 works selected for the retrospective.
Six decades, room by room
Rather than presenting the works in a conventional gallery, #GBK85 arranged them chronologically across hotel guest suites. Visitors moved from room to room and period to period, beginning with Goh’s early work and continuing through his formative years in New York from 1962 to 1966. Later rooms explored his work of the 1980s and 1990s, his practice during the new millennium and pieces produced during the COVID-19 period.
This chronological journey revealed an artist who continued to experiment throughout his career. Goh’s practice encompasses Chinese ink painting, abstraction, mixed-media collage and printmaking, as well as more recent experiments with augmented reality and NFTs. His achievements include winning the inaugural UOB Painting of the Year award in 1982 for Dune and receiving Singapore’s Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts in 1989.
The exhibition also connected art with community wellbeing. A portion of ticket proceeds supported the Singapore Association for Mental Health, reflecting Goh’s belief in the therapeutic potential of making and experiencing art. ArtAF, Conrad Centennial Singapore and the National Arts Council supported the event.
Art and technology in the physical exhibition
Technology was already part of the physical #GBK85 experience. Eleven selected works incorporated moving visual and audio elements through an ArtAF augmented-reality experience, adding a digital layer to Goh’s paintings and collages. These presentations complemented his exploration of new formats without replacing the material qualities and historical context of the original works.
Recreating #GBK85 in 360°
The 360° virtual tour extends that approach to the exhibition itself. Its 52 navigable panorama scenes preserve the guest-suite galleries, connecting hallways and photographic archive displays. Visitors can follow arrow-based navigation, choose rooms directly, or use a visual floorplan with markers to understand how the exhibition was organised.
Scene descriptions explain the periods represented in each room, while 17 integrated video screens and interactive artwork, information, image and video displays preserve much of the supporting material that accompanied the physical installation. Desktop and mobile instructions help visitors move through the experience on different devices.
The principal sections mirror the retrospective’s chronological and thematic route: Exhibition Highlights, Commissioned Works, The Pandemic Series, Early Works from the 1950s–1970s, New York from 1962–1966, the 1980s, the 1990s, New Millennia from 2000–2019, and 2020–2022.
Preserving Singapore’s artistic heritage
A temporary exhibition cannot keep its doors open indefinitely. A carefully constructed virtual tour can preserve more than individual artworks: it can retain their sequence, scale, setting and relationship to the stories around them. In the case of #GBK85, the digital experience records an unusual retrospective that brought six decades of Singapore art history into the intimate setting of hotel rooms.
