SINGAPORE – The instability of the world today becomes the organising principle behind the Singapore Art Museum’s (SAM) latest show.

Four months after it opens on Oct 2, it will look completely different to the returning visitor with the entire roster of works replaced. There might be screw holes on the walls from where works have been swopped out for something new.

Do not be surprised to see objects mid-installation. This is an experiment in a different sort of presentation – evolving and refusing top-down narratives. It is also sparser, allowing for visitors to take their time to develop their own connections.

SAMCollection: The Present Is Unstable is the Tanjong Pagar Distripark gallery’s new exhibition of works from the museum’s collection, which number nearly 4,000 now, 30 years after its founding.

Not all will be brought out, but the aim is to restore some of these to public view with new meanings and contexts. With no exhibition theme, chief curator Shabbir Hussain Mustafa says it is an invitation to the public to join in the interpretive process.

This also has the added benefit of not requiring works to meet a particular theme before they are unwrapped and brought out of storage.

“I can tell you that across these 4,000 works, there are probably an infinite number of stories,” he says.

He pre-empts potential critics: “When I say there is no theme, that doesn’t mean there is no curatorial thinking. A lot of deep curatorial thinking goes into developing the relationships, but the critical thing is to have our publics join us without the museum becoming the only narrator of one story.”

A first batch here features lots of people walking, which curator Ong Puay Khim says has also been incorporated into the gallery configuration. The open layout and multiple pathways make sure people take more than the usual number of steps or have to double back to see works.

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