Singapore’s most ambitious travelling art installation of the year is now open. Brandon Tay: Sangkalan, presented by Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in collaboration with the National Library Board, has taken up residence at Woodlands Regional Library until 31 May 2026 — and admission is free for all.
We covered the launch earlier this month, but now that the first leg is live, there’s finally a chance to step into the fictional island of Sangkalan and meet its three inhabitants: a fruit, an insect and a bird that each power the ecosystem in their own way. Here’s what to look out for on your visit.
Meet the Three Organisms of Sangkalan
At the heart of the installation are three new sculptures commissioned for the tour. Each is unveiled at a different regional library, with all three reunited at the final stop in Punggol.
ZAURAN — The Bird of Quiet Loops
Debuting at Woodlands Regional Library, ZAURAN is the bird of the Sangkalan ecosystem — subtitled “thin call/quiet loop”. In the artist’s mythology, ZAURAN grants the islanders the ability to perceive environmental patterns, a sort of bio-radar tuned to the ecosystem’s rhythms. It’s the first of the three sculptures to be shown, and sets the tone for the exhibition’s interplay of textile, sculptural form and soundscape.
SELATRI — The Insect That Keeps the Beat
Look out for SELATRI when the installation moves to Tampines Regional Library from 3 June to 19 July 2026. Described as a “ground pulse/quiet pattern”, SELATRI is the insect whose vibrations provide rhythm to the fictional ecosystem. Think of it as the metronome that keeps Sangkalan’s daily life humming along.
TA’LUR — The Fruit of Shared Visions
The final sculpture, TA’LUR, appears at Jurong Regional Library from 22 July to 6 September 2026. It represents the fruit of the Sangkalan tree — a “dense breath/slow light” whose sap is said to be mildly hallucinogenic, inducing communal visions that bind the islanders together. It’s a poetic metaphor for how myth, ritual and shared experience shape culture.
A Living Archive That Travels
Each stop on the tour adds a new organism to the archive, and the final presentation at Punggol Regional Library (9 September – 25 October 2026) brings all three sculptures together in one space. Tay has compared the structure of the installation to a distributed ledger: information gathers and recombines across locations, the way a blockchain writes itself one block at a time.
Full Tour Schedule
Plan ahead — each library stop has its own sculpture debut. Drop-in reading and hands-on programmes run alongside the main installation, with details published on SAM’s website.
- Woodlands Regional Library: 15 April – 31 May 2026 (ZAURAN)
- Tampines Regional Library: 3 June – 19 July 2026 (SELATRI)
- Jurong Regional Library: 22 July – 6 September 2026 (TA’LUR)
- Punggol Regional Library: 9 September – 25 October 2026 (all three together)
Getting There
Sangkalan is free and open to all during regular library opening hours. Woodlands Regional Library sits within Civic Centre, steps from Woodlands MRT on the Thomson-East Coast and North-South lines. More details and programme information are available at bit.ly/Sangkalan.
If you’re mapping out a weekend of art, pair this with our earlier round-up of where art meets nature at the National Gallery, or check our weekly guide to what’s happening in Singapore this week.
