Homecoming 3: Coming Home -
A reflection on family, food, and familial rituals in Singapore
Royston Tan, Kim Whye Kee, John Z.W. Tung
Group Exhibition
8 – 22 Feb 2026, 11am – 7pm
Coming Home continues the Homecoming series' exploration of memory, place, and
belonging through the universal language of a shared meal. Building on Kim Whye
Kee's previous exhibitions celebrating childhood memories and everyday beauty, this
third iteration expands to include a collaboration with Royston Tan, featuring a
moving-image installation that establishes the context for Kim’s handmade ceramics.
This dialogue between craft and cinematic storytelling honours the simple yet
profound act of gathering around the dinner table.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a humble protagonist: the pomfret. Through Whye
Kee's 100 hand-crafted ceramic rice bowls and Tan's intimate portraits of 100
dinners, we encounter four varieties – golden, silver, black, and Chinese (斗鲳) – that
each carry distinct symbolism across Singapore's diverse communities. What
appears as luxury to some offers sustenance to others; what marks celebration in
one household provides everyday comfort in another. These interpretations, layered
and varied, mirror the richness of our multicultural fabric.
As we gather once more during a season of reunion and renewal, Homecoming 3:
Coming Home gently invites us to rediscover the poetry in our dining rituals.
Reminding us that every meal shared is an act of continuity, every bowl filled is a
gesture of kinship – connecting us not only to those at our table, but to generations
past and the communities we call home.
About the Artist(s)
Royston Tan (b. 1976) is a Singaporean filmmaker known for his distinctive visual
language and his sensitive portrayals of everyday life, family, and social realities in
Singapore. He first gained attention in the early 2000s with award-winning short
films, then directed feature films such as 15, 4:30, 881, 12 Lotus, 3688, and 24. His
works have screened widely at international film festivals and have received
numerous accolades for their emotional depth and narrative boldness. Tan’s
filmmaking often foregrounds marginal voices while remaining deeply attuned to the
rhythms of local culture. Beyond cinema, he has contributed to national cultural
projects and continues to mentor younger filmmakers, shaping Singapore's evolving
film landscape.
Kim Whye Kee (b. 1979) is a Singapore-based ceramicist whose practice centres on
handcrafted vessels that draw together function, ritual, and personal history. He
discovered pottery during the final months of a decade spent in incarceration, an
encounter that marked a turning point in his life and led him to pursue formal art
training. Whye Kee graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from LASALLE
College of the Arts in 2013 and later apprenticed under master potter Chua Soo
Khim. In 2016, he founded Qi Pottery, where he produces ceramic works shaped by
a deep sensitivity to material, process, and use. His practice often reflects on
everyday acts—drinking tea, sharing meals, gathering—treating them as quiet but
enduring forms of connection.
John Z.W. Tung is a Singapore-based independent curator and exhibition-maker,
and the Director of From The Woods, his self-initiated curatorial atelier. From 2015 to
2020, he served as Assistant Curator at the Singapore Art Museum, where he
curated and co-curated nine exhibitions and was part of the curatorial teams for the
Singapore Biennale 2016 and 2019. To date, Tung has curated over seventy
exhibitions and curatorial projects across institutional, independent, and site-specific
contexts in Singapore and the region, including the 2024 and 2025 editions of S.E.A.
Focus. His practice is marked by close collaboration with artists and a sustained
interest in how exhibitions can articulate historical, social, and lived experience.