15 JAN 2015 – 01 MAR 2015

{The History of Java} is Jimmy Ong’s version of Sir Stamford Raffles’ time in Java. It is titled after Raffles’ 1817 tome The History of Java, which earned him the conferment of his knighthood. Ong’s curiosity was piqued by the controversial account of Raffles in Tim Hannigan’s Raffles and the British Invasion of Java, and prompted Ong to embark on an intellectual journey to discover more about the illustrious founder of colonial Singapore.

The exhibition will feature an installation of objects crafted in Yogyakarta, as well as monumental charcoal drawings, a medium he is famously associated with. This highly anticipated exhibition is Ong’s first solo show in Singapore since 2010.