Hear from Our Graduates

My time in the NTU ELAH programme was unforgettable. The Art History major, specifically, had allowed me to truly explore my interests in the field because of the wide range of topics, time periods and geographies covered. Before coming into the programme, I could not understand why some people were so fascinated by Southeast Asian art history. What I knew about the region came from everyday life — stories passed down through my family, and traditions so familiar I hardly recognised them as traditions at all. I wondered what more there was to learn. As it turned out, quite a lot. The Art History programme not only filled in the gaps of knowledge but also fostered a deeper sense of appreciation for my culture and heritage, and especially the region I grew up in. My newfound curiosity for Southeast Asian art continued to expand.

The programme also opened doors to opportunities I had never imagined. During my final year, one of my essays on Southeast Asian art received a Highly Commended distinction at the annual Global Undergraduate Awards. Subsequently, I took on the role of a judge in the Art History category as a way to keep up with current art history trends in undergraduate research.

Upon graduation, I continued my studies in the Master of Art Curatorship programme at the University of Melbourne. During my time there, I curated an exhibition, Air Means Water, which brought together the works of 6 artists from Australia, Indonesia and Singapore. The exhibition sought to navigate the porous boundaries between the three countries by foregrounding histories of migration, colonial inheritance and cultural identity. The exhibition was supported by both the City of Melbourne and the University of Melbourne, allowing the exhibition and programmes to reach both the student body and the average Melburnian. Currently, I am a curatorial research assistant with the Design team at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The skills I developed in my time at NTU — from basic visual analysis skills to critical thinking— continue to shape my work every day.

I have great gratitude and appreciation for the people I met during my time in ELAH, both faculty and students, for still inspiring me years after graduating.

The ELAH Double Major programme challenged me to develop my skills in research, critical analysis, and communication, and to draw on an expanded range of (inter)disciplinary tools and theories, synthesising my understanding of both subjects.

These foundational skills have continued to serve me in my career as an art historian, writer, and curator. Since leaving university, I’ve written exhibition reviews, curatorial texts, and long-form essays; I have also curated two exhibitions, one in Singapore and one in Hong Kong. My most recent full-time role was an opportunity to catalogue over 8,800 artworks by an artist in Thailand, and to present my work at a symposium organised by the artist’s estate.

Looking back, the professors and peers I met during my time at NTU shaped my worldview, inspiring me with their knowledge, passion, creativity, and resilience. Witnessing my classmates apply their interests and abilities to a range of pursuits taught me that there is no one prescribed pathway that defines “success” in the Humanities. The road is winding and destinations are uncertain, but it is precisely this open-endedness that energises and empowers us to choose our own adventures.

Being part of the graduate programme in one of Southeast Asia’s leading institutions has catalyzed a profound paradigm shift in my approach to the field of Art History. The post-graduate curriculum at NTU ensures academic rigour and inter-disciplinary thinking. It allowed deeper engagement into my niche field of study, but also encouraged me to critically experiment with ideas and concepts from neighbouring disciplines. Learning, here, is made collaborative with graduate students from various fields. The NTU School of Humanities cultivates graduates who are resourceful and confident in their solid knowledge of the field while also adept in navigating the intertwined fields of art, heritage and museums. This interdisciplinary aspect of the curriculum translates to skills that are valuable when I am embarking on projects in the museum and research field.

The knowledge and company I gained during my post-graduate studies have opened many doors. After completing my MA thesis, in 2025 I was awarded the National Library Singapore’s prestigious Lee Kong Chian Fellowship. There, a seemingly minute tenet of my post-graduate research developed into a fully-fledged project about writing on art in Malay-language periodicals from the Merdeka period. I also founded an independent collective, The Motley Kolektif, that straddles visual and literary arts and recently delivered a series of programmes for National Gallery Singapore.

What made my post-graduate experience with NTU School of Humanities deeply poignant was its faculty and their strong advocacy for students. Furthermore, the NTU Art History faulty offers a nexus point to stay connected to communities of scholars, practitioners and other professionals all around the world. For me, this has included participating in international conferences, writing for international academic publications and developing curatorial projects. Graduates’ research projects are fervently supported beyond their dissertation, and they are connected to relevant, contemporary discourses with other experts in the field.

My academic journey—both my undergraduate and post-graduate years—at the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), NTU, will forever be some of the most fulfilling and empowering years of my life. This is largely because of the art history department and its team of professors and academic who aided and inspired me to achieve my academic success. The art history courses offered most definitely pivoted me and provide me with strong foundations to pursue a career in art history and heritage. The art history programme also encourages students to engage with current and contemporary discussions on art and heritage, which strengthened my voice and perspectives on the subjects. This is definitely valuable to my work in the museum and heritage field. 

Being in NTU also allowed me to work and assist in various research led by differed professors and academics. These provided valuable experience that might not be gained in classrooms and lecture halls, and help me be a better researcher and a scholar.

The diverse forms of knowledge and sciences in NTU—through its wide array of courses—allowed me to constantly connect with academics of different disciplines and provide opportunities of multidisciplinary collaborations that are becoming more and more necessary. 

When deciding to pursue History at NTU, I was interested in the various modules that were offered and was excited by the level of self-directed learning there would be. There was so much to gain from this path; from having the freedom to choose modules based on our interests to formulating research questions and having an avenue to expand my thinking and understanding of various topics through a degree in humanities. It was also during my time at NTU that I discovered how intriguing History of Art as a discipline was and fell in love with it. Inspired by the lectures I had taken in a module called Faith and Art in my first year at NTU, I decided to pursue Art History on a deeper level by taking more modules in that discipline. Thanks to the possibility of doing a Second Major, I was able to study both History and Art History. Eventually, that motivated me to pursue further studies and that dream has come true! I am now pursuing an MA in History of Art and Archaeology. That would not have been possible without the inspiration, guidance and encouragement of the professors at NTU.

Beyond studying History and Art History, learning from wonderful professors and sharing such an experience with great peers, I was able to meet and befriend people from various disciplines and develop skills such as leadership and public speaking through extra-curricular activities. My experience at NTU was thus nurturing both academically and in my personal growth. Looking back at my university experience, though it may be a cliche, four years definitely went by so quickly! However, I look back at my time with NTU with great fondness, gratitude and excitement for what the future holds for me as an NTU alumni and what’s in store for my alma mater as well.

The journey of a thousand miles began with the single step I took when I embarked on my second major in Art History at NTU. In the years that I had pursued my second major in Art History, I was introduced to the diversity of faiths and artistic traditions of Singapore and of the region at large. This, along with the historical training that I had received as a student of the History programme at NTU, forever reshaped my worldview and made me realise the importance of being able to synergise ideas and theories from across disciplines in one’s research endeavour. It is here, at NTU, where my interest in inter-faith art and architecture was seeded. Inspired and motivated by my experiences at NTU, I pursued my MA in the History of Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, with a focus on Hindu-Buddhist traditions of Asia to further enrich my understanding of the cultural heritage that we have. These cumulative experiences cemented my desire to return to the institution that ignited this passion for my Doctorate studies. With its strength and niche as a school that promotes inter-disciplinary studies and critical thinking, I felt there is no better place to launch a cross-discipline study of the streets of inter-faith dialogue in Singapore than here.