Kumari Nahappan

Kumari Nahappan is a Malaysian-born Singaporean contemporary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, and installation. Over more than three decades, she has forged a distinctive visual language that reconciles the vocabulary of international contemporary art with her cultural roots and beliefs.

Kumari is celebrated for her iconic public sculptures installed in landmark locations across Singapore, including Saga for Changi Airport, Nutmeg & Mace for ION Orchard, Pedas-Pedas for the National Museum of Singapore, and Pembungaan for OUE Bayfront-the largest bronze mural in Singapore, measuring over 45 metres. Her works have also been commissioned for prominent sites overseas, such as G Tower in Kuala Lumpur, the J.Y. Campos Centre in Manila, and Zhongshan Park in Shanghai.

Her practice has received widespread recognition. She was the first foreigner and woman to be conferred the Ksatria Seni Award by Museum Rudana in Bali (2004). In 2011, she received the Artist of the Year Award at the 15th Shanghai Art Fair and was profiled in Women Artists in Singapore. She has also been commended in the Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards and the UOB Painting of the Year.

Kumari’s work has been exhibited extensively in major museums and international art events, including the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Seoul Art Centre, Museum Rudana (Bali), Museum der Kulturen (Basel), and Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam). Her critically acclaimed installation Anahata-comprising 4,000kg of saga seeds-was presented at the Singapore Biennale 2013.

Recent projects include Masala, an experiential spice garden commissioned by the Indian Heritage Centre (Singapore), and Talktime, a monumental sculpture exhibited at Marinaressa Gardens during Personal Structures, held in parallel with the Venice Biennale.

Her work continues to engage with themes of nature, ritual, and cultural memory, exploring how form and material can evoke shared experiences across geographies.