Cover Installation view of ‘Where the Body Thinks, Worlds Open’ section (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
Installation view of ‘Where the Body Thinks, Worlds Open’ section (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
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Filipino luminary Imelda Cajipe Endaya joins Southeast Asia’s leading women artists to challenge historical narratives, celebrate the domestic sphere and envision a world where power is reclaimed
The National Gallery Singapore pulsates with excitement. It is not merely the buzz of a new opening, but the weight of history being rewritten—or rather, rightfully restored. In an era where the global art world is finally turning its gaze toward the matriarchs of the East, the gallery presents Fear No Power: Women Imagining Otherwise, a monumental showcase running until November 15, 2026.
At the heart of this cultural zeitgeist stands Imelda Cajipe Endaya—affectionately known as “Meps”—a titan of Philippine visual arts whose six-decade career has been a masterclass in merging the personal with the political. She is not alone; the exhibition places her in conversation with four other trailblazers: Singapore’s Amanda Heng, Indonesia’s Dolorosa Sinaga, Malaysia’s Nirmala Dutt and Thailand’s Phaptawan Suwannakudt. Together, they form a pantheon of women who, through turbulent decades in their respective countries, dared to carve out spaces for themselves and their sisters in art and in arms amidst a male-dominated world.
Read more: Herstory of Kasibulan, a sisterhood of women
Above ‘Woman Power/ Stop Nuclear Plant’ by Imelda Cajipe Endaya
‘Woman Power/ Stop Nuclear Plant’ by Imelda Cajipe Endaya
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For Endaya, this international recognition is a poignant retrospective of a life spent “imagining otherwise”, as the exhibition title suggests. “I think the common thread in our work is the concern for national identity and the woman pursuing self-empowerment,” she reflects.
To understand Endaya’s oeuvre is to understand the rhythm of Philippine history. Her artistic awakening coincided with the student activism of the late Sixties and the brewing storm of the Marcos regime. Yet, unlike the loud, aggressive machismo often associated with political rebellion, Endaya and her peers’ resistance was rooted in the concept of kapwa—a distinctly Filipino sense of shared identity that lifts the community alongside the self.
Above Juan’s ‘Spoliarium’ and Alma’s ‘Lipad Suso Lipad’ by Imelda Cajipe Endaya
Juan’s ‘Spoliarium’ and Alma’s ‘Lipad Suso Lipad’ by Imelda Cajipe Endaya
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This quiet but formidable strength is palpable in the exhibition’s “Refusal and Hope” zone. Here, art collectors and history buffs alike will find Endaya’s Woman Power/Stop Nuclear Plant (1984), made of tempera on watercolour paper. The piece is a vibrant, urgent response to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant project—a controversy that defined an era of excess amidst poverty.
“I just threw in my materials there and voila,” the artist muses on her creative process throughout her career. “It came naturally that I made a statement on those issues,” she adds, clarifying that themes of her works come from her immediate surroundings and her spontaneous reactions coming from a vantage point of social observation.
Above Guests are welcomed to the exhibition by Dolorosa Sinaga’s ‘We Will Fight bronze’ sculpture (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
Guests are welcomed to the exhibition by Dolorosa Sinaga’s ‘We Will Fight bronze’ sculpture (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
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In a series of striking collages, she reimagines Juan Luna’s Spoliarium—the ultimate symbol of Filipino masculine artistic genius—and disrupts it by introducing overlooked women. The exhibition proudly displays Endaya’s oil, acrylic and watercolour work with a collage of silkscreen and crochet on Arches paper titled Juan Luna and Paz Paterno (2004). The work is displayed alongside her Juan Luna and Pacita Abad (2004), a collage on paper in oil and acrylic.
By layering crochet and silkscreen—materials often dismissed as “craft”—onto Luna’s legacy, she questions why the works of women like Paz Paterno and Pacita Abad have historically been rendered invisible compared to the fame of male Filipino artists. It is a visually stunning reclamation of space, further emphasised by the work, Juan’s ‘Spoliarium’ and Alma’s ‘Lipad Suso Lipad’ (2004), an oil, acrylic and collage on textile. Here, she weaves the contemporary feminist imagery of Alma Quinto into the historical narrative, creating a lineage of sisterhood that transcends time.
Read more: Imelda Cajipe Endaya: the artist who helped feminist art be explored further in the Philippines
Above ‘Solidarity’ by Dolorosa Sinaga, from the collection of National Gallery Singapore (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
‘Solidarity’ by Dolorosa Sinaga, from the collection of National Gallery Singapore (Photo: courtesy of National Gallery Singapore)
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As a co-founder of Kasibulan in 1987, the region’s longest-running women artists collective, Endaya has always believed in the power of sisterhood. She notes with grace that Filipino feminism is not about “inverting everything” but about multitasking for “ourselves, for our relations, for our community, for our nation”.
Looking at the world in 2026, the artist admits to a “mixed feeling of dismay” that the political turmoil of her youth seems to be repeating itself globally. Yet, she remains an optimist, placing her faith in a younger generation that has already “claimed their spaces”. Her advice to the youth navigating the digital age of AI and confusion: dig deeper and commit to truthful research.
Read more: 40 other important Filipino visual artists who are not yet National Artists
Above Visual artist, printmaker and activist Imelda Cajipe Endaya (Photo: courtesy of Art Fair Philippines)
Visual artist, printmaker and activist Imelda Cajipe Endaya (Photo: courtesy of Art Fair Philippines)
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Fear No Power: Women Imagining Otherwise is not just an exhibition; it is a testament to the endurance of the female spirit. For Endaya, art has never been just about beauty—it is about the courage to remember, the strength to resist and the audacity to imagine otherwise.
The exhibition runs from January 9 to November 15, 2026 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Concourse Gallery, National Gallery Singapore.
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Franz writes about the local cultural scene and rediscovering the country’s storied past and rich heritage. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Besides working on this luxury lifestyle magazine, Franz is an avid book reader, local traveller, museum-goer, chorister, and community theatre playwright. But above all this, this Aether main spends more time in Teyvat than anywhere else.
