Cover Tash Menon-Verheul, Rajiv Menon and Nor Wang at Mandala Club
Tash Menon-Verheul, Rajiv Menon and Nor Wang at Mandala Club
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The Los Angeles gallerist joined Mandala Club and Tatler Singapore for an intimate evening exploring diaspora identity, representation, and the future of South Asian art
In partnership with Menon Curatorial, Mandala Club gathered an audience of artists, curators, cultural leaders and Tatler Singapore for a rare fireside conversation with Rajiv Menon, gallerist and founder of the Los Angeles-based Rajiv Menon Contemporary. What unfolded was an evening that was at once intimate, intellectually charged, and emblematic of Singapore’s growing place within the global cultural dialogue.
The fireside conversation, moderated by Nor Wang, head of development at the Asian Civilisations Museum, set the tone immediately: candid, layered, and deeply personal. Wang guided Menon through the origins of his gallery and the convictions that continue to shape it, teasing out moments of humour and reflection. Menon spoke of his refusal to accept South Asian art as “emerging” or peripheral, insisting instead that it has always been central to the story of contemporary culture. “Too often, non-Western art is still labelled emerging,” he remarked. “But this isn’t new—South Asian artists have always been here, always been globally relevant. We just need to reframe how we see them.”
Above Asian Civilisations Museum's Nor Wang with Rajiv Menon, gallerist and founder of the Los Angeles-based Rajiv Menon Contemporary
Above "In Conversation with Rajiv Menon: Platforming South Asian voices" at Mandala Club
Asian Civilisations Museum's Nor Wang with Rajiv Menon, gallerist and founder of the Los Angeles-based Rajiv Menon Contemporary
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He reflected on Non-Residency, his recent landmark exhibition in Jaipur’s City Palace, which brought together 14 diaspora artists across painting, sculpture, and textiles. “It was about giving a platform to artists negotiating diasporic identity in real time,” Menon explained. “It’s not nostalgia—it’s a living, breathing reckoning with who we are and how we’re seen.” His excitement was equally palpable when he introduced Singapore-born Sahana Ramakrishnan, whose first West Coast solo show he will stage later this year. “Her work is about comparative mythology, weaving Hindu, Western, and Inuit traditions into a personal language of self and belonging,” he said, his admiration evident.
The discussion also touched on the playfulness in contemporary South Asian practice, with Menon highlighting Viraj Khanna’s satirical take on Indian weddings. “His work reminds us that art can be funny, joyous, and subversive,” he noted, a quality he finds essential in expanding how global audiences connect with South Asian visual culture.
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Above The post-dialogue private dinner at Mandala Club's Analogue Room
Above Marc Braydon, Rajiv Menon and Tash Menon-Verheul
The post-dialogue private dinner at Mandala Club's Analogue Room
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As the dialogue eased into dinner, the evening took on an even more intimate quality. Over a long table and flowing wine, voices from across Singapore’s cultural spectrum joined the exchange—curators, writers, artists, poets, and fair directors. Shuyin Yang of ArtSG spoke about Singapore’s position as a hub for collecting in Asia; writer and artist Shubigi Rao traded insights on how narratives shift across mediums; poet and publisher Pooja Nansi offered her perspective on language as cultural inheritance. Deborah Lim, who recently curated the Iris van Herpen show at ArtScience Museum, was in conversation with Nathaniel Gaskell of STPI about exhibition-making as translation, while Wang himself—after her role as moderator—continued the conversation with Menon and the Tatler Singapore team on the intersections of museums and commercial galleries—and our place in putting Asian artists on the global map.
It was a dinner that felt less like a networking exercise than a convergence of minds—each voice adding a layer to Menon’s argument that Singapore is uniquely placed to host global conversations on culture. “This is a diasporic city,” he observed. “You feel the simultaneity of being rooted and global here. Culture isn’t defined by borders—it’s defined by exchange.”
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Above Art SG fair director Shuyin Yang and Asian Civilisations Museum head of development, Nor Wang
Above Tash Menon-Verheul and artist-writer Shubigi Rao
Art SG fair director Shuyin Yang and Asian Civilisations Museum head of development, Nor Wang
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For Mandala Club, the evening underscored its ambition to be more than a members’ space: it is fast becoming a stage for ideas, influence, and cultural capital. “Mandala Club is not just a place to gather—it is becoming the stage where Singapore’s next big cultural moments are shaped,” noted Ben Jones, CEO and Founder of The Mandala Group.
For Tatler Singapore, partnering on this evening was a natural extension of its own mission: to raise Singapore’s cultural capital and bring communities together through shared passions. Art, after all, is as much about dialogue as it is about objects, and evenings like these remind us how vital it is to convene across disciplines, geographies, and generations.
Above Anton Cruz, Nor Wang, Tatler Singapore's Dana Koh and Chi Loyzaga Gibbs
Above The beautiful dinner setting by Popi's at Mandala Club
Anton Cruz, Nor Wang, Tatler Singapore's Dana Koh and Chi Loyzaga Gibbs
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As Mandala Club looks ahead to its forthcoming 9,000-square-foot expansion designed to host bold, future-facing cultural programmes, the Rajiv Menon evening offered a preview of what’s to come: not just conversation, but community—one that is helping to write Singapore’s next chapter in the global cultural story.
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