cmd.exe - Portals

The historic Battlebox at Fort Canning will become a dynamic canvas this March as Global Cultural Alliance (GCA) presents Portals, an innovative visual arts exhibition that bridges Singapore’s wartime history with creative technology to redefine artmaking for technologists and luddites alike.

Running from 28 March to 29 June 2025, Portals is commissioned as part of cmd.exe (“command prompt”), a groundbreaking platform launched by TRCL that explores the convergence of heritage and creative technology. Set within the atmospheric World War II bunker, the exhibition features seven Singapore-based artists whose works will transform this historical space into an immersive, multi-sensory experience.

Curated by Jonathan Liu and Shireen Marican, the exhibition showcases works by Anthony Chin, Dongyan Chen, Ernest Wu, Jake Tan, Huijun Lu, Victoria Hertel, and Zul Mahmod. Each artist harnesses technology to reinterpret the Battlebox’s rich history, creating interactive installations that invite visitors to engage with Singapore’s past in unprecedented ways. Through dynamic visuals, soundscapes, and sensory installations, Portals explores themes such as power, surveillance, conflict, time, and the intersection of nature and defense. Guests will experience reimagined wartime communication systems, immersive light displays, and installations that respond to sound and movement, creating a bridge between history and contemporary perspectives.

To further expand the creative possibilities of the exhibition, Portals has collaborated with creative technology studio SERIAL CO_, which serves as a technical mentor to the participating artists. This partnership allows the artists to experiment with new tools and techniques, enhancing their creative process and refining the technical execution of their installations.