NAC brings climate grief and memory to life in hybrid metaverse exhibition

The National Arts Council (NAC) has launched "AfterForms," a hybrid metaverse exhibition exploring climate grief, memory, and digital responsibility, as the third pilot project under its Project Arts Metaverse (PAM) initiative.

Created in collaboration with TBWA\Singapore, "AfterForms" introduces four newly commissioned immersive virtual environments, alongside a physical exhibition at The Arts House. It also falls under NAC's "Our SG arts plan". 

Positioned as a digital arts incubator, "AfterForms" examines how digital worlds inherit what physical ones erase. Rather than framing the metaverse as escapism or spectacle, the project treats it as a space where consequence, loss, and responsibility continue to accumulate.

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Visitors move between physical installations and virtual realms, shifting from observation to participation. Presence, movement, and breath actively shape each environment, with every interaction leaving a trace. The works explore how digital spaces can carry emotional residue, unresolved histories, and ecological grief forward.

The exhibition features four commissioned works by Singapore-based and international artists. "Land erosion" by cultural medallion recipient Han Sai Por pairs sculptural installations with a corresponding metaverse environment. Visitors first encounter material traces of environmental loss before entering a virtual landscape shaped by erosion, where ecological collapse is experienced as embodied and inescapable.

In "Drift alley", artist Debbie Ding draws from the back lanes of Little India to create a fragmented digital environment of glitching shophouses and informal spaces. The work reflects precarious economies shaping both physical cities and emerging digital worlds.

Spang and Lei’s "The wound is bigger than your Handyplast" transforms climate grief into an active condition. Set in a virtual rainforest, the environment responds to visitors’ breath and movement, with each interaction accumulating damage and memory rather than repair.

"Memory factory" by LiteWerkz presents memory as a navigable digital structure. Visitors move through architectural fragments shaped by migration, misremembered homes, and speculative artefacts, positioning memory as mutable and continuously reshaped through participation.

Alongside the virtual worlds, "AfterForms" also features a physical exhibition, an artists’ talk, workshops, and a digital art toolkit aimed at enabling artists with no coding experience to build their own virtual environments. "AfterForms" runs from 22 to 31 January 2026 at the Blue Room, The Arts House, Singapore. An artists’ talk titled "Worlds that refuse to disappear" will take place on 25 January.

“'Project Arts Metaverse' reflects NAC’s commitment to support new modes of artistic creation in the virtual space while building the sector's digital capabilities. We empower artists to experiment with technology and explore ideas through the virtual worlds they are developing. 'AfterForms' demonstrates how digital environments can become sites of memory and cultural reflection that engage new audiences," said Victor Ang, director, technology and innovation at NAC. 

In tandem, Spang and Lei said, "Technology promises reinvention, but it cannot erase consequence. The metaverse exposes what we have already neglected. 'AfterForms' approaches it as a living archive of unresolved histories, emotional residue, and ecological memory. Every action becomes trace. Every choice persists. The future is not elsewhere. It is already sedimenting in the worlds we build."

The launch of "AfterForms" aligns with NAC’s wider engagement push. Earlier this month, the council rolled out a multi-year brand campaign, "Life. Better with the arts", also developed with TBWA\Singapore, which encourages Singaporeans to see the arts as part of everyday self-improvement.

Running from 9 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, the campaign spans social media, digital platforms, and digital out-of-home touchpoints, highlighting how encounters with the arts can unlock new perspectives, skills, and personal growth.

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