Up-Front with Front and Off-Centre

Today’s guest is Patrick Flores. Patrick is Chief Curator of National Gallery Singapore, and the Director of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network. Among his publications are Painting History: Revisions in Philippine Colonial Art (1999); Past Peripheral: Curation in Southeast Asia (2008); Art After War: 1948-1969 (2015); and Raymundo Albano: Texts (2017). He co-edited The Modern in Southeast Asian Art: A Reader with T. K. Sabapathy (2022). His newest book is Philippine Figurine: Image, Ornament, Artˆ, a collection of essays which looks at“the Philippine figurine”  as a means to rethink the concepts of art, image and ornament and their implications across history and place. In this episode, Patrick shares how his childhood fascination with languages has shaped his practice, muses on necessity being the parent of invention and building projects modestly and incrementally, and reveals the criterion he uses when deciding whether to take on new opportunities.Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Nadya Wang and Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.To learn more about us, follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontandoffcentre⁠ and visit ⁠frontandoffcentre.com⁠

Today’s guest is Joshua Comaroff. Joshua is a designer and cultural geographer, and Assistant Professor in Architecture at National University of Singapore. He has published writing about architecture, urbanism, religion, and politics, with an Asian focus. In particular, his research focuses upon the effect of material and immaterial practices in the experience of the city, and the affective and inclusive potentials of architecture. He is the author of Spectropolis: The Enchantment of Capital in Singapore (2025), and with Ong Ker-Shing, co-author of Horror in Architecture (2013). His research in design is archived at lekker.sg. In this episode, Joshua speaks with Nadya about recognising that design intelligence is not the property of a small elite, maintaining a productive restlessness in his practice, and how design is the art of compromise. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Nadya Wang and Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.To learn more about us, follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontandoffcentre⁠ and visit ⁠frontandoffcentre.com⁠

Today’s guest is Peter Lee. Peter is an independent scholar, and the Founding Curator of the NUS Baba House – a historical house museum managed by the National University of Singapore. He is the host of three seasons of The Mark of Empire, presented by Channel NewsAsia. In this episode, host Nadya Wang speaks with independent historian and curator Peter Lee about his lifelong appetite for historical discovery, the joy of creating fresh experiences for audiences, and the intrinsic, sometimes hidden, value of everyday objects. Lee shares insights from his multidisciplinary career—spanning curation, archival research, and TV hosting—while highlighting his belief that culture is a dynamic network of shared histories and connections.In this episode, Nadya Wang sits down with Ivan to explore how connections fuel creativity, the joy of working with his team and their collaborators, and how Nouri and appetite anchor big dreams in daily execution. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Nadya Wang and Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.To learn more about us, follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontandoffcentre⁠ and visit ⁠frontandoffcentre.com⁠

Today’s guest is Honor Harger. Honor is a curator, cultural strategist and institutional leader with more than two decades of experience directing organisations at the intersection of art, science and emerging technology. She is the Director and Chief Curator of Futures Imagined, a consultancy and studio working at the intersection of art, science and futures thinking. Futures Imagined helps organisations imagine, develop and communicate new possibilities in response to technological, environmental, and societal change. In this episode, Nadya Wang chats with Honor about working at the intersection of art and technology, from being the first Curator of Webcasting at Tate Modern to helming ArtScience Museum for more than a decade, the thrill of working in what is emerging, and how everything connects.. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Nadya Wang and Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.To learn more about us, follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontandoffcentre⁠ and visit ⁠frontandoffcentre.com⁠

Today’s guest is Ivan Brehm. Ivan is the chef-owner behind the Michelin-starred Nouri and the creative space Appetite in Singapore. He is known for his thoughtful approach to food and creativity. Central to his work is "Crossroads Thinking”, a method that emphasises the connections and interdependence of all things. This approach extends beyond cooking, offering a way to foster creativity, innovation, and effective team dynamics by showing how diversity, when understood and integrated into a whole, can lead to remarkable outcomes.In this episode, Nadya Wang sits down with Ivan to explore how connections fuel creativity, the joy of working with his team and their collaborators, and how Nouri and appetite anchor big dreams in daily execution. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Nadya Wang and Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.To learn more about us, follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontandoffcentre⁠ and visit ⁠frontandoffcentre.com⁠