Singapore’s STPI will present Zarina: Directions to My House, a landmark exhibition celebrating the life and work of one of the most influential printmakers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Opening as the institution’s 2026 Annual Special Exhibition, the showcase will be the largest presentation of Zarina’s works ever staged in Southeast Asia.

Curated by New York-based independent curator Sarah Burney, who previously served as Zarina’s studio manager, the exhibition brings together more than 50 works borrowed from 12 lenders across multiple cities. The presentation offers an in-depth exploration of the artist’s seven-decade career and her enduring engagement with themes of home, displacement, migration, language and memory.

Colourful History

Born in Aligarh, India, in 1937, Zarina lived and worked across several countries, including Thailand, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. These experiences profoundly shaped her artistic practice, which often reflected questions of identity, belonging and geographical borders.

Among the exhibition’s highlights is Home is a Foreign Place (1999), a celebrated series of 36 woodblock prints that translates Urdu words into minimalist visual forms. Also featured is These Cities Blotted into the Wilderness (Adrienne Rich after Ghalib) (2003), a portfolio examining contested territories and political divisions through abstract cartographic imagery.

The exhibition also includes later works such as Rohingyas: Floating on the Dark Sea (2015), which addresses contemporary displacement and exile, and Letters from Home (2004), incorporating the handwriting of the artist’s sister to evoke personal memory and familial connection.

In addition to finished artworks, visitors will gain rare insight into Zarina’s creative process through the display of printing plates, woodblocks and tools used throughout her career. STPI will complement the exhibition with a series of public programmes inspired by the artist’s practice, including workshops exploring collagraphy, cartography and poetry.

Zarina: Directions to My House further reinforces STPI’s commitment to championing print and paper-based practices while bringing important global artistic voices into dialogue with Southeast Asian audiences.