Laut Kita: Where the Sea Remembers Keppel

Lock+Store Welcomes Artist Yeni Lim Back for Singapore Art Week 2027

Lock+Store is proud to welcome Singapore artist Yeni Lim back for a second collaboration during Singapore Art Week 2027 (21 to 31 Jan 2027). This year, she presents Laut Kita: Where the Sea Remembers Keppel at Lock+Store Tanjong Pagar - an immersive public-art installation that reconnects the neighbourhood with the sea that once shaped it.

Located near the historic Keppel waterfront, Lock+Store Tanjong Pagar becomes a place to pause, look closer and rediscover the stories carried by Singapore’s shores. Through a digital wall decal and accompanying projection, Laut Kita explores coastal memory, marine life and the enduring relationship between people and the sea.

What Is Laut Kita About?

“Laut Kita” means “our sea” in Malay. The exhibition reflects on the waters that once lapped around Tanjong Pagar and Keppel, long before the area became part of one of the world’s busiest harbour districts.

Yeni Lim’s work honours the Orang Laut, the seafaring communities who navigated Singapore’s waters, read its currents and made their homes across the Straits. It also celebrates the marine habitats and species that continue to connect Singapore to its coastal past and present.

The installation brings together visual references including:

• Sampans and kelongs, recalling traditional maritime life
• Horseshoe crabs and seagrass meadows, which support coastal biodiversity
• Seahorses hidden among shallow-water habitats
• Smooth-coated otters, which have returned to many of Singapore’s waterways
• Archival imagery and marine research that informed Yeni’s creative process

Together, these elements turn the wall into a quiet reminder: before the port, the towers and the roads, this place was sea.

A Second Collaboration With Yeni Lim

Following her earlier collaboration with Lock+Store, Yeni Lim returns with a new work that continues the brand’s commitment to making space for creativity, community and shared stories.

Known for her detailed, story-led visual language, Yeni combines research, illustration and digital art to make complex histories approachable. In Laut Kita, she draws from archival images, marine references and community memory to create a work that is both visually inviting and deeply rooted in place.

The exhibition is also a reflection on care. It recognises the habitats, species and coastal communities that have shaped Singapore, while acknowledging the conservation work that continues to protect marine ecosystems today.

See the Process Behind the Work

Alongside the digital wall decal, a projection offers visitors a closer look at Yeni’s creative process. It traces the research, references and visual development behind the installation - from early ideas and historical materials to the marine life and coastal stories that appear in the final artwork.

Visitors are invited to spend time with both walls: one presenting the finished scene, the other revealing how the stories behind it were gathered and translated into art.

This pairing creates an experience that is not only about viewing an artwork, but also about understanding how art can preserve memory, invite curiosity and create new connections with familiar places.

Join the Laut Kita Introductory Beading Workshop

As part of the Singapore Art Week 2027 programme, Lock+Store will also host the Laut Kita Introductory Beading Workshop.

Inspired by the corals of our laut, this beginner-friendly creative session invites participants to make their own coral-inspired beaded artwork. Participants will create a 12 cm beaded hoop to take home, using materials provided during the session.

Workshop details

• Workshop: Laut Kita Introductory Beading Workshop
• Theme: Inspired by Corals of Our Laut
• Price: $50 per session
• Take-home project: One 12 cm beaded hoop
• Materials: All materials provided
• Suitable for: Beginners, families, art lovers and anyone interested in exploring a marine-inspired craft activity

Spaces are limited. Register early to secure your place and create a small, handmade reminder of the sea stories that inspired Laut Kita.

Visit Lock+Store Tanjong Pagar During Singapore Art Week 2027

Laut Kita: Where the Sea Remembers Keppel invites visitors to see Tanjong Pagar differently: not only as a busy urban district beside a major port, but as part of a much older coastal landscape shaped by people, tides and marine life.

Visit Lock+Store Tanjong Pagar during Singapore Art Week 2027 to experience Yeni Lim’s installation, learn more about the stories beneath Keppel’s waterfront, and take part in the Laut Kita beading workshop.

Register for the workshop and make space for the sea to be remembered.

Venue

Lock+Store Tanjong Pagar

#04-06, 37 Keppel Road, Singapore 089064