5th Passage

[1][2] As a registered, artist-led non-profit organisation, it was one of the earliest of its kind for early-1990s Singapore, with its initial space located at Parkway Parade, a shopping centre in the east of the city.

[4][5][6][7] 5th Passage was co-founded in 1991 by Suzann Victor, Susie Lingham, and Han Ling, later joined by Daniel Wong, Henry Tang and Iris Tan.

[1][6] The initiative's programming emphasised an interdisciplinary approach—it exhibited performance art, installation, music, photography, and design,[8] also organising public readings and forums.

[2][9][1][10] Art critic Lee Weng Choy describes 5th Passage as an initiative that had "focussed on issues of gender and identity, and on the work of women artists".

[9] In 1991, Singaporean artist Victor approached the corporate company that managed the Parkway Parade shopping centre to enquire about a space to display art.

She was offered a two-year, rent-free lease for the fifth-floor passageway between the Office Tower Block and the car park, which she proposed to turn into a contemporary art space.

[11] 5th Passage also organised 12-hour long events that included local musicians and writers such as Stella Kon, Gopal Baratham and Philip Jeyaretnam.

[9] During the 12-hour AGA New Year’s Eve show from 31 December 1993 to 1 January 1994, Josef Ng staged a performance work, Brother Cane, in protest at the arrest of 12 homosexual men during anti-gay operations in 1993, whose personal details were published in local mainstream newspapers.

[18]The initiative's artistic director, Victor and co-founder, Lingham, have continued to play significant roles within Singapore's contemporary art landscape.