The Artists Village

[5] In 1988, Tang returned to Singapore after completing his art education at Goldsmiths' College, University of London, along with his English wife Hazel McIntosh and his then-5-year-old son Ben Zai.

Sabapathy would describe the space and its early activity in a review of TAV's Open Studio Show, published in The Straits Times on 10 February 1989: A colony of artists can be found in a cluster of zinc-roofed huts, with real farmers and chicken and pigs.

[7] By the time The Drawing Room was held in December 1989, the scale of exhibitions had grown to include 400 works by 40 artists, and TAV had already become a significant aspect of the local arts ecology.

[7] In March 1990, the Village was forced to relocate when the Singapore government repossessed the Lorong Gambas site at Ulu Sembawang for urban development.

[3] TAV briefly relocated to rental houses at the Naval Base area in Sembawang, and existed nomadically at locations such as a garage space in Middle Road (that would become the site of Sculpture Square and later Objectifs) and notably the now-defunct Hong Bee Warehouse in Robertson Quay.

[7] Held at the 5th Passage Gallery in Parkway Parade Shopping Centre,[7] the performance protested the violation of privacy for 12 homosexual men, whose identities were published in major local newspapers following their arrest during an anti-gay operation in 1993.

[6][7] In 1999, the induction of new members resulted in another spate of activity for TAV, with the show Post-Ulu held at the independent art space, The Substation.

Featuring 12-hour overnight poetry recitals, live DJ sets, and performances, it marked a younger generation of TAV artists that had not necessarily experienced the original 61-B Lorong Gambas space.

[14][17] TAV continued to organise collaborations with other artists from the Southeast Asian region, and performances at locations such as the Heritage Conservation Centre, Pulau Ubin, and Bali.

[18] Several older members of TAV are also noted for establishing other independent art spaces and collectives in Singapore from the 1990s to 2000s, such as Plastique Kinetic Worms, Your MOTHER Gallery, p-10 and Post-Museum.