Synopsis:

Singapore Art Museum (SAM) presents Proposal for HOYA: 5 Lungs Temple by artist and medicinal architect Yussef Agbo-Ola. Presented for the first time in Singapore, the installation brings Agbo-Ola's research into natural materials, biology, and cultural memory through hand-crafted and woven forms.

Inspired by the Hoya flower and its symbolism of fertility, love and harmony, the work draws on the history of the distinctive, star-shaped flower, which were thought to be extinct in Singapore since 1894. The exhibition imagines the now-critically endangered plant as a sacred space honouring Singapore's distinctive environmental history, inviting visitors to reflect on their relationship with nature.

Travelling across seven regional and public libraries in Singapore, audiences can engage with a knitted tactile display made from recycled materials mimicking the flowers' microscopic bodies. Free on-site activities invite audiences of all ages to contribute to the artist's archive and consider the connections between people and the natural world.

In Yoruba culture, weaving is uniquely tied to identity, family history and relationships between generations. Drawing from the artist's own Yoruba and Cherokee heritage, Agbo-Ola's geometric knitted patterns bring together the story of the Hoya flower with ideas of healing, traditional knowledge and our relationship with the environment.

The presentation also connects with themes explored from SAM's upcoming exhibition, Lost & Found: How We Remember which opens at SAM on 27 November 2026. The exhibition looks at how we remember across personal and shared experiences and how artists use archives and records to preserve, revisit and reshape memory.