DECK Photography Art Centre is celebrating 18 years of the Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), the platform it has nurtured since the festival's founding.

The milestone, marked in a conversation with Reta Lee, makes SIPF one of Southeast Asia's longest-running dedicated photography festivals. Over that span, DECK has served as the festival's institutional home, sustaining a biennial platform in a city better known for its commercial galleries than for independent photography spaces.

What does 18 years of SIPF amount to?

Eighteen years of continuous operation is a significant claim for any photography festival in Asia, where independent art infrastructure often survives on short funding cycles. DECK's persistence has given Singapore's photographic community a recurring institutional anchor — a venue and organisational engine around which photographers, curators and audiences gather.

The anniversary conversation frames the festival's history not as nostalgia but as an ongoing institutional project, with DECK looking ahead to future editions rather than resting on its record.

For a festival whose editions have historically circulated work across multiple venues in Singapore, the question now is how SIPF adapts its model for a photography public that has changed markedly since its first edition.

Why the anniversary matters now

The celebration arrives as photography festivals across Asia face pressure from rising costs and shifting audience habits. DECK's continued stewardhip of SIPF suggests the Singapore model — a dedicated centre supporting a recurring festival — remains viable where stand-alone events have struggled.

The festival's next steps under DECK's guidance will show whether 18 years is a foundation or a plateau for photography in Singapore.