The Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) will hold its tenth edition from October 16, 2026, to January 31, 2027, under the title In My End Is My Beginning.

The festival gathers projects from Singapore, Southeast Asia, and around the world. Its stated themes are memory, transformation, and new beginnings. The edition also marks twenty-five years of Singapore's photographic history — a rare institutional moment for a festival still young by international standards, yet now old enough to have shaped a generation of regional photographers.

What does the programme contain?

SIPF's format remains close to its founding template. The announced programme includes:

• Exhibitions
• Photobook showcases
• Portfolio reviews
• Workshops
• Talks

Among the announced highlights is Singapore Index, a project the festival presents as part of its commemoration of the country's photographic history. The festival has not yet released the full artist list, curator details, or venue-by-venue schedule, and further programme announcements should clarify how the anniversary is framed institutionally.

Why the title matters

In My End Is My Beginning signals a double gesture: the festival looks back at a quarter-century of photography in Singapore while positioning itself around themes of renewal. The framing places memory not as nostalgia but as a precondition for transformation — a curatorial stance that fits a city-state whose visual culture has changed rapidly since SIPF's first edition.

For a tenth edition, the stakes are institutional as much as artistic. Festivals at this milestone either consolidate — deepening regional networks, photobook culture, and educational pipelines such as portfolio reviews — or drift toward repetition. The combination of a thematic title, an anniversary commemoration, and a multi-month run suggests SIPF intends the former.

What comes next

With the festival more than a year out from opening, the key announcements to watch are the full exhibition lineup, the curatorial teams, and the scope of Singapore Index — details that will determine whether the tenth edition functions as a genuine reckoning with twenty-five years of Singaporean photography or a celebratory retrospective. The festival runs through January 31, 2027.