Gwen Lee

Gwen Lee is the co-founder and director of DECK Photography Art Centre and Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF). In 2010, Lee received an arts award from the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Trade for her contribution to the Singapore arts community. In 2013, she embarked on curatorial research in Germany supported by Goethe-Institut Singapore and National Arts Council. In 2022, Lee is a Recipient of Chevalier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by Ministry of Culture, France.

From 2013 onwards, SIPF has received grant support from the National Arts Council to further develop public photography education in Singapore. In 2014, Lee and her team built DECK, an arts centre dedicated to photography arts to provide year-round programming for the community and residency programmes for photographers. DECK received the Singapore President’s Design Award 2015 for its innovative architectural design and place making with the arts . Since 2016, DECK is a recipient of the NAC Major Company Grant as a dedicated space for photography arts in Singapore.

Lee has curated over 60 photography exhibitions in Singapore and overseas. Some of these highlighted exhibitions are: Margins: Drawing Pictures of Home (2020) at the ArtScience Museum, Flux: Contemporary Photography from China (2014) at the ArtScience Museum, STEIDL DECK: 1001 Steidl Books (2016) at DECK, Southeast Asia premiere showcases Daido Moriyama: Prints and Books from 1960s – 1980s (2016) in 6th SIPF and Between Love and Death: Diary of Nobuyoshi Araki (2018) in 7th SIPF, and The Natural History of an Island at Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival 2021. She has served as a jury member and portfolio reviewer on international platforms FOAM Paul Huf Award, New Cosmos Japan, FORMAT UK, KL PHOTO Award, KG+, DIPE China, Lensculture Awards, Houston Fotofestival, Daegul Photo Biennale, Recontres d’ Arles and Ballarat International Foto Biennale.