Month of Photography Asia

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Month of Photography Asia (MOPA or MOPAsia) was Singapore’s international photography festival, held from 2002 to 2011. It showcased photography as both art and a creative industry, with annual themes guiding exhibitions by international and Singaporean photographers. In addition to the main shows, the festival offered public programs like talks, master classes, portfolio reviews, screenings, tours, and workshops.

The festival began in 2002 as Month of Photography in Singapore, a collaboration between Alliance Française de Singapour and the National Arts Council. It was renamed Month of Photography Asia in 2007. From 2004 onward, each edition followed a curatorial theme. In 2006, the Out of Focus series highlighted emerging Singaporean photographers, the first curated by Tay Kay Chin. Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Filmmaking curated the festival from 2007 to 2009. In 2008 the festival started an artist residency with Lasalle College of the Arts, with Alain Fleischer as the first resident in 2008 and Françoise Huguier in 2009.

In 2009, InsideOut invited audiences to see Singapore through the eyes of migrant workers; the project began in 2006 with the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and continued as InsideOut II in 2009 and InsideOut III in 2010. A new award, ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu, was launched in 2010 to recognize outstanding Singaporean photographers for originality and vision. The 2010 jury included Martin Parr and Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Cyr; Sherman Ong won the prize, which included $30,000 and a published book. Sean Lee won the award in 2011.

The festival worked with major international partners, including the European House of Photography (Maison Européenne de la Photographie), Magnum Photos, Rapho, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, and the FNAC in Paris, as well as the George Eastman House in the United States. Locally, it partnered with the National Arts Council, the Singapore Arts Festival, Lasalle College of the Arts, Objectifs, Migrant Voices, Cathay Organisation and Cathay Gallery, and embassies such as the U.S., British, and French missions in Singapore.