Award-winning Singapore designer Nathan Yong leads Asian showcase at 2026 Design Miami fair - The Straits Times

Emerge - New Asian Narratives at Design Miami was organised by Singaprean designer Nathan Yong.

SINGAPORE - In the first week of December, tens of thousands of art and design aficionados from around the world will descend upon arts festival art fair Art Basel Miami Beach and its concurrent sister event, Design Miami. 

While the former (Dec 4 to 6) - an offshoot of the flagship Art Basel fair in Switzerland and widely considered the most important art fair in the United States - will showcase modern and contemporary art, Design Miami (Dec 1 to 6) will focus on highlighting the best of collectible design from around the world.

And Singapore will be well-represented at the latter, with local designer Nathan Yong spearheading a group exhibition titled Emerge - New Asian Narratives. 

“What makes Design Miami important is the audience it attracts: not just collectors, but representatives from leading galleries and cultural institutions,” says Yong, 55, a President’s Design Award winner who was named Designer of the Year in 2008.

“(These visitors) come not simply to shop, but to discover new ideas, encounter unfamiliar creative perspectives and identify works that may become part of tomorrow’s design history,” he adds.

Supported by DesignSingapore Council and Enterprise Singapore, New Asian Narratives features 11 pieces of “collectible design” conceived specifically for Design Miami by 12 designers from across South-east Asia.

Seven of the designers are from Singapore, including Yong, along with Bryce Lim, Grace Tan, Ivan Ho and Hans Tan. There is also the pairing of Emeline Ong and Bryan Yeo, who made a combined submission. 

There are also two designers from Thailand, and a designer each from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Among the pieces produced for New Asian Narratives is a hammock-like rattan piece by Indonesian furniture designer Alvin Tjitrowirjo and a coffee table reminiscent of classic blue-and-white ceramics by Vietnamese designer Truong Quang Vinh.

A coffee table reminiscent of classic blue-and-white ceramics by Vietnamese designer Truong Quang Vinh.

Yong approached independent Italian curator Maria Cristina Didero with the idea of creating a platform to amplify Asian design voices on an international stage. Together, they developed the final concept.

“I wanted to create a platform where Asian creatives could look inward, explore their own identities and express themselves through their own perspectives, without feeling the need to conform to a particular image of what Asian design should look like,” Yong tells The Straits Times.

It is not about showcasing a particular aesthetic, or just putting together a collection of beautiful objects, he adds. Rather, it is about identity. 

Award-winning Singaporean designer Yong hopes that the New Asian Narratives exhibition will amplify Asian design voices on an international stage.

“I wanted to ask what it means to be a contemporary Asian designer today. (But) Asia is incredibly diverse. Our histories, religions, climates, materials, economies and social structures are different. It would be impossible, and perhaps even irresponsible, to suggest that there is one singular Asian identity,” says Yong.

“So rather than asking designers to create something that looks Asian, I wanted them to explore what being Asian means to them personally.”

New Asian Narratives features a mix of designers with established practices, alongside newer voices who are well-placed to bring fresh ideas to the fore.

A concept is one thing. But Yong admits that actually getting it to the Design Miami stage has been a challenging and expensive process.

“You cannot simply rent a space and expect to participate. It is a highly selective international fair where established galleries, design studios and independent practitioners compete for a place,” he says.

GLIMPSE by Singaporean designers Emeline Ong & Bryan Yeo (left) and Composure by Malaysian designer Kaiyi Wong.

The selection process is rigorous, with proposals assessed for their creative quality, originality and curatorial relevance.

New Asian Narratives was granted the go-ahead in May 2026. But that was then followed by a series of logistical hurdles including fabrication, shipping and insurance. The final steps of installation will take place in the last few days of November at Design Miami’s venue near Miami Beach Convention Center.

In addition to support provided by DesignSingapore Council and Enterprise Singapore, Malaysian fine pewter brand Royal Selangor came on as craft patron, and various private patrons also provided additional financial support.

Dawn Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council, calls the showcase’s global debut at Design Miami a “significant milestone”.

“(It) offers a glimpse of maturity and the range of Singapore design, and our readiness to engage with the wider international audience in the United States (and beyond).”

With less than a month to go before Design Miami kicks off, Yong is excited and hopeful for New Asian Narratives to add to the diversity of voices that will be showcased during the week-long fair. 

“Too often, Asian design is associated with familiar visual references, traditional motifs or particular ideas of craftsmanship. I hope visitors leave with a more open mind about what contemporary Asian design can be,” he says.

“For Singapore to initiate a platform that brings together creative talents from across the region is something I feel especially proud of,” he adds. 

ST highlights the six Singapore entries showcased.

The five dark and stone-like vases of the Squishy Vase collection look to be solid and hefty. But they are actually made of polyurethane foam, and yield easily when poked, squeezed or otherwise touched.

This is because it has been treated with a surface-reactive coating, an effect which Lim stumbled upon while experimenting with the material.

GLIMPSE by Emeline Ong & Bryan Yeo.

The brushed finish stainless steel of this sculptural partition gives it a cold, industrial look and texture. But step closer and you will see that the pastel webbing between the frame’s steel rods is made of soft, knitted yarn. 

“We try to strike a balance (between art and design) by creating something functional that also evokes a feeling when seen, and we feel it gives the piece its own character,” says Ong.

Tan’s piece overlays bundles upon bundles of plastic cable ties and loop pins onto a worn and much-used timber stool. 

“The stool belongs to an earlier material and social ecology in Singapore (and the region), when inexpensive timber furniture circulated anonymously through homes, workshops, roadside stalls and informal eating spaces,” she observes. 

Crusted Vase/ Turned Vase by Hans Tan.

This duo of vases is made of sand-blasted porcelain and metal machining chips. The latter comes directly from the workshop waste of a local metal fabricator. 

Ho’s ongoing Parasitic series reimagines reclaimed materials into sculptural and functional design pieces. This third iteration features a duo of objects made of rubberwood, recycled fiber, resin and other materials. 

With this pair of onyx pieces, Yong wanted to reveal a softer, lighter side to stone, which is a material most often associated with strength and sturdiness.  

“Design is often expected to solve problems, while art is allowed to ask questions. I’m interested in work that can do both,” says Yong.

“A chair can support the body, but it can also carry an idea, evoke an emotion, or quietly challenge what we assume to be true.” 

Yamini Chinnuswamy is a correspondent at The Straits Times. She covers lifestyle news and features, with a focus on pop culture and design.