Feb – May 2026
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Festival Weekend 6 – 8 Mar 2026 |
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Extended Programmes: 16 Feb – 10 May 2026 |
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Various Locations | Admission Free & ticketed programmes |
A micro festival of insects, machines and intelligent futures
Signal & Swarm is a micro festival that explores intelligence in all its forms — biological, digital and mechanical. Inspired by the intricate worlds of Insects: Microsculptures Magnified and NOX: Confessions of a Machine, the programme weaves together practices of care, curiosity and co-evolution to invite reflection on urban futures, machine empathy and the hidden lives of insects.
Across walk-in activities, hands-on workshops, guided tours, talks, film screenings, live performance and a sound installation, Signal & Swarm offers spaces for repair, discovery and collective imagination. At its heart, the festival celebrates forms of intelligence that often go unseen, revealing what becomes possible when circuits meet colonies, and when care extends beyond the human.
Signal & Swarm is presented as a special event within ArtScience Museum’s year-long season Forms of Life: Beyond the Human, which explores multispecies worlds, more-than-human intelligences, and the systems that shape life on Earth.
Collaborators include Altimate Nutrition, Black Crow Taxidermy & Art, Feelers, Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX), Insectta, KLASS Engineering and Solutions, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Repair Kopitiam and Sustainable Living Lab (SL2), Robert Schwarz, Professor Hirotaka Sato and the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), The Curious Pangolin and Wendy Zhang.
Date: 7 Mar 2026, Sat, 4.30pm – 6pm
Location: The Sun, B1
Ticketed admission: S$5
Learn how anyone can contribute to insect conservation with entomological educator James Khoo of The Curious Pangolin, a platform that shares the wonders of insects through hands-on learning, research and conservation initiatives.
In this hands-on workshop, get up close with live and preserved specimens, explore how scientists study their behaviour and anatomy, and learn practical ways to observe, document and support insect conservation. This session offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with insect science and discover how small actions can make a big difference for these often-overlooked creatures.
Date: 8 Mar 2026, Sun, 10am – 1pm
Location: The Sun, B1
Ticketed admission: S$5
Repair becomes an act of care in this hands-on workshop led by Repair Kopitiam. From electrical safety and basic mechanical fixes to simple appliance troubleshooting, learn essential repair skills while reflecting on how repair builds resilience and supports more sustainable ways of living.
Founded by Sustainable Living Lab (SL2) in 2014, Repair Kopitiam is a community-driven movement that brings people together to extend the life of everyday objects through shared knowledge and collective action.
Participants under 14 must be accompanied by a guardian.
Date: 8 Mar 2026, Sun, 2pm – 5pm
Location: Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Ticketed admission: S$5
Inspired by insect swarms and collective behaviour, this coding workshop with Feelers explores the idea of the swarm as a popular computational concept.
Working with naïve autonomous agents — systems guided by simple rules rather than artificial intelligence — participants experiment with how complex, intelligent patterns can emerge through interaction. Through gentle embodied activities and beginner-friendly web coding, the session reflects on how we move, relate and make decisions as individuals within larger, interconnected systems.
Feelers is an interdisciplinary research lab of artists and designers working at the intersection of art and technology. Their projects invite critical and empathetic engagement with the world, cultivating communities of shared learning and collective practice.
Suitable for participants over 13.
7 Mar 2026, Sat, 2pm – 2.45pm
Location: Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission with Registration
Insectta is Singapore’s first insect-powered biotech company, harnessing the black soldier fly to extract high-value biomaterials for applications ranging from healthcare and cosmetics to organic electronics. Join co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Phua Jun Wei as he traces Insectta’s journey, from launching Singapore’s first Black Soldier Fly farm to pivoting towards advanced biomaterial extraction.
This talk offers a window into the untapped research potential of insect agriculture, and explores how this emerging field extends far beyond animal feed and novelty foods into new frontiers of science and sustainability.
7 Mar 2026, Sat, 3pm – 4pm
Location: Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission with Registration
Since 2024, the Singapore Food Agency has approved 16 insect species for human consumption. In this talk, Altimate Nutrition explores how insects might move beyond novelty snacks to become viable, sustainable protein sources for a food-secure future.
Co-founder Yuen Sheng Hiew will share insights into the evolving regulatory landscape of entomophagy in Singapore, their research and development journey with insect-based ingredients, and collaborations with scientists investigating how insect consumption may even play a role in Alzheimer’s research.
As Singapore’s first start-up dedicated to transforming insects into nourishing, sustainable food for humans, Altimate Nutrition invites participants to rethink what we eat, with an optional tasting flight to conclude the session.
20 Jan – 10 May 2026
English: Selected Tue, 4pm
Mandarin: Selected Sun, 3pm
Location: Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Step into the intricate world of Insects: Microsculptures Magnified on a guided tour led by an Education Specialist. Discover the science of entomology through close observation of insects’ remarkable forms, textures and adaptations. Along the way, learn how photographer Levon Biss uses advanced imaging techniques to transform tiny specimens into striking large-scale portraits, revealing details of insect life that are usually invisible to the naked eye.
14 & 21 Mar 2026, Sat
Time: 2pm – 3pm
Location: ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Buzz into the fascinating world of insects on this kid-friendly guided tour led by an Education Specialist. Discover how tiny insects become larger-than-life through the spectacular photographs of Levon Biss, and learn fun facts about how insects see, move and survive. With close-looking and engaging storytelling, this tour invites young explorers to discover the surprising beauty and clever designs of the insect world all around us.
Suitable for children aged 5 and up.
10 Apr 2026, Fri
Time: 7pm – 7.45pm
Location: Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Explore the hidden world of insects in this curator-led tour of Insects: Microsculptures Magnified with Assistant Curator Chelsea Chye. Uncover the extraordinary diversity and complexity of insect life through microscopic detail, examining how form, structure and behaviour shape survival. Through Levon Biss’ captivating portraits, this tour invites reflection on insect intelligence and resilience, and what these tiny anatomies can teach us about life at larger scales.
Coming Soon
17 Apr 2026, Fri
Time: 7pm – 7.45pm
Location: Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Senior Producer Charleen Leo offers insight into the development of NOX: Confessions of a Machine at ArtScience Museum, guiding participants into Lawrence Lek’s evolving Sinofuturist universe and the conceptual thinking behind the exhibition’s design. Through speculative architectures and narrative worlds, this tour explores questions of agency, empathy and nonhuman consciousness, inviting reflection on how machines, systems and care intersect in an age of automation.
Coming Soon
8 May 2026, Fri
Time: 7pm – 8pm
Location: Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Join Wendy Zhang, Collections Assistant at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), for a behind-the-scenes exploration of Insects: Microsculptures Magnified. Drawing on her research in developing the LKCNHM section of the exhibition, Wendy brings the museum’s insect collections to life as living archives of biodiversity. This in-gallery sharing reveals how scientists study and interpret specimens today, offering deeper insight into insect anatomy, ecological roles, and the research processes shaping our understanding of resilience and adaptation.
Coming Soon
23 Feb – 10 May 2026
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
Step into a mini laboratory where technology meets nature. Through hands-on exploration, young visitors discover how insects, machines and humans learn, sense, and care for the world. Observe an AI pet that responds to your behaviour, peer into the hidden details of insect specimens through kid-friendly microscopes, and learn about cyborg insects designed to support real-world rescue missions.
Meet insect specimens such as butterflies, beetles and praying mantises up close. Using magnifying glasses or Foldscopes—clever paper microscopes—take a closer look at these amazing insects and discover the unique features that help insects sense and navigate their environments.
Meet a gentle AI pet that uses emotional AI to learn from interaction. As you spend time with it, its behaviour evolves, revealing how relationships between humans and machines can be shaped by attention, care and responsiveness.
Meet the part insect, part computer Cyborg Cockroach. Designed to assist in disaster rescue missions, these remarkable creatures demonstrate how biological intelligence and engineering can work together to help locate survivors in hard-to-reach environments. Observe the cockroach up close and watch videos that reveal how sensors, AI and insect behaviour come together in life-saving research.
7 Mar – 3 Jun 2026
Sun – Thu: 10am – 7pm, Fri & Sat: 10am – 9pm
Location: Oculus, B2
Free Admission
Stridulations is a site-responsive, multi-channel sound installation by Vienna-based sound artist Robert Schwarz, devised for the Oculus at ArtScience Museum. Adapted from Schwarz’s long-running research into insect and arthropod communication, the work takes its name from stridulation — a process through which sound is produced by friction between chitinous body parts.
6 Mar 2026, Fri
Time: 6pm – 6.45pm
Location: Oculus, B2
Free Admission
This live performance by Vienna-based sound artist Robert Schwarz marks the launch of Stridulations, extending the sonic logic of the installation through a real-time activation of the Oculus. Conceived as an embodied listening experience, the performance unfolds across the architecture through layered sound and live spatialisation, inviting audiences to linger and listen within the space.
From 16 Feb 2026
ArtScience Cinema, L4
Free & Ticketed Admission
Discover the secret lives of insects through a series of films that explore the hidden universes of these tiny creatures. From animated bug worlds that reveal courage and heart in unexpected places, to insect documentaries that offer microscopic clarity, we invite you to tune into the micro-movements and quiet mysteries of the natural world.
Misfit ants, greedy grasshoppers and cherubic caterpillars—this Disney/Pixar animation is an enduring classic that shows heart and courage can be found in the tiniest of creatures.
Free Admission, Weekday and Weekend Screenings
Under the cover of night, two dedicated scientists adopt a nocturnal lifestyle alongside the moths of the Eastern Himalayan forests, shining a light on their mysterious lives.
Ticketed Admission, Weekend Screenings
See the world through another pair (or pairs) of eyes in this groundbreaking documentary, filmed with specialised, microscopic lenses that reveal a hidden world with unprecedented clarity.
Free Admission, Weekday Screenings
6pm – 6.45pm
Oculus, B2
Free Admission
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
2pm – 2.45pm
Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
3pm – 4pm
Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
4.30pm – 6pm
The Sun, B1
Ticketed Admission: S$5
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
2pm – 5pm
Ripple Room in ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Ticketed Admission: S$5
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
7pm – 7.45pm
Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Coming Soon
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
7pm – 7.45pm
Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Coming Soon
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
7pm – 8pm
Exhibition Galleries, B2
Ticketed Experience: S$5 (Exhibition ticket not included)
Coming Soon
ArtScience Laboratory, B2
Free Admission
In 2026, ArtScience Museum presents a year-long season of exhibitions and programmes that explore the wider ecology of life beyond the human, attending to the multispecies worlds, systems, and intelligences that shape the planet alongside us. Rather than centering the human as the primary actor, Forms of Life: Beyond the Human considers how life is co-shaped by other living entities.
Explore the hidden beauty of insects, magnified into captivating works of art that uncover intricate details, complex forms and surprising worlds up close.
Step into the future with NOX, a site-specific solo exhibition by visionary artist Lawrence Lek.
Enter an unorthodox learning space where experiments are encouraged, creativity thrives and different disciplines converge.
Fill your world with wonder in a purpose-built screening room dedicated to films that will inspire, challenge and transform.
Presented in collaboration with artists and creatives, ArtScience Encounters is an invitation to discover curious spaces hidden within ArtScience Museum’s unique architecture.