Lecturer, Design Communication

Hera

hera-lasalle_faculty_portrait
  • MA School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • MA Narrative Environments, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK

Hera is a multidisciplinary researcher and practitioner in the expanded field of art and design. She graduated from MA Narrative Environments, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and MA (Research) in the School of Art, Design and Media, Spaces of the Curatorial, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where she received the NTU-NHB grant from the National Heritage Board Singapore for her research on the history of art exhibitions in Singapore.

Aside from academia, her professional practice ranges from curating, designing and project management. She leads interdisciplinary teams of professionals from diverse fields such as design, art, architecture and science to create memorable exhibitions and online experiences.

Read More

  • ‘Remappings of a Region: Popular Map Images Around and Beyond “Southeast Asia”’ in Journal of Visual Art and Design (2023)
  • ‘Inaugurating the White Passage: Art ’76’ in TRaNS: Trans-regional and National Studies of Southeast Asia (2021)
  • ‘Gaze and Experience in Junghuhn’s Java Album’ in Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia (2021)

Curated exhibitions

  • Metonyms: Tracing Collective Memories, Telok Kurau Studios Art Gallery (2022)
  • Infectious Collaborations: an entangled enquiry into forests and the pandemic, Jurong Lake Gardens (2022)
  • Peripheral Spaces, NIE Art Gallery (2022)
  • Mountain pass: negotiating ambivalence, Mizuma Gallery (2019)

Managed exhibitions

  • USSG55 Virtual Photography Exhibition, commissioned by the US Embassy in Singapore (2021)

Conference presentations

  • ‘Exploratory Ethics in Communication Design: Developing a Pedagogy for Lively Ethical Engagements’ at Cumulus Nantes 2025: Ethical Leadership, A New Frontier for Design, L’École de design Nantes Atlantique; Nantes, France (2025)
  • ‘Sensing visual spaces: An inquiry of Hendra Gunawan’s landscape paintings’, co-written with Lydia Wong at Imagining Asian Art in Transition Symposium, University Sains Malaysia; Penang, Malaysia (2024)

Public talk/lecture

  • ‘A slow learning ethos amongst the economy of appearances and technological spectacles’, in Critical of/for what? A panel on criticality in design education and practice organised by Candice Ng, Justin Zhuang, and Vanessa Ban, Singapore Art Museum (2025)
  • ‘A historical study of sinophone graphics in prewar Singapore’ in Thesis Delibs, public talks organised by The Artists Village, Central Public Library; Singapore (2024)

Current grant project

  • A design historical perspective of Sinophone Graphics in prewar Singapore (2024–2026)

  • Spaces of exhibition
  • Pluriversal design history
  • Communication design ethics