David Hockney: Bigger & Closer leaves IMBA Theatre on 30 September 2026. The Southeast Asia run of the Lightroom London show opened 13 February at Gardens by the Bay and was extended through September. You still have a little over three weeks. After that the 50-minute loop stops in this room.
IMBA sits on the West Lawn beside Bayfront Plaza, 18 Marina Gardens Drive. Official Gardens hours are Monday to Thursday 10am to 7pm, last admission 6pm, and Friday to Sunday and public holidays 10am to 8pm, last admission 7pm. One loop is about 50 minutes. You can stay for another pass. Tickets on the IMBA site are S$22 for Singapore-resident adults and S$18 for children aged 3 to 12. Non-residents pay S$26 and S$22. An IMBA Immersive Pass that also covers Botero: A Life in Fullness is S$38 / S$30 for residents and S$45 / S$37 for non-residents. Book through Fever or IMBA. Nearest MRT is Bayfront, then a short walk past Bayfront Plaza.
What the room actually does
This is not a hanging of canvases. Four walls and the floor take the projections. Hockney's own voice, recorded across decades, talks you through swimming pools, Yorkshire hedges, iPad drawings and opera sets. Nico Muhly wrote the score. Little Day Out's visit notes an elevated bank of seats in one corner that lets you see the whole box at once, and beanbags on the floor if you want to lie in the pool sequence. The show carries an age advisory for one passage of nudity. There are no flashing images in the 16 to 25Hz range, but high-contrast moving patterns run on the floor and walls, and the volume rises and falls with the music.
A Bigger Splash from 1967 is the image most people already know: a diving board, a burst of white water, an empty chair, two palms. In this room that splash becomes a space you sit inside. Time Out's Singapore preview called the run a first for Southeast Asia. The same production has already played London, Seoul, Shanghai and Manchester. After Singapore it moves to Carriageworks in Sydney from 22 October. Hockney died in June 2026, aged 88. The narration you hear is still his. That is the reason to go this month rather than wait for a later city. IMBA will not hold this cut after 30 September.
How to time it with the rest of Bayfront
Pair the loop with Lilytopia in Flower Dome if you are already in the Gardens. That Egypt-themed lily display also ends 27 September, three days before Hockney. Garden Rhapsody at Supertree Grove is free at 7.45pm and 8.45pm; from 12 to 27 September the soundtrack is Tales of the Moon for Mid-Autumn. Do Hockney in the late afternoon, then walk to the lanterns after 6pm. Mid-Autumn admission on the gardens is free. Hockney is not.
Weekday mornings are quieter. Weekend last admission at 7pm is tight if you want a full loop plus a second chapter. Give yourself 90 minutes in the theatre. The Bay South to Bay East bridge works still divert cyclists around the promenade, but pedestrians can reach IMBA from Bayfront Plaza with a short extra walk. Check imbaglobal.com before you go. Dates and last-entry times can shift for private hires.
Practical Details
- Dates: 13 February to Wednesday 30 September 2026
- Time: Mon to Thu 10am to 7pm, last entry 6pm. Fri to Sun and public holidays 10am to 8pm, last entry 7pm. Loop about 50 minutes.
- Venue: IMBA Theatre, West Lawn beside Bayfront Plaza, Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953
- Nearest MRT: Bayfront CE1/DT16, then Bayfront Plaza. Gardens by the Bay TE22 also works.
- Price: Residents S$22 adult, S$18 child. Non-residents S$26 / S$22. Immersive Pass with Botero from S$38.
- Website: IMBA, Bigger & Closer
