Visual art of Singapore

Artefacts and artistic traditions of the Malay world Situated in the Malay Archipelago, Singapore is connected to the broader sculptural, textile, and decorative art traditions of the Malay world. The kala motif draws from Hindu mythology, and traditionally adorns the top of main entrances of temples and is found in many parts of Indonesia. the slab was blown to pieces to widen the passageway at the mouth of the Singapore River to make space for Fort Fullerton and for the quarters of its commander, leaving only fragments of the slab. Early cartographic references .|153x153pxThe earliest depictions of ancient Singapore existed predominantly in textual and cartographical forms, with the first possible mention being a 2nd-century CE cartographic reference in Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy's Geographia. A place called Sabana or Sabara was marked on the 11th Map of Asia at the southern tip of the Golden Khersonese (meaning the Malay Peninsula) where Singapore may lie. from Wubei Zhi which is based on the early 15th century maps of Zheng He showing Temasek (淡馬錫) at the top left, and Long Ya Men (龍牙門) on the right panel.|220x220px Early Singapore came to be known as "Temasek", a name possibly deriving from "tasik" (Malay for lake or sea) and taken to mean Sea-town in Malay. The landscape of Temasek (淡馬錫) is visually depicted in the Mao Kun map, a set of navigation charts published in the Ming dynasty military treatise Wubei Zhi. Long Ya Men (龍牙門, ''Dragon's Teeth Gate) is also depicted within the map, believed to be the entrance to Keppel Harbour. In his work Daoyi Zhilüe, Wang Dayuan described Long Ya Men'' as the two hills of Temasek that looked like "Dragon's teeth" between which a strait runs; Longyamen was written about here as one of two settlements in Temasek, the second being Banzu. The map is often regarded as a surviving document from the expeditions of Zheng He, in addition to accounts written by Zheng's officers. Sometime in its history, the name of Temasek was changed to Singapura. The Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila Utama), who landed on Temasek after surviving a storm in the 13th century. According to the tale, the prince saw a strange creature, which he was told was a lion; believing this to be an auspicious sign, he decided to found a settlement called Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit. It is unlikely there ever were lions in Singapore, though tigers continued to roam the island until the early 20th century. == Colonial Singapore (1819–1942) ==

From the 16th to 19th centuries, starting with the arrival of the Portuguese at Malacca in 1509, the Malay Archipelago was gradually taken over by European colonial powers. During the 17th century, the early dominance of the Portuguese was challenged by the Dutch, who came to control most of the ports in the region, while colonial powers such as the British had a relatively minor presence. Sir Stamford Raffles, appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of the British colony at Bencoolen in 1818, arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a choice for a new port. Raffles sought to challenge the Dutch by establishing a new port along the Straits of Malacca, which served as the main ship passageway for India-China trade. A formal treaty was signed on 6 February 1819, ushering in Singapore's colonial period. The British concentrated on building infrastructure such as housing, roads, and hospitals in order to maintain the economy, and did not set up an art academy. While Raffles did intend for the teaching of art, the first British art teacher, Richard Walker, would only arrive almost a hundred years after Raffles' death in 1923. Created when Raffles first set foot on Singapore, it is one of 41 drawings from the Houghton Album, a compilation of views drawn by Houghton. Prominent commercial studios were founded by the 19th century, including Japanese and Chinese photography studios. '' (1849) by Munshi Abdullah, written in Malay in the Jawi script, Collection of the National Library of Singapore|left Scribes created illustrated motifs and decorations within books, as seen in the decorated frontispiece for the lithographic edition of Hikayat Abdullah (The Tale of Abdullah). There was a push for Malay identity to be viewed from more local or ‘peninsular’ perspectives, with Malay identity no longer strictly Islamic. The 1898 album Fengyue qinzun tu (Painting of Zither Romance) contains a portrait of Khoo, alongside examples of literati art circulated by cultural elites to the local community, such as ink painting, calligraphy, and seal carving with literature. A well-known example is the bronze statue of Stamford Raffles standing with arms folded, created by English sculptor Thomas Woolner and installed at the Padang in conjunction with the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria on 27 June 1887, now relocated at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. , Malay Boy, 1939, Bronze sculpture, 6.3 x 29.5 x 20.8 cm, Collection of National Gallery Singapore From the 1930s, European artists such as Dora Gordine, Karl Duldig, Rudolfo Nolli, Tina Haim-Wentscher, and Julius Wentscher received commissions to make public sculptures and reliefs during their short stays in Singapore. Sculptor Tina Haim-Wentscher and painter Julius Wentscher represented Malaya at the 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition, creating sculptures and designing a Malayan pineapple display. Taught Indian technique and western style of painting in college, she came to Singapore by boat in 1939 from Madras with paintings and sculptures for an art exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, staying in Kuala Pilah through World War II and later migrating to Singapore in 1946. She specialised in portrait sculptures, being commissioned to create sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda for the Ramakrishna Mission Bartley Road, Singapore. Low Kway Song's Lynx (1921) and Thai Temple (1923) are art historically notable as some of the few oil paintings from Singapore that can be traced to this moment of artistic production in the early 20th century. == Japanese Occupation (1942–1945) ==

. Artistic activity slowed down after World War II arrived in Singapore, with works reflecting artist's varied experiences of the war. == Post-war period (1945–1955) ==

Society of Malay Artists Malaya (Late 1940s–50s) On 1 May 1949 at the Kota Raja Club in Singapore's Kampung Glam, artists Mahat bin Chadang (C. Mahat) and Mohammed Salehuddin founded the Persatuan Pelukis Melayu Malaya (PPMM, Society of Malay Artists Malaya). The founding of the society is seen as an early instance of collective artistic organisation for Malay artists in Singapore. Nanyang Style (Late 1940s–50s) , Sweet Rambutans, 1965, Oil on canvas Artists such as Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng, and Fan Chang Tien, affected by tumultuous sociopolitical changes in China, moved to Singapore from the 1930s onwards, creating conditions for a unique local art movement called the Nanyang style of painting. Migrant Chinese artists painting in the Nanyang style from the late 1940s to 1960s are some of the most well-known visual practices in the history of Singapore art. Some of the most well-known Nanyang artists are Georgette Chen, Chen Chong Swee, Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng, and Liu Kang. The Nanyang artists Liu Kang, Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Wen Hsi, and Chen Chong Swee famously embarked on a 1952 painting trip to Bali, creating paintings of Balinese landscapes and people. This is different from earlier pictorial photographers in Europe and North America, who were working towards getting photography recognised as fine art. Singaporean photographers, who had art exhibitions featuring photographs with paintings from 1951, did not face the same tensions between photography and painting, and were thus more open to a variety of photographic styles. == Self-government (1955–1963) ==

Social Realism and the Equator Art Society (mid-1950s–70s) The Equator Art Society was an artists' group founded in 1956 in Singapore, known for promoting social realist art. The Equator Art Society sought to represent the realities and struggles of the masses, depicting Singapore's working classes and the poor often through the use of portraiture painting, woodcut prints, and sculpture. For example, Singaporean-British artist Kim Lim's stainless steel sculpture, Column (1971–72), has been seen as an instance of Minimalist art in Britain. Association of Artists of Various Resources (APAD) In April 1961, the art section of Lembaga Tetap Kongres Bahasa dan Kebudayaan Melayu (LTK, Permanent Board of Congress of Malay Language and Culture) staged a major exhibition at the Victoria Memorial Hall. The exhibition featured the works of 34 Malay artists, both established and emerging. The association continues to organise solo and group exhibitions, also collaborating with other cultural groups, art societies, and institutions, locally and regionally. == Merger with Malaysia (1963–1965) ==

On 16 September 1963, the merger between Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (renamed Sabah), and Sarawak took place, marking the official formation of Malaysia. Modern Art Society The Modern Art Society (MAS), launched with Ho Ho Ying as president in 1963, organised the exhibition titled Modern Art at the National Library from 12 October to 27 October 1963. The aims of the MAS included "the promotion of modern art in Malaysia," with the use of "Malaysia" rather than 'Malaya' or 'Singapore' pointing to this specific period when Singapore was part of Malaysia. The MAS hoped for the Modern Art exhibition to travel through Malaysia, including to cities like Kuala Lumpur. The Modern Art exhibition was given prominent local media coverage, especially through Chinese newspapers and English-language The Straits Times. A week into the Modern Art exhibition, a painting by Tay Chee Toh was reported in the newspapers to have been slashed by another artist whose practice the MAS had rejected as outmoded, demonstrating the tensions surrounding abstract painting and its role in society. The founding of the MAS thus positioned abstract painting as a modern visual language in 1960s Singapore, instead of social realist painting. == Republic of Singapore (1965–present) ==

The 1970s saw artists shift away from modern art practices like sculpture and painting, towards contemporary art practices like video, installation, and conceptual art. Across these tendencies, "the exploration of performance and the performative body" is a common running thread. The title Trimurti refers to Hinduism's triple deity, representing creation, maintenance, and destruction. It was significant that the exhibition had a Hindu name, with Indians being an ethnic minority in Chinese-dominated Singapore and NAFA's teachers regularly teaching art in the Chinese language. From 1988 to 1990, it was located at a chicken farm at Lorong Gambas in Ulu Sembawang, which has since been redeveloped. TAV is known for its engagement with societal changes and issues through late-1980s and 1990s Singapore, with a particular emphasis on performance art, installation art, and process-based work. Other figures closely associated with TAV, apart from its founder Tang, include Amanda Heng and Lee Wen. As a registered, artist-led non-profit organisation, it was one of the earliest of its kind for early-1990s Singapore, with its initial space located at Parkway Parade, a shopping centre in the east of the city. 5th Passage was co-founded in 1991 by artists such as Suzann Victor and Susie Lingham. Art critic Lee Weng Choy describes 5th Passage as an initiative that had "focussed on issues of gender and identity, and on the work of women artists." also organising public readings and forums. described by Victor as a response to the de facto performance art ban and the loss of the 5th Passage space. 2000s onwards In 2001, Singapore participated in the Venice Biennale with its own national pavilion for the first time, with artists Henri Chen KeZhan, Matthew Ngui, Salleh Japar, and Suzann Victor exhibiting work. Singapore continued its participation in the Venice Biennale with the exception of 2013, when the National Arts Council reassessed its participation in future biennales and resumed in 2015 after signing a 20-year lease on a national pavilion at the Arsenale in Venice. Documenta11 in 2002 would see the participation of Charles Lim and Woon Tien Wei as the internet art collective tsunamii.net, presenting the work alpha 3.4 (2002). After several years of hosting large-scale exhibitions such as the Singapore Art Show, the Nokia Singapore Art series, and SENI Singapore in 2004, Singapore launched the inaugural Singapore Biennale in 2006. , Dreams in Social Cosmic Odyssey, 2010, Promenade MRT station in Singapore In 2003, the "Art in Transit" (AiT) initiative was established by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in tandem with the completion of the North East Line (NEL) on the country's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. The initiative gave MRT stations specially commissioned permanent artworks by Singaporean artists in a wide variety of art styles and mediums, including sculptures, murals, and mosaics often integrated into the stations' interior architecture. With over 300 art pieces across 80 stations, it is Singapore's largest public art programme. In 2009, Ming Wong was the first Singaporean to receive an award at the Venice Biennale, receiving the Special Mention (Expanding Worlds) during the Biennale's Opening Ceremony for his work Life of Imitation. == Further reading ==