Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry, with artists behind the “My Mother Says” art themed train presented by the National Arts Council and the Land Transport Authority. Photo courtesy of Land Transport Authority.
SINGAPORE, 8 January 2024 – The National Arts Council (NAC) and Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced a three-year partnership to bring the arts closer to the public in land transport spaces and public transport commutes, through commissioned works by Singapore artists and arts organisations.
The partnership kicks off today with the launch of the themed train and stations in support of Singapore Art Week 2024. The two agencies are also working on enlivening under-utilised spaces below viaducts with local artworks. These initiatives are to deepen collaborations between NAC, LTA and other stakeholders to bring more of the arts into public transport nodes and commuting experiences. The launch of the collaboration was attended by Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Ms Low said, "This partnership forms a part of our broader vision to transform Singapore into a distinctive city with many accessible spaces for people to enjoy the arts wherever they are. Aligned with Our SG Arts Plan (2023 – 2027), this initiative will bring the arts to commuters on their daily travel. Besides refreshing their journey, the artworks will create a greater appreciation for local talents as commuters enjoy art on the go. The public showcase will enable artists to reach and grow new audiences through a wider platform. By bringing the arts to commuter spaces, we enhance the vibrancy of these common areas and brighten the quality of travel and daily life for many Singaporeans.”
Mr Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer, NAC, said, “Forging strong partnerships is one of the key strategies of Our SG Arts Plan (2023 – 2027). Our partnership with LTA unlocks greater opportunities for the public to encounter and appreciate the arts in familiar yet unconventional spaces. We hope to continue opening up more spaces as creative canvasses to integrate the arts into our everyday lives and surroundings, complementing efforts to create a distinctive city and endearing home for all.”
Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive, LTA, added, “LTA is pleased to partner NAC in this new initiative to enliven the spaces in our public transport nodes. This will enrich our existing Art in Transit (AIT) programme, bringing artworks closer to commuters and transforming our transport nodes into lively places. With millions of commuters taking public transport daily, our MRT stations and bus interchanges present an ideal canvas for artists to showcase their works, creating vibrant spaces that enhance the commute. We will collaborate with more partners through AIT to foster an even closer public connection with the arts.”
Creating a more vibrant commute with the arts
From today till 28 January 2024, seven train stations and a themed train running on the North East Line will be enlivened with selected art works from Singapore Art Week (SAW), Singapore’s premier visual arts season. Envisioned as an art trail, the public will get a head-start in viewing artworks that will be showcased throughout SAW, which is taking place from 19 to 28 January 2024, through in-carriage activations and vibrant murals adorning MRT station walls.
One unique artwork commuters on the North-East Line can look forward to is a themed train featuring a tapestry of sayings and words of wisdom. Titled My Mother Says, the artwork is a co-creation from a SAW x PAssionArts project[1] involving about 20 Tampines Changkat residents. Through a three-week workshop, participants shared their stories and preserved the wisdom encapsulated in their elders' words by transmuting them into enchanting light installations through the technique of creative typography.
Other artworks will dot the vicinities of SAW 2024 highlight precincts across seven MRT stations – Bugis (Downtown Line), Bencoolen (Downtown Line), Dhoby Ghaut (North East Line), Little India (Downtown Line), Rochor (Downtown Line), Paya Lebar (Circle Line) and HarbourFront (North East Line). The public can learn about a diverse range of SAW Open Call projects in the respective vicinities, presented through wall decals designed by the artists themselves. Please refer to the Annex for more information on the activations and projects featured.
Transforming underutilised spaces with the arts
In the second half of 2024, the public can look forward to the launch of an artwork under a selected viaduct, supported by the Public Art Trust initiative. The commissioned artist will work with the community to develop a large-scale artwork that would rejuvenate train viaducts and reflect the characteristics of the precinct.
This partnership follows the NAC-SMRT Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in August 2023, which also aims to enliven commuting spaces through music, poetry, and busking. NAC and LTA will continue to explore other initiatives to bring vibrancy to public spaces through the arts.
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| For media queries, please contact: | |
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Leck Choon Ling Senior Manager Tate Anzur +65 8288 3592 |
Angelina Soh Senior Manager Strategic Communications & Marketing National Arts Council +65 6980 2919 |
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Hayley Teo Deputy Manager Media Relations, Corporate Communications Land Transport Authority +65 9826 3165 |
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[1] SAW x PAssionArts is a collaboration between NAC and People’s Association to present a new platform for artists to work alongside Community Arts & Culture Clubs (CACCs) to engage with the community in five neighbourhoods across Singapore. More information on the projects showcased at SAW 2024 (https://www.artweek.sg/search?q=SAW+x+PAssionArts).
Annex: List of artworks featured under LTA and NAC’s collaboration
(I) In-Carriage Train Wrap:
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Train |
Project |
Artwork details |
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North-East Line
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My Mother Says
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My Mother Saysis a community engagement workshop that invites the community to collaborate and share valuable sayings and words of wisdom from their elders. Through this collaboration, participants can uncover and preserve the treasured memories of their loved ones, and immortalised them into enchanting light installations. Embracing the language of art, participants become co-creators in this immersive experience, where each installation becomes living tapestries, weaving threads of intergenerational dialogue and strengthening connections between participants. The light installations metamorphose into storytelling conduits, inspiring reflections on the timeless wisdom encapsulated in elders' words. This fosters understanding and kinship between diverse communities, creating a shared collective human experience.My Mother Saysnot only preserves the pearls of wisdom but also stands as a testament to the power of art to spark conversations that transcend time. Artists & Curators: Stellah Lim, Victor Emmanuel, Marcel Gaspar, Zhang Runhan |
(II) SAW 2024 Open Call projects featured in murals at MRT Stations:
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S/N |
MRT Station |
Project |
Artwork details |
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1 |
Dhoby Ghaut |
Some Exercises in Futility |
In this group exhibition, five artists come together to examine the otherwise futile: repetitive processes that seem to have no clear outcome; objects stripped of the functions for which they were made; tasks with outright impossible goals; rituals that have lost their purpose for one reason or another. Through varied explorations of this space of non-productivity, these works contemplate the transformation of futility into fertility. Artists: Fiona Seow, Genevieve Leong, ila, Marvin Tang, Ryan Lim Zi Yi Curator: Berny Tan |
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2 |
HarbourFront |
Off The Wall | Modern Wisdoms |
Presented by Art Outreach in collaboration with OCBC Bank, Modern Wisdoms features artworks by urban street artists who boldly transition from outdoor canvases to offer imaginative interpretations of Chinese folklore, literature, and iconography, providing new perspectives on cultural narratives passed down through generations. Artists: ANTZ, Chris Chai, Lewis Choo Curator: Zarina Muhammad |
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3 |
Bencoolen |
Acknowledging Intuition (AI) |
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has prompted artists to re-evaluate the ways in art making. With text-to image AI’s speed of creation and ability to create images by learning from an innumerable library of images from all over the world, some may posit that the artist is no longer necessary in the creation of art.Acknowledging Intuition (AI)is an exhibition that takes its starting point from a creative brief produced by a generative AI (ChatGPT) from the prompt “an art exhibition that re-evaluates the intersection of text and image against the growing pervasiveness of text-to-image generative artificial intelligence”. Through actualising the vision of a generative artificial intelligence, the exhibition will raise the question, “What does it take to be an artist?” The public will be invited to submit descriptive texts prior to the exhibition to add to the installation’s source material. Artists: Huijun Lu and Joscelin Chew |
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4 |
Bugis |
Eat Play Love |
Eat Play Loveexplores family life, architectural heritage, and landscape futures. It unfolds within the late Dr Tan Kheng Khoo's family home, a mid-century modernist design of the late architectural pioneer William Lim. The exhibition will showcase works by Tan and six guest artists. With this architecturally historic house as an artistic subject and exhibition site,Eat Play Loveinvites visitors to meditate on eating, sleeping, playing, loving, fighting, negotiating, and other ordinary yet meaningful activities at home.
Artists: Tan Ngiap Heng, Catherine Hu, Cynthia Delaney Suwito, Khoo Guo Jie, Lei Yuan Bin, Mike HJ Chang, Susanna Tan Curator: Michael Lee |
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5
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Rochor 1 |
Asam di Gunung, Garam di Laut: A Kain of Marriage |
Humans are complex creatures shaped by layers that include ethnicity, culture, religion, language, gender, education, economic status amongst many others. These intersecting categories are not made equal.Asam di Gunung, Garam di Lautattempts to explore these daily tensions in the creation of a hybrid culture.
Artists: Agnes Christina, Ass&Dam - Nila Choo, Tamara Pertamina, Wong Mei Sheong, Brahma Tirta Sar, Nia Fliam, Carolyn Oei, Karmen Cheng Curator: Tony Sugiarta |
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Rochor 2 |
Keys Under the Sofa |
Drawing from the furniture shop as a site of engagement, the artists explore and excavate the symbolic meanings and physical significance of furniture, unearth family and workplace narratives, play with spatial poetics and constructs, and understand the preservation and distribution of preloved objects. Each artist has an interdisciplinary practice, which collectively spans a wide spectrum of media including photography, kinetic sculpture, video art, installation, painting, text, and participatory methods. The exhibition is accompanied by public programmes including an artist talk and a creative repair kintsugi workshop. Artists: Cynthia Delaney Suwito, Geraldine Kang, Jaxton Su, Woong Soak Teng and Yang Jie with Hock Siong & Co Curator: Kamiliah Bahdar |
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6 |
Little India |
Print<'Calligraphy.Motifs'> |
It is a unique exhibition that showcases the fusion of traditional calligraphy and batik designs with modern digital technology. Presented through a selection of digital screens, the exhibition offers a fresh perspective on these ancient art forms by exploring how they can adapt to the digital canvas. Through this innovative approach, the artists have pushed the boundaries of their art form, creating a mesmerising display that captures the essence of their traditional craft.
Artists and Curators: Malik Bin Mazlan, Tony Sugiarta |
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7 |
Paya Lebar |
The Sound of Sound: Colours in Dream |
ThroughThe Sound of Sound - Colours in Dream, artists Joo Choon Lin and Colin Wan want to rekindle the magic of limitless dreaming through installations, performances, and workshops. Free from language and pressure, the exhibition inspires participants to dream anew through a firm belief that the therapeutic power and aesthetic beauty of art can lead individuals towards inner peace and happiness.
Artists: Joo Choon Lin, Colin Justin Wan |
For more information on SAW 2024, please visit artweek.sg or bit.ly/SAW2024.