Visual art of Singapore

Situated in the Malay Archipelago, Singapore is connected to the broader sculptural, textile, and decorative art traditions of the Malay world.[1]

Javanese-style gold jewellery discovered at Bukit Larangan (Fort Canning Hill), 14th century, National Museum of Singapore

A 14th-century golden armlet bearing a repoussé plaque of the Javanese Kala was excavated from Bukit Larangan (Fort Canning Hill) in 1926, demonstrating a link between Singapore and classical Malay sultanates.[8] 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.[8] Demonstrating the use of metalworking techniques, the armlet dates back to the 14th century, around the time a possible Kingdom of Singapura would have been thriving on the island, complementing indigenous Malay writings about the presence of a state in Singapore headed by a Malay elite.[8] The armlet also demonstrates the influence of the Hindu cosmology for Malays in their pre-Islamic past.[8]

A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an unknown script, c 10th to 13th century.

Another significant artefact is the Singapore Stone, a surviving fragment of a large sandstone slab inscribed with Indic script that stood at the mouth of the Singapore River, measuring 3 metres in height and width. Believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as early as the 10th or 11th century, the inscription remains undeciphered. More recent theories suggest that the inscription is either in Old Javanese or in Sanskrit, which suggests the possibility that the island was an extension of the Majapahit civilisation in the past. About January 1843,[9] 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.[10][11]

Ptolemy, Geographia, VIII. 11th Map of Asia. Sabana given at the tip of the Malay Peninsula which was named as the Golden Khersonese.

The 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.[12]

The Mao Kun map 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.

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.[13] 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.[14] Long Ya Men (龍牙門, Dragon's Teeth Gate) is also depicted within the map, believed to be the entrance to Keppel Harbour.[15][16] 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.[15][16] 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.

William Farquhar commissioned natural history drawings during his time as Resident of Malacca from 1803 to 1818. These were some of the earliest visual practices of the region.[1]

• 
  Garcinia Mangostana; Booah Mangies; Boorong Merbo (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Jasminum; Akar Benang; Pokok Akar Banang (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Onka' Pootie (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Boorong Antoo; Owl (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Bentoorong (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Lava Etam (Malay); Black Pepper; Piper Nigrum (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)
• 
  Doorean; Durio stercorae; D. zibethina Linn (William Farquhar Collection, 1819–1823)

Jules Itier's 1844 daguerreotype of Boat Quay and Singapore River from Government Hill, 1844, 12.6 x 15 x 0.3 cm, National Museum of Singapore

The earliest surviving photographic views of Singapore as a British settlement are Jules Itier's 1844 daguerreotype of Boat Quay and Singapore River from Government Hill.[19]

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  August Sachtler, Untitled photograph (portrait of woman) from group of 20 cartes-de-visite portraits, c. 1860s, 10.2 x 6.2 cm, Collection of National Museum of Singapore
• 
  August Sachtler, Untitled photograph from group of 20 cartes-de-visite portraits, c. 1860s, 10.2 x 6.2 cm, Collection of National Museum of Singapore
• 
  August Sachtler, A Calladium - Tanglin, Singapore, c. 1860s, Black-and-white photograph, 10.4 x 6.1 cm, National Museum of Singapore

Annaratnam Gunaratnam, Mavis, 1953, Bronze sculpture, 49.0 x 37.0 x 22.0 cm, Collection of National Gallery Singapore

Annaratnam Gunnaratnam was a sculptor who was also the head of the art department of Raffles Girls' Secondary School in Singapore from 1948 to 1968.[20] She specialised in portrait sculptures, being commissioned to create sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda for the Ramakrishna Mission Bartley Road, Singapore.[20] Her sculpture, Mavis, demonstrates Gunnaratnam's technical ability in casting and depicting realist female sculptural forms with dignity, capturing details like the subject's facial expression and folds in her clothes.[20]

Low Kway Song, Lynx, 1921, Oil on canvas, 58.5 x 45 cm

The emergence of modern Singaporean art is often tied to the rise of art associations, art schools, and exhibitions in the 20th century.[3] In 1909, the Amateur Drawing Association was founded. the Amateur Drawing Association, led by its first president Tan Kok Tiong, had a club house in Amoy Street and a membership of about 50 in its first year. The association's activities included "drawing, literary pursuits and physical culture," but as there were few "drawing members" in spite of an exhibition of members' drawings held in February 1913. The Amateur Drawing Association suggests a social network of art enthusiasts who were associated with the Straits Chinese and British elite.[21]

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.[21]

Mohammed Salehuddin, Malay House, Malacca, c. 1960, Oil on canvas, 61 x 81.3 cm

On 1 May 1949 at the Kota Raja Club in Singapore's Kampung Glam,[23] artists Mahat bin Chadang (C. Mahat) and Mohammed Salehuddin founded the Persatuan Pelukis Melayu Malaya (PPMM, Society of Malay Artists Malaya).[23][24][25][26] The founding of the society is seen as an early instance of collective artistic organisation for Malay artists in Singapore.[25]

PPMM artists did not follow a specific style, with artists such as Mohammad Salehuddin experimenting with cubism in his watercolour painting Bahana Asmara (Echo of Love), which depicted a sensual female nude with distorted features, while also being a comic illustrator.[23] In contrast, his later painting from around 1960, Malay House, Malacca, accurately depicts a Malaccan-style longhouse in a realistic manner, down to the floral tiles of the staircase, demonstrating the PPMM artists' wide range of styles.[27]

Georgette Chen, Sweet Rambutans, 1965, Oil on canvas

While the visual art of Singapore is influenced by a multitude of cultures from neighbouring regions, the most dominantly historicised aesthetics from the modern period lies with the local and migrant Chinese artists whose art practices depicted local Southeast Asian subject matter while drawing upon Western watercolor and oil painting, as well as Chinese ink traditions.[4][28] The most well-known are the migrant Chinese artists who painted in the Nanyang style in the 1950s, which includes figures such as Georgette Chen.[29] The name of the movement draws from "Nanyang" (Chinese: 南洋; pinyin: nán yáng; lit. 'Southern Ocean'), a sinocentric Chinese term used to refer to Southeast Asia from the geographical perspective of China.[29][30][31]

Pictorialism by photographers in Singapore is defined as "an assertion of individual expression that manifested as a distinct pluralism of styles and subject matter", with an emphasis on "expression and beauty" in their photographs.[32] This is different from earlier pictorial photographers in Europe and North America, who were working towards getting photography recognised as fine art.[32] 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.[32]

The Equator Art Society was an artists' group founded in 1956 in Singapore, known for promoting social realist art.[33][34] 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.[33]

Kim Lim, Column, 1971–72, Stainless steel, 5 parts, each 21.7 x 27 x 51 cm

Artists such as Anthony Poon, Thomas Yeo, Goh Beng Kwan, and Kim Lim were influenced by their time overseas, with their work reminiscent of the visual language of Abstract Expressionism, Op Art, and Minimalism.[35] 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.[36]

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.[26] The exhibition publication documented works in the show from established artists such as C. Mahat, Sulaiman Haji Suhaimi, M. Salehuddin, M. Sawoot, Aman Ahmad, and younger artists like Abdul Ghani Hamid, S. Mohdir, S. Mahdar and Rohani Ismail.[26] Calls for an art society for Malay artists led to the formation of the Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (APAD, Association of Artists of Various Resources) in July 1962.[26] APAD was led by Abdul Ghani Hamid, Muhammad Ali Sabran, S. Mohdir, Ahmin Haji Noh, Hamidah M. F. Suhaimi and Mustafa Yassin.[26] Other members that came to contribute to APAD include Rohani Ismail, Maisara (Sara) Dariat, Rosma Mahyuddin Guha, and Hamidah Jalil.[37]

The association continues to organise solo and group exhibitions, also collaborating with other cultural groups, art societies, and institutions, locally and regionally.[26]

The Modern Art Society (MAS) organised the Modern Art exhibition, held at the National Library from 12 October to 27 October 1963.[39]

Cheo Chai-Hiang, 5' x 5' (Singapore River), 1972, remade for display in 2006, Mixed media, 150 x 150 cm

The 1970s saw artists shift away from modern art practices like sculpture and painting, towards contemporary art practices like video, installation, and conceptual art.[41] Often seen as an early example of conceptualism in Singapore is Cheo Chai-Hiang's 5' x 5' (Singapore River), where Cheo mailed a set of instructions from London to the Modern Art Society in Singapore.[41] Here, he asked the Society to construct a square measuring 5 feet by 5 feet in the gallery space for their annual exhibition, an artwork proposal they eventually chose not to exhibit.[41]

S. Chandrasekaran, Visvayoni, 1988, Mixed media on fabric

In March 1988, the three artists Salleh Japar, Goh Ee Choo, and S. Chandrasekaran refused to participate in their graduation show at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, instead holding an exhibition titled Trimurti at the Goethe-Institut in Singapore.[42] The title Trimurti refers to Hinduism's triple deity, representing creation, maintenance, and destruction.[43]

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.[43] The exhibition thus called out cultural biases at NAFA and asserted that non-Chinese identities were equally and unquestionably Singaporean.[43]

The three artists sought to embrace differences as a collective, reflecting Singapore's multiculturalism through each of their racial and religious identities, as a Malay-Muslim for Salleh, Chinese-Buddhist for Goh, and Indian-Hindu for Chandrasekaran.[43] For example, Chandrasekaran's work, Visvayoni, draws upon the term "yoni," the Sanskrit word for "womb," which is a symbol for the Mother Goddess Shakti from Hinduism.[41] The performance Chandrasekaran did for the work thus symbolised processes of birth, creation, and change.[41]

The three artists' approach to ethnic and religious identity has since been critiqued as a form of multicultural essentialism that reductively bound racial identities to religious affiliations, further aligning with the state's insistence that racial identities had to be kept distinct under the nation's version of "racial harmony".[43]

Singapore carries a notable history of performance art, with the state having enacted a de facto ban on the art form for a decade from 1994 to 2004, following a controversial performance artwork at the 5th Passage art space in Singapore.[44][45]

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.[41] 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.[46] 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).[47] 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.[48]

PHUNK, 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 on the country's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.[49] 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.[49][50] With over 300 art pieces across 80 stations, it is Singapore's largest public art programme.[49][51]

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.[2] The NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore opened in 2013 with Ute Meta Bauer as founding director, and the National Gallery Singapore opened in 2015. Singaporean art continues in its circulation, with artists such as Ho Tzu Nyen and Shubigi Rao making appearances on the 2019 edition of the ArtReview Power 100 list, which charts the most influential individuals working in contemporary art.[52][53]