Singapore International Foundation

SIF Xpats FOOT Trail – Art in Transit

The public artworks found in the North East Line (NEL) MRT stations were more than just artistic expressions. Each piece comes with their own unique identity, and corresponds to the cultural and historical heritage of the area and its community. To understand how the creative marrying of artworks by Singapore’s top artists in the NEL MRT stations was made possible, over 15 expatriates from France, America, Britain, Philippines and Canada joined the SIF Xpats Foot Trail – Art in Transit on 28 February 2009.

The participants started their journey from Dhoby Ghaut station, where there were introduced to the works of Sun Yu Li, Milenko and Delia Prvacki, which not only possess artistic merit, but also serving as directional signs for commuters in a subtle way. As they proceed on to Clarke Quay station, the participants saw the history of Singapore through a multi-faceted portrait of Singapore River today and in years past as presented by famous local artist Chua Ek Kay.

Following that, in Chinatown station, they spotted Tan Swie Hian’s floor calligraphy at the platform level, as well as a wall mural depicting the arrival of Singapore’s early Chinese immigrants. They were also introduced to the unique heritage of Outram as they viewed Wang Lu Sheng’s artwork featuring the pageantry of Chinese opera, as well as Teo Eng Seng‘s thought-provoking artwork of varied wall reliefs of people in motion along the link way between the new and old Outram MRT stations. Finally, Ian Woo’s line drawings of nature, water and symbols of the marine industry on blue enamel panels at Harbourfront station reiterated Singapore’s history as an importance trading port.

Ms Rachel Jordan, 41, a freelance artist from Britain commented that the session was “very informative and thoroughly enjoyable.”

The SIF Xpats Foot Trail – Art in Transit is part of the SIF Xpats Connect! programme, an initiative by SIF to help expatriates gain a deeper understanding of the local society and culture and to foster a closer involvement with the local community.