Murals in Singapore

Singapore Murals is an integral part of the nation's aspiration of being a renaissance city but is under developed. A Public Mural is a source of heritage building, expression of the arts, national education, interactivity of interests groups.

There are many publications found globally that showcase street art (both graffiti and commission works). However, there are not sufficient resources in Singapore. For example, in Page One bookstores dozens of books about Vandalism on Trains can be found.

In Singapore, public murals exist primarily in three aspects:

This mainly take the form of corporate malls but more prominently by the Land Transport Authority in its building of Mass Rapid Trains. The theory of "the less the artist is paid, the more autonomy he has" is very relevant to understand of murals.

The Singapore residential area is mainly high rise HDB Flats. The first floor of HDB Flats is commonly used by Educational Centres, venue of Residential Committees/Community Clubs. These centres do carry some murals.

Street Art does exist in between sewage drains, the back of alleys and landed properties and even power boxes.

The oldest mural in Singapore can be traced to Changi Murals, which still are in existence. There were previous recorded murals in Orchard Road and some parks. However, they do not exist currently.

In 1985, Organised by Wisma Development Pte Ltd and Forum Development Pte Ltd attracted Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and St Patricks's Arts Centre to create 7 murals along Orchard Road. The hoardings at Atria was divided into 14 panels per team, each panel were 4.5m to 2.2m. The painting themes were evolution of shopping in Singapore and evolution of lifestyle.

The next prominent mural in Singapore arrives at the facade of Chijmes in 1987. Le Mur Lion; The Lion Wall, portrays and tells through imagery the rousing myth about a lion and its struggling journey towards finding a better world. Stretched across the walls on Brash Basah Road estimated to be about 125 meters, it was apparently assumed to be the longest wall mural in Singapore.

In 2004, the Urban Redevelopment Authority introduced the Bras Basah Murals. Named after the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, Waterloo street is now known for its rich housing towards the arts.

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Wikipedia