There’s a story I was told by someone in Singapore that really resonated with me on the topic of the arts, culture and freedom of expression, and it goes something like this –

“The government decided to build a new MRT (train) station, but, after it had been completed they decided not to open it. Instead, they left it un-used for a long time. Instead of actually letting the public use it, and have demand follow, they decided to wait for a time when they thought that there would be enough people using it to make it viable to run.

After some time of it being practically mothballed, some students decided that they would do a bit of a protest about it all. They made a whole bunch of shirts with a white elephant on it and gathered at the station – of course, this was quickly stopped. The t-shirt was then banned.”

I don’t know why, that of all the things that I saw, heard and learnt about Singapore during my stay, still resonates with me so much. In my eyes, it actually doesn’t show any kind of failing of what Singapore is culturally, but rather, it shows how much promise the city state has when it comes to underground art; as we all know, there just aint nothing better than a blank canvas!

Some people have actually realised this, and not too long ago a bunch of commissioned work went up down near the waterfront in several of the pedestrian tunnels – someone had told me about it, so I headed down to check it all out.

Its a pretty heavy foot traffic area, when I headed down there it seemed like it was something akin to the waterfront in Melbourne – lots of restaurants hawking to tourists, which is good – more exposure to the art. The RSCLs crew (ZERO, ANTZ, CLOGTWO, SKLO and SHEEP) had a whole tunnel all to themselves – I’m a big fan of these guys, they’ve done some amazing work around the region. They also had a few other guests join them in the project, from what it looks like.

Funnily enough, Time Out Singapore just did an article about it all a week or so ago, and you can read a bit more about it all here – but its a really good overview of the whole thing. They said that they were” ” specially commissioned without having to go through the Open Call process, as the SRO believed that they were the top local street artists and wanted to send the message that this was the type of art they wanted for the project.” but exactly how much free reign they had over what they could do, I don’t know – probably not too much, given what I’ve heard about the somewhat authoritarian nature of imposed curatorial control over public art in the city.

From the Time Out article – ” After completing their research and going through a brainstorming session, ‘we just drew nonstop,’ according to Anthony Chong (aka ANTZ). Their piece features various characters from the past that have played important roles in shaping Singapore. ‘A parallel is drawn to the present, where the many business suits of our current labour force form a new metaphorical building of Singapore. [They] still drive the city with the equivalent hard work,’ says Chong. He adds that ‘this is an opportunity [for us to] try out new techniques and learn from each other, but we seldom expect or stick to the plan. Art is organic and therefore our piece will evolve according to the previous elements or the negative space left.’”

It is really a fkn gorgeous piece, too, and one that goes a long way to showing exactly what the talented community in Singapore can do to these public spaces if they are given the opportunity to do something with their own vigour.

The RSCLS tunnel at Elgin Bridge however isnt the only one, there are several others – I only had a chance to check out one or two more … one that I did like, however, was a duo team – I’m pretty sure by the name of Starry Eyed Dreamers.

Though the larger images were pretty cool, it was the small, tiny pasteups that were found dispersed across the wall that really piqued m interest. They *almost* seemed out of place, but were arranged in different areas of the overall work in some form of thoughtful manner, sitting and resting on edges and disused spaces. This shit was really fun quirkily cool.

At the moment, one of the big issues in Singapore is a report that by 2030 there will be 7 million people in the country – too many, Singaporeans say, and couple that with the estimate that the population could be “half foreign” by that time .. well. Public amenities such as healthcare are being stretched, public transport is heavily crowded, things are getting even more expensive – they know they already pay a hefty, insanely expensive cost of living, but they do so willingly, for the quality of life that the meritocratic government provides – and damn, but its a good quality of life. For many, however, that quality of life seems to be slipping, and they wonder exactly what it is that they are paying out of the ass for, especially given the most recent population projections, and the issues that such a large increase will bring.

At the same time, however, the government is starting to pump money into “the arts” – but it all feels a little contrived, from my outside point of view. Everything is curated, there are laws, regulations and permits required for any kind of public work of art (remember, this is a country where, technically, it is also illegal to gather in groups of more than 8 without a permit, apparently).

After checking out the Riverwalk area, I headed down to a small skatepark next to Summerset MRT station. I don’t know the legality of painting here, but it seems as if people paint here anyways. There were a bunch of pieces up – it was also one of the only places in the city that I actually saw stickers, thank fuck!

I especially loved this “wrapup” of a piece on gladwrap – it was good to see the artists in SG being innovative and making their own spaces!

From the skatepark, I walked over to the National Youth council building, which I had heard was a “legal” place to paint … but, again, with a catch. It seems as if even spaces that area actually able to be “legally” painted suffer from the authoritarian curatorial control, with a sign up telling artists that if they wish to paint, that they can feel free to send in a submission to see if they can be allowed to paint there. Somehow, I don’t think that a top rated street artist such as Lush would ever get permission to do something …

That said, it was another space in the inner city that I actually saw the potential of the Singapore street art scene. Artists of all skill levels seems to have painted there, and it really looked as if the Youth Council was trying to be a bit open minded as to what went up – from characters to pieces. Still, obviously as a Youth Arts space the calibre was wildly varied, but it was great to see. I have also been told that this space is becoming harder to paint at, instead of easier – I don’t know, I didn’t really have time in Singapore (given that Id been laid out sick for several days) to find out, damnit.

Next time, I’ll see how easy or hard it is to get a spot to paint there, and what kind of curatorial controls they actually have in place.

Both of these areas are great spots in Singapore to check out street art – they are very, very central, and though there isn’t too much there, it does look as if it is a fairly active area.

I also happened to come across a small cafe down in the bowls of Far East Plaza that I really thought was cool – with work by ANTZ, DEM and Clogtwo amongst others. I couldn’t get the greatest shots, but its worth the visit if you are in the city to take a look at it!

Most of the galleries that I went to in my stay were full of the same kind of imagery that gives me the jeebies in Australia. Boring, overplayed iconic landscapes, portraits or stuff that gives the word “contemporary” a foul taste in my mouth. Of course, then there is the Asiatic influence – and a heavy dose of mainland styled work. Not having been exposed to a lot of this form of art, including the pop-surrealism works that have some prevalence, it was all rather intriguing – but again, it still felt quite sedate. There is one, however, that I loved – Kult Gallery – which I’ll cover in another editorial post as I managed to get a great interview with the man behind it all.

Perhaps, instead of just putting money towards the arts in a curatorial fashion, the nation of Singapore needs to try a new tact – and maybe just loosen up a little. Let the artists have a bit more control over what they want to do, rather than what the state will or will not let them do. Give them more spaces to express themselves – there are plenty of walls across the city that could use a lick of colour; and there are insanely talented artists there who would be more than willing to fill them.
Money helps, without a doubt, but you can’t buy culture – and in my short stay there, as you can see, has proven to me beyond a doubt that there is a vibrant merging underground art scene that could quite possibly be the saviour of the arts in Singapore, and create the true artistic culture that the government desires.

I have to admit, for all my somewhat critical viewpoint (it’s not my city, after all, and I really have only scratched the surface and don’t really know all that much about it) – I truly fkn love Singapore. If you love art, then its there for you to see, its not a wasteland by any measure, you just have to dig a little deeper for the beating heart of it all. Its my firm opinion that Singapore could well become a truly regional hub for creative culture in SE Asia.

Its not just me that thinks this – I recently read an article by Sheele Savenada over at Yahoo Entertainment (I know, I know) who wrote an article on the after effects of Sticker Ladys arrest (who, thankfully, was only recently found guilty of mischief, not vandalism), and the state of Singaporean underground art – she summed it up quite eloquently by saying

“The dichotomy that exists [in Singaporean art} seems to be tied to bringing a sense of balance to art forms that are viewed as being on the fringes of the art world, and do not have the support or acceptance that more traditional forms garner. But for the arts scene to flourish truly, then perhaps the dampers need to come off so that obstacles aren’t quite so insurmountable for those who express themselves through street art.”

I agree with this wholeheartedly – this has been a two part article, and I know that when I return to Singapore that I’ll be writing even more about it.  Being a street artist in Singapore seems like it is a hard thing, but  I  definitely think that all of the artists hard work will be rewarded in the future. Everything is there for it to really blow up in Singapore, truly, it just needs to be given a little breathing room.

Check out a shitload of the photos I got of the Riverwalk, as well as the Skateparks and Graffiti Cafe below!! As you can see, there’s a fair bit there.

Riverwalk.

[nggallery id=236 display_type=photocrati-nextgen_pro_masonry]

Walls, skateparks and cafes.

[nggallery id=237 display_type=photocrati-nextgen_pro_masonry]