SINGAPORE - Some of the best art installations in the heartland, including banners which adorned the facades of housing blocks, were exhibited in the heart of Orchard Road over the weekend.
The Singapore WoW (Works of Wonder) exhibition, organised by the People's Association (PA) Community Arts and Culture Clubs, was held in celebration of the country's 50th birthday. It is also the finale event this year for PA's PAssionArts programme, which aims to bring the arts closer to the community.
The 24 pieces of artwork on show at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza are among 165 visual art installations created during the PAssionArts festival in July and August this year.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu was guest of honour at the event on Sunday. She said: "These art facade pieces are so impressive. Not only are they large, which means that you need many pairs of hands to put them together, but they are also very unique. Each community has its own way of telling the story about the place they live in."
Mr Ang Hak Seng, PA's chief executive director, said he was encouraged by the rise in the number of participants for this year's PAssionArts festival. This year, 50,000 residents took part, compared with 15,000 last year.
On Sunday, Ms Fu gave 45 awards to clubs with excellent artwork or PAssionArts programmes.
One of the award-winning art installations was Durian Art, an 8.5m by 8.5m SG50 logo made up of husks from about 600 durians. About 300 people from Tanjong Pagar GRC and Radin Mas SMC had painted the husks red and white.
Student Lili Tan was one of those who helped to paint the durians. The 13-year-old said of the art installation: "The durian is a signature food item of Singapore, so we thought of having an artwork made up of durian husks to celebrate SG50."
