Singapore’s free outdoor art trails offer sculptures, murals and more

SINGAPORE – Art in outdoor places can liven up the space, add to a sense of place and engage local communities. It can also offer curious onlookers experiences they might otherwise never have.

To reach out to more people, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) launched two new outdoor art trails in April as part of an initiative to support artistic practice in public spaces.

SAM’s deputy director (collections and public art) Ong Puay Khim, 44, says that through its outreach and engagement efforts, it found that some visitors to these outdoor artworks had never visited any bricks-and-mortar art museums.

“The public artworks broadened their understanding of art and piqued their interest in visiting SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark to learn more,” she adds.

One of the art trails is in the Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood, where SAM has been since January 2022. It features site-specific works by six artists in locations like Duxton Plain Park and Everton Park.

The second art trail takes people to less-visited areas of the island to see works by three artists. Two artworks are located off the Rail Corridor near Commonwealth Drive and Wessex Estate, and the third is at Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal.  

But you need not put on your trekking shoes to see art in Singapore. 

Earlier in August, the Civic District Alliance (CDA), an alliance of museums and arts institutions in the city (comprising Asian Civilisations Museum, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, National Gallery Singapore, The Arts House and Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall) launched its first public art initiative.

Called Benchmarks,

six site-specific art benches by artists are located around the Civic District,

including Esplanade Park Playground, Queen Elizabeth Walk and along the Singapore River.

A spokesman for the CDA explains that each bench reflects the artist’s response to its location and takes into account the district’s surroundings.

They can be seen as “unconventional urban interventions to rethink and reimagine the diverse cultural and historical significance of each site and cultural institution,” he adds.

At Pasir Ris Park, National Parks Board (NParks) partnered the Sculpture Society (Singapore) to stage an outdoor exhibition of wood sculptures carved from recycled felled wood supplied by NParks.

For 2023’s edition, there are 29 wood sculptures by artists including Cultural Medallion recipient Chong Fah Cheong, Tang Da Wu and Yeo Chee Keong.

This exhibition, which is exposed to the elements, could not be replicated in a museum.

Sculpture Society (Singapore) president Cassandra Lim says of the 2023 Wood Sculpture Symposium: “One of the objectives of the wood symposiums is to provide local artists a chance to create life-size sculptures together, and allow them to explore and discover a unique creative experience beyond the restrictive space and environment in Singapore.” 

At the foot of Block 104, Bukit Batok Central Road, is an artwork created by a group of around 80 residents with the help of local artist and designer Whee Ng, 34.

Called Weave And Patch Tapestry, it was made from recycled household materials and is part of the PAssionArts Festival 2023, which involves 89 of its Community Arts and Culture Clubs across the island.

PAssionArts is a community arts initiative by People’s Association (PA) that has been showcasing community artworks in public spaces since its establishment in 2012. More than 60 Art Villages – the sites where the works are shown – are featured in the 2023 edition.

“Displaying community artworks in public and communal spaces not only brings vibrancy and colours into the neighbourhood, but also fosters a sense of belonging among residents who have co-created the artworks on display,” says PA director, arts and culture division, Tan Swee Leng, 44.

At a viaduct underpass near Jalan Anak Bukit are murals commissioned by NParks to mark the access point to the Rail Corridor (North), which also connects to Rifle Range Nature Park. 

There are now 20 murals of local birds and flora painted on viaduct columns by Singaporean father-son artist duo Eng Siak Loy, 82 – a President’s Design Award recipient – and Weng Ziyan, 44. Both of them have also created notable stamp sets for Singapore.

NParks director of parks Kalthom Abd Latiff, in her 50s, says: “Like other art pieces in our green spaces, such as sculptures, these murals aim to connect visitors to nature through art and enhance the overall visitor experience.”

Murals have become a popular way for artists to engage the public with their work. In January, a public arts project organised by Lasalle College of the Arts and Singapore Tourism Board saw four new murals created by artists for buildings in Little India and Katong-Joo Chiat. 

Lasalle senior fellow Milenko Prvacki, 72, says street art has become a kind of educational tool and learning canvas, and an open museum free for all. “It is art that is connected to the urban landscape, and promotes the heritage and culture of the space,” he says.

“At the same time, public art is for the audience who is afraid of or not used to stepping into a gallery or museum.”

For more art not found in a gallery or museum, check out these outdoor artworks that dot the landscape of Singapore.

Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds by Hilmi Johandi

Set on a 900 sq m piece of land that is part of Wessex Estate in Woking Road, artist Hilmi Johandi’s outdoor installation, titled Stagecraft: Landscape Grounds, references how advertising materials from as early as the 1920s depicted Singapore and Malaya to tourists.

“But not in a romantic way,” the 36-year-old points out.

The installation is made from fragments and collages of posters and postcards that have been manipulated digitally and by hand, then enlarged and digitally printed onto aluminium sheets, and mounted on scaffolding as high as 5m.

There are nine structures that make up this installation. The work initially appears to be a field of deconstructed billboards. But, when moving around and looking through the porous structures, spatial and contextual relationships reveal themselves.

The work is “almost architectural”, says the Young Artist Award (2018) recipient. 

It also taps the collective memory of its site, which is sandwiched between the Rail Corridor and Wessex Estate, with its walk-up apartments built in the 1940s. “Reviving the past also exposes the vulnerability of the present. The space we live in is constantly changing,” says Hilmi.

Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds

Where: Wessex Estate, next to the Rail Corridor access at 55A Commonwealth Drive
MRT: Commonwealth
When: Until March 9, 2025
Admission: Free
Info: This work is part of Singapore Deviation: Wander With Art Through The Rail Corridor, presented by The Everyday Museum, a free public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum. For details, go to

theeverydaymuseum.sg

---

Moonlight by Sookoon Ang

City dwellers who rarely visit parks and nature reserves may find the abundance of vegetation and cacophonous bird calls disconcerting – like stepping into the rabbit hole in British author Lewis Carroll’s children’s book, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.

So, be prepared to be astonished by artist Sookoon Ang’s sculpture Moonlight, located in a field just off the Rail Corridor.

Viewers first glimpse the bronze-cast form – which resembles a large piece of charred bark – from afar and can reach it only via a forested stone path.

“The intention in my work has consistently been to unveil a parallel reality, bridging the mundane and the magical,” says 46-year-old Ang, whose work has been exhibited internationally at Palais de Tokyo, Beijing Biennale and Art Basel Hong Kong.

“Encountering it along the forested path is like traversing the boundary between physical phenomena and metaphysical projections, as if entering a magical scenario in (Japanese animator and film-maker) Hayao Miyazaki’s anime or Lewis Carroll’s illogical domain.”

The artist says Moonlight “embodies the fossilised remains of terrestrial vegetation, recalling earth’s turbulent volcanic past” and hints at the “foreboding climate change present”.

Moonlight

Where: Open field behind 2 Wilton Close in Wessex Estate. Access via the Rail Corridor
MRT: Commonwealth
When: Until March 9, 2025
Admission: Free
Info: This work is part of Singapore Deviation: Wander With Art Through The Rail Corridor, presented by The Everyday Museum, a free public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum. For details, go to

theeverydaymuseum.sg

---

Once A Tree by Chong Fah Cheong

Cultural Medallion recipient Chong Fah Cheong is well known for his bronze sculptures of children playing, like the one of boys jumping into the Singapore River near Cavenagh Bridge (The First Generation, 2000).

For the 2023 Wood Sculpture Symposium, the 77-year-old created a more abstract work.

Working with tools like chisels and an electric-powered saw, he carved a sinewy sculpture, 1.5m at its widest, from a felled tree supplied by NParks.

“I enjoy the physicality of the work. There is romance in being a sculptor, but the bottom line is, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” he says.

Look closely at the sculpture, and abstract forms of small creatures will start to reveal themselves. As the title of the work suggests, the sculpture is also a memorial to the felled tree.

Chong says: “We forget the wood once it is cut down, but it was once part of the ecosystem.”

He believes that public art needs to be interactive, so touching, petting or stroking the work is allowed. You can also sit on it if the trek to it proves tiring.

Once A Tree

Where: Piai Plaza (near Carpark B), Pasir Ris Park
MRT: Pasir Ris
When: Until October
Admission: Free
Info: Once A Tree is part of an outdoor exhibition of wood sculptures by 29 artists, presented by Sculpture Society (Singapore) as part of its Wood Sculpture Symposium 2023. For details, go to

sculpturesociety.org.sg/wss

---

Dekat Di Mata, Jauh Di Hati by Zero (Zul Othman)

As the artist known as Zero walked down Joo Chiat Road, where he was to paint a mural on the side of a building, he considered the neighbourhood’s culture and heritage. He noticed that many traditional businesses and shops had been replaced with newer food and beverage and retail establishments. 

“The reality is that the cultural identity of the space connected to its heritage resides only in the physicality of the buildings,” says the 43-year-old, whose real name is Zul Othman. “Culture and heritage should be significantly represented by its communities and people, and not artefacts.”

The general shape of his mural is that of a heart.

“The sombre expression of the face depicts the sombre feeling of loss and longing. The elements on top of the face are remnants of the past that I see that still exist when I did my walkabout around Joo Chiat,” says the artist, who founded the urban art collective RSCLS in 2006.

But he says the mural is not a sentimental work. “Everything we hold dear fades in time as cultures and space evolve. It is neither good nor bad. It is what it is and we have to embrace that inevitability. Look at the past and embrace the present to move forward into the future.”

Dekat Di Mata, Jauh Di Hati

Where: 290A Joo Chiat Road
MRT: Eunos
Admission: Free
Info: Dekat Di Mata, Jauh Di Hati is part of Artwalk 2023, a multidisciplinary public arts festival in Little India and Katong-Joo Chiat that took place in January and was organised by Lasalle College of the Arts and the Singapore Tourism Board. For details, go to

artwalkfest.sg

---

Anatomical Reverberation; Recollections Of You From A Distance by Soph O (Soph O)

For this mural in Joo Chiat Road, artist Soph O wanted to reflect her art practice, which is about capturing transient moments and everyday stories.

The artwork is called Anatomical Reverberation; Recollections Of You From A Distance, and was made with the intention of capturing the essence of the building it is painted on in an abstract manner.

“When we describe a place, it’s usually formed by memories we have of it individually. What I was trying to capture was that feeling and memory that is constantly evolving,” says the 39-year-old, who graduated from the Elam School of Fine Arts in New Zealand and has exhibited her works in Singapore, Britain and Belgium.

As such, she says, the mural is a layered portrait of characters, environments and experiences that morph into a single entity. 

Unlike artworks displayed in a museum or gallery, outdoor art exists in a shared space and is encountered by everyone using that space.

“Painting murals in a public space is a privilege and carries a heavy weight, as it will be part of people’s lives – people who live in the neighbourhood, daily commuters and passers-by – and shape their lives in a peripheral way,” says the artist.

Anatomical Reverberation; Recollections Of You From A Distance

Where: 471 Joo Chiat Road
MRT: Eunos
Admission: Free
Info: Anatomical Reverberation; Recollections Of You From A Distance is part of Artwalk 2023, a multidisciplinary public arts festival in Little India and Katong-Joo Chiat that took place in January and was organised by Lasalle College of the Arts and the Singapore Tourism Board. For details, go to

artwalkfest.sg

---

Weave And Patch Tapestry by Whee Ng and Bukit Batok residents

Over the course of four workshops conducted since June by PAssionArts’ Community Arts and Culture Club in Bukit Batok, around 80 residents of the area wove a tapestry of recycled household fabric scraps, together with artist and designer Whee Ng.

“I taught them how to weave the scraps together using a plastic mesh backing, but I didn’t tell them what design to make.” says the 34-year-old self-taught artist, who has a bachelor of science in industrial design from University of Technology Malaysia.

Each resident created a small artwork. When these were completed, Ng pieced them together to form the community artwork called Weave And Patch Tapestry. Some residents were inspired by the 58th year of Singapore’s independence, while others created hearts and flowers.

Ng says the residents took the process very seriously and estimates that a combined effort of more than 600 hours went into making the tapestry. “The work symbolises the unity of the residents here,” he adds.

Weave And Patch Tapestry

Where: Block 104 Bukit Batok Central Road
MRT: Bukit Batok
When: Until Nov 1
Admission: Free
Info: Weave And Patch Tapestry is part of the PAssionArts Festival 2023, a community arts initiative by the People’s Association. Go to @PAssionArtsSG on Facebook or Instagram 

---

Vertical Horizon by Eng Siak Loy and Weng Ziyan

President’s Design Award (2007) recipient Eng Siak Loy, 82, is familiar with Singapore’s parks.

Having served at National Parks Board (NParks) as head of its graphic and art department for nearly 20 years before retiring in 2009, his outdoor sculptures like the Swan Sculptures (2006) and the King Fisher Sculptures (2012) are landmarks in parks such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay.

Together with his son, 44-year-old visual artist Weng Ziyan, he stepped into more challenging territory to create art – namely, the viaduct columns at Jalan Anak Bukit near Rifle Range Road.

Weng’s works, like his father’s, include sculptural art pieces and relief murals for public institutions like the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay and Fort Canning Park.

The two have been working together for about seven years. Eng and Weng are also the creative consultant and creative lead respectively of art and design consultancy Newday Design.

Vertical Horizon was commissioned by NParks and conceived by Eng and Weng. Its creation required climbing up scaffolding to paint the 20 murals, which range from 3.5m to 9m in height. The actual painting was left to Weng.

The murals depict bird species found in the area, including the long-tailed parakeet, changeable hawk-eagle, Asian fairy bluebird and white-breasted waterhen. These perch on stylised liana vines, which Eng says are a unifying visual element.

Weng adds that the columns are “expressed as trees and are part of the surrounding tree canopy now”.

Father and son share an aesthetic sensibility, but disagreements do occur.

While working on Parallel Confluence – a still-to-be-completed 28m by 5.5m mural on a wall in Rifle Range Road leading to Rifle Range Nature Park – father and son wanted different treatments for the wall, which was stained with mould and marks left by run-off rainwater.

The elder artist wanted to integrate the natural stains with the artwork, while the younger one wanted a clean surface to work with. In the end, Weng capitulated, realising his father was right.

“By incorporating the stains, they will become part of the narrative of the work,” he says.

Vertical Horizon

Where: Access point to the Rail Corridor (North) at Jalan Anak Bukit
MRT: Beauty World
Admission: Free
Info: Go to

railcorridor.nparks.gov.sg/visit-rail-corridor/

A Micropolyphonic Stage by Joyce Beetuan Koh

Some artworks engage the viewer physically. An example is A Micropolyphonic Stage, an artistic interpretation of functional benches by sound artist Joyce Beetuan Koh, 55.

“My vision is that the benches offer shade and call for a moment of provocation and reflection. The artwork wraps around a tree and the sitter, with an invitation to watch, listen, share, touch, experience and feel wholly,” says the artist, who is an interdisciplinary musician and composer. She is also the associate dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Her artwork benches are in the form of an apostrophe and a comma, with the inner curves alluding to the F-holes of a cello or double bass. Koh says that as she worked on the artwork, she had in mind a quote by German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Architecture is frozen music.”

A Micropolyphonic Stage is part of Benchmarks, a public art trail commissioned by the Civic District Alliance which features benches by five other artists. While the benches were conceived as artworks, they also serve as rest stops for the public to consider their surroundings and the people around them.

Project curator Justin Loke, 43, says: “The connections one makes with art through dialogue are extremely valuable because conversations are essential in surfacing different perspectives. The premise of art is subjective and open to interpretation, and dialogue allows us to not only form new connections, but also build new perspectives.”

For Koh, her bench is also a vantage point from which to “observe the sensations of life as something entirely separate from it all, as if it were an excellent play, an outstanding music performance or a touching dance”.

A Micropolyphonic Stage

Where: Near Raffles Landing, along the Singapore River
MRT: Raffles Place
When: Until July 31, 2026
Admission: Free
Info: A Micropolyphonic Stage is part of Benchmarks, a public art trail commissioned by the Civic District Alliance. For details, go to

artshouselimited.sg/civic-district