Five free art installations to explore in Punggol

With today marking the anniversary of the circuit breaker, a series of artworks has been unveiled across the island.

Rewritten: The World Ahead of Us is a brand new commission by the Public Art Trust of the National Arts Council and it showcases 14 text based public artworks by Singapore artists that imagines a post-COVID-19 future.

The artworks are spread out across eight parks in Singapore, and here are five of these interactive and contemplative art installations we found while exploring Punggol on a bicycle!

Starting our journey at the Punggol Waterway Park, just a stone’s throw away from Waterway Point shopping mall, is a wall paint textual mural by Hanson Ho.

The mural is a site-specific installation which refreshes our memory on the “distant closeness” we may have experienced from our friends and family during the implementation of the circuit breaker measures. 

This ideogrammatic artwork by Cheryl Chiw plays on the the traditional Chinese character  “間” (jiān) which signifies space or realm. The character is also a composite of  the sub-characters “⾨” (door) and “日” (sun or day). 

The stainless steel sculpture also comes with a natural built-in music amplifier where one can select tunes to listen and immerse themselves in these soundscapes.

The piece symbolises a passageway to a brand new world of possibilities, and explores how  the COVID-19 pandemic had created a momentary pause in our fast-paced lives.

This art installation by Laniakea Culture Collective comprises a poem about migration, restlessness and refuge, accompanied by a flag bearing a painting of a barn swallow.

The swallow acts as a metaphor to compliment the poem while the flag swaying in the wind represents how people in Singapore can move but can’t “fly” in sight of the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

Temporary Escapism by Sam Lo has 11 artworks scattered across Punggol Waterway Park. By imagining the public space as our playground, the works instill little doses of human touch as a way of soothing ourselves into the reality post-circuit breaker. 

With 10 of the artworks being signages around the park and one mural being embedded on a wall at Oasis Terrace, the artworks remind us of our shared human experience through effortless interactions with others and the surroundings.

The only art piece located at Lorong Halus Bridge, Yellow by James Tan and Petrina Dawn Tan is set against two different directions of the bridge. Inspired by Robert Yeo’s poem “Those in Urban Yellow” (2012), the immersive artwork includes two sets of uni-PVC drapes, akin to “viewing curtains”.

These yellow curtains bathe the Punggol-Serangoon Reservoir skyline in a warm glow which intensifies and cools off at different timings of the day. The specific cut out of the PVC is an interpretation of the horizon of the greenery behind and an addition to the existing skyline.

The colour yellow is a positive colour which indicates warmth and it is meant as a message of resilience and to encourage people to look beyond today and anticipate a positive and warm post-pandemic future. 

So head down to Punggol or any of these other locations and catch these free public installations till June 6!