Singapore, 7 April 2016 

Artists Celebrate Maritime Singapore with Art Exhibition
Works will be exhibited at The Visual Arts Centre from 8 to 22 April 2016

In conjunction with the Singapore Maritime Week 2016, artists were invited to create artworks around the theme, “Memoirs of City Port Scenes”, which pays homage to Singapore’s ports. 

With the objective to preserve our maritime heritage for future generations, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) collaborated with artists from the Singapore Watercolour Society and students from the Pathlight School to produce 54 art pieces for this exhibition. These artists have communicated their perspectives on our city port scenes through various mediums such as watercolour, acrylic, markers and colour pencils. The exhibition will also feature five lighthouse paintings by renowned local artist, Mr Ong Kim Seng.

In many ways, Singapore’s port has made great contributions to the country’s economic growth. To keep pace with the growth of our container port, the city port terminals will be moved to Tuas progressively when their leases expire in 2027. In order to preserve the collective memory of our city port scenes, MPA will be recording them through different mediums, beginning with these artworks. 

“We are delighted to be invited by MPA to participate in this exhibition with Singapore Watercolour Society. Every opportunity to showcase the works of artists with autism is a platform for more people to understand the talents and abilities of these special people. Through their works, we hope that you will see their refreshing observations of the activities in the ports and their astounding ability to capture a mind-staggering degree of detail in the amazing art pieces by our artists” said Ms Denise Phua, President, Autism Resource Centre and School Supervisor, Pathlight School Board.

“Singapore Watercolour Society is greatly honoured to be invited by MPA to paint scenes of our world-class port terminals. We are heartened that MPA is making efforts to preserve the fond memories of these city terminals which are a big part of the history and heritage of Singapore,” said Mr Seah Kang Chui, President, Singapore Watercolour Society. 

“We are excited that we can make a national contribution by putting a part of the Singapore story on record, and have specially handpicked 30 senior artists to take up the assignment.” 

“In close partnership with our Maritime Singapore partners, Singapore has developed into a premier global hub port and a leading international maritime centre. The Port of Singapore belongs to all Singaporeans and the works showcased embody the integral role our port has played in the lives of Singaporeans who live in a country where almost everything has to be imported via the sea. We hope that through this exhibition, future generations will remember our maritime heritage,” said Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The Art Exhibition – “Memoirs of City Port Scenes” will be held at The Visual Arts Centre, 10 Penang Road, #01-02 Dhoby Ghaut Green, Singapore 238469 from 8 to 22 April 2016 from 11am to 9pm daily. The exhibition will be open to the public on 8th April from 5pm to 9pm.