outsourcing public art to China

Straits Times ran an article today on the mural at Sun Yat Sen Villa. I've not put the mural into the database, but will do so v. soon. The article is full of juicy facts. This work, like the Chinese Legendary Heros in Marina South, was outsourced to unnamed "artists in China", who worked from photographs and old books.

NEARLY five years and $1 million in the making, the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall is ready to show its mammoth bronze work depicting 100 years of Singapore's history, from the 1840s to the 1940s....

Work on the mural, which reflects the history, culture and lives of Singapore's multiracial society over 100 years, was started by a group of artists five years ago in Guangdong, China....

For the project, Mr Foong and his assistant, Mr Mun Chor Seng, had to travel to art studios in Guangdong, where they made sure that the images sculpted on the panels were accurate. 'We took them many pictures and books on old Singapore for their reference,' said Mr Mun, 67, a former photographer and television cameraman from MediaCorp.

posted: Mar 4, 2005