Title

Woodblock prints in Singapore, 1950-60.

Author

Australian Prints.

Source

[Not applicable]

Details

16/04/2002.

Publication date

16 April 2002

Type

News

Language

English

Country of context

Singapore

Full text

A small but important exhibition of woodcut prints produced in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s is currently on display at the National University of Singapore Museum. The exhibition is based on the work of former Assistant Curator Joyce Fan (now at SAM). Curated by Teo Marianne, the exhibition is accompanied by a modest but informative brochure. Printmaking at that time, was derived from Chinese revolutionary models, and depicts the social ills prevalent in Singapore after the Japanese occupation (1942–1946).

Marianne Teo notes in her essay:

Although the artists took the lead from China, their psyche was rooted in Singapore. The medium, the materials and the tools were imported from China but the subject matter was, to use a contemporary word, Malayan. Like their counterparts in China, the local Chinese artists took on the social responsibility of exposing the ills of society and at the same time celebrating the social good they saw.

The exhibition includes woodcuts by Tan Tee Chie, Lee Kee Boon, See Cheen Tee, Koeh Sia Yong, and Choo Keng Kwang. There are also contextual books and magazines from China and Singapore

Last Updated

27 Oct 2023