By presenting both permanent and site-specific contemporary visual arts in the public spaces around Esplanade, we consciously engineer opportunities for visitors to experience such works as they are walking to and through the center.
These artworks complement the main festivals within Esplanade while provoking and enriching every individual’s experience, as they view and explore artworks in their own time.
Happy Family of Five
Chua Boon Kee, 2012 | Medium: Forged copper | Forecourt Garden
Commissioned in conjunction with Esplanade’s 10th Anniversary celebrations in 2012, the Happy Family of Five stands in the center’s Forecourt Garden, a place for families and friends to gather and enjoy a relaxing environment and wonderful views of the city.
Kindly donated by Keppel Corporation
Makan Angin
Lim Soo Ngee, 2014 | Medium: Bronze | Waterfront
Makan Angin (literally, “eating wind” in Malay or “jiak hong” – “吃风” – in Hokkien) depicts a family of five enjoying a day out at the old Esplanade waterfront. This commissioned public sculpture by notable local sculptor, Lim Soo Ngee, adds a touch of nostalgia to a promenade still beloved by locals and visitors alike. It reminds us that the simplest act of “eating wind“ can be one of life’s greatest delights.
Commissioned and donated by Benson Puah
Seeds
Han Sai Por, 1995 | Medium: Granite | Waterfront
A plant’s life cycle begins with a seed. This contains an embryo that has the potential to grow. Once the seed is set in a place where it can merge with the elements of nature, germination takes place and the embryo, once dormant, comes to life.
Seeds are a recurring subject matter for sculptor Han Sai Por. Located here at Esplanade’s Waterfront, Han’s four granite sculptures symbolize the germination of the arts on fertile ground.
Cultural Medallion recipient Han is best known for her stone sculptures inspired by shapes and organic forms from nature. She often uses granite and marble in her sculptural pieces as they are natural yet tough materials that can withstand the test of time and forces of our environment, and are hence symbolic of the resilience of life.
Kindly donated by ST Engineering
Makers
Anngee Neo, 2019 | Tunnel (entrance)
Singapore artist Anngee Neo depicts the movements and moments seen at performances at the Esplanade in this mural. The bodies of the performers convey the energy and dynamism of the performances and activities visitors experience at the center.
Come Together
Speak Cryptic, 2015 | Recital Studio (entrance)
Music transcends languages and boundaries and has been known to soothe even the most savage of beasts. The mural Come Together is inspired by this, and depicts the gathering of various characters playing and creating music together as a community.
The Gathering
Christine Lim, 2017 | Stage Door
The Gathering is a whimsical celebration of Esplanade’s vibrant community who bring the arts to life. It is a community made up of people from all walks of life who come here to enjoy the arts, and the artists who make it all happen with the Esplanade family. This is our Esplanade.
Commissioned through a donation from Benson Puah, CEO, The Esplanade Co Ltd.
Baby Bubble
Baby Bubble, 2016 | Esplanade Level 4
Baby Bubble depicts the dreamscape of a child as he ventures through an imaginary space, Iwan Effendi, co-founder and artistic director of Papermoon Puppet Theatre, is an artist known for his colorful visual style which blends surreal images with stories taken from Indonesian folklore and history.
Benches
Bond
Sapp Chen | Roof Terrace
The design is intended to reignite the spirit of togetherness, which was found within the former National Stadium. To emphasize unity, every horizontal segment is dependent on another, even visually. The horizontal segments offset one another, creating a perimeter that fits onto another bench. This is the bond, where the concept of connection is achieved. In addition, the design prompts users to join the benches together, which creates the opportunity for communication, reinforcing, and cultivating the idea of bonding.
The construction uses wooden planks after planning. At the far edges on the sides, finger joints are used.
Thus, Bond, as its name suggests, creates the bridge to the past memories and the spirit of togetherness within the former National Stadium.
Full Circle
Terence Tang | Roof Terrace
The benches that surrounded the pitch at the old National Stadium will surely be remembered for the times when a nation sat together and sang in one voice to celebrate the nation’s heroes.
This bench was created simply by arranging planks in a perfect circle. This arrangement encourages families, friends, and strangers to sit together in a circle.
Alas, the image of a perfect circle would seem apt in representing the journey that the National Stadium has taken. Torn down after more than three decades to make way for a new sports hub, the old stadium lives on in spirit through the reuse of planks from its old benches in the making of this project. Through this, the old National Stadium has come full circle.
Plack Bench
Rico Firmansyah | Waterfront
“Plack” is derived from the words “plank” and “stack”, re¬ferring to the cutting and stacking of wooden planks to form seating furniture.
Here, the global geometry of the Plack Bench is inspired by architectural elements and forms from the old National Stadium itself.
Triangular roof geometry curved linear lines and other architectural elements were chosen as transfor¬mation guidelines and modified into an abstract form to suit the bench’s purpose. The concept of stacking came from the stadium’s amphitheater-like seating arrangement.
Uniquely Obsolete
Vinai Wasinpornchai CSYA Pte Ltd | Roof Terrace
From 1973 till 2007, the National Stadium hosted countless events and birthed experiences and memories that inspired the nation. Standing tall for 34 years, its architectural design had a unique charisma that commanded respect, a mark of an icon worthy of remembrance.
In this work, the former stadium’s beams and columns are translated into another language while their meaning is retained.
Unity
Air Division | Waterfront
The old National Stadium, affectionately dubbed “the Grand Old Dame”, holds a special place in the memories of our older generations because of the many important national events once held there, including National Day celebrations and Lions’ football games.
Unity—consisting of four identical sections of wooden seating locked together—mimics the action of four interlocking arms to represent the co-existence of four major races in Singapore. The wood pieces that make up each section embody our shared memories of the Old Dame, regardless of the color of our skin or the language that we speak.
