Visual Arts
About Project
The project originated as a tie-up with the National Museum Art Gallery (NMAG) in the late 1980s, and continued with its successor, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in 1996-1999. Most interviews in this period were conducted by NMAG and SAM staff who underwent oral history training. Interviews with visual artists produced by the Oral History Department (the Oral History Centre's predecessor) in the early 1980s under a miscellaneous project covering prominent Singaporean were integrated into the project. The scope of this project encompasses two categories: fine arts and applied arts. Oral History Centre continues to build on the project with new recordings.
The interviewees here are mainly full-time or part-time artists or educators across various art mediums such as Western/Chinese painting, ceramics, calligraphy, batik, and mixed media. Some of Singapore’s pioneer artists like Georgette Chen, Lim Tze Peng and Lim Hock Ann are also interviewed under this project.
Topics discussed include the interviewees’ course of study, the conditions of the artistic environment and industry in Singapore, and the overall social perception of art as a profession.
