25x25 Campus Art Tour
About the Art Tour
In celebration of SMU's 25th anniversary, this self-guided audio tour brings audience on a journey through campus to discover 25 donated artworks. The accompanying audio description recording tells the story of each artwork and the history and culture it is embedded in, thereby expanding the audience's encounter with art.
The map below details the locations of the artworks, and suggests a route for the self-guided audio tour.
Locations
[A] School of Computing and Information Systems 1
The campus is graced with a few public sculptures by renowned international artists, of which the sculpture Bright Idea (2016) by Michael Craig-Martin is one. The sculpture, a yellow outline of a light bulb, is from a series of later works in which Craig-Martin plays with the representation of quotidian objects. It stands at the intersection of Bras Basah Road and Bencoolen Street, on the corner of the School of Computing and Information Systems 1 building.
[B] Campus Green
Sitting on History I (2003) by Bill Woodrow and 97.5° Arc x 8 (2004) by Bernar Venet are the earliest donated public sculptures, and were first installed in their present location in 2017. The sculptures have since become a salient feature of Campus Green.
If you are on your mobile, we recommend opening this playlist on SoundCloud to easily view all the tracks.
[C] Li Ka Shing Library
The library is home to over 50 contemporary art from Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Vietnam, and cultural heritage objects from China. The audio tour however only highlights a small selection of the donated artworks on display, including five Burmese paintings from the Thukhuma Collection, a tetraptych of contemporary Chinese ink by Singapore artist Ho Chee Lick, and a portrait by Vietnamese artist Dang Xuan Hoa.
The artworks in this building are only accessible in-person to SMU students, faculty and staff with a valid access pass.
If you are on your mobile, we recommend opening this playlist on SoundCloud to easily view all the tracks.
[D] Lee Kong Chian School of Business
In 2006, Singapore artist Chua Ek Kay donated 30 paintings from his Street Scenes series to SMU, of which 29 of them are on display at level 5 of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business building. A Cultural Medallion recipient recognised for bridging Asian and Western art in his contemporary Chinese ink practice, Chua’s Street Scenes series is his interpretation of the Chinese landscape painting tradition to reflect his own lived experience and urban environment in Singapore.
The donated collection spans two decades of Chua’s artistic practice from 1986 to 2006, giving a view of his artistic development over the years. The eight artworks highlighted in the audio tour brings the listener through his artistic journey, touching on Chua’s biography, his stylistic shifts, and his relationship to Singapore’s rapidly changing urbanscapes.
The artworks in this building are only accessible in-person to SMU students, faculty and staff with a valid access pass.
If you are on your mobile, we recommend opening this playlist on SoundCloud to easily view all the tracks.
[F] School of Social Sciences & College of Integrative Studies
The newest building on SMU campus houses a monumental tapestry The Annunciation of the Virgin Deal (2012) by Grayson Perry on the first floor, and a collection of 45 paintings from Myanmar by 30 artists on the fourth and fifth floors. The paintings from Myanmar are from the Thukhuma Collection, and largely date from the transitional decade of the 2010s. The collection depicts life, culture and politics in Myanmar, and presents multiple artistic perspectives on Myanmar society. The collection is also on display at the School of Economics and Li Ka Shing Library.
The artworks in this building are only accessible in-person to SMU students, faculty and staff with a valid access pass.
If you are on your mobile, we recommend opening this playlist on SoundCloud to easily view all the tracks.
