Focusing on art in Singapore’s public spaces, this volume offers spatially-informed perspectives of how art shapes, and is shaped by, the formation of public spaces in Singapore and its public. Highlighting voices from architecture, urban and historical studies, and art history, Art in Public Space reconsiders the centrality of art practices situated in public space for engendering local and global modes of urban space, culture, identity, economy and labour. 

The opening essay by architectural theorist Lilian Chee on the relationship between public space, art, and its public audience is complemented by an extended interview with art historian T.K Sabapathy about the future of public art in Singapore. In the second section, writers Selene Yap and Nicholas Lua examine specific artworks, leading the reader to diverse urban spaces. 

These range from the construction of art spectacles in grand public spaces to the exploration of communality at the fringes of mass housing and home interiors. As art in public space diversifies in its reach, durations, and affinities with multiple audiences, this volume asks what art in the public domain might mean for Singapore today, and its role in contributing to a sense of place and identity given the rapid transformation of its proverbial urban site.  

This publication is jointly published by URA and Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore; and designed by Hanson Ho of H55, an award-winning Singapore-based design studio. 

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