Open Category winner, 30-year-old Kenneth Koh Qibao, an architectural designer with FARM, impressed the judges with his winning work, “A Hundred Lines”. Comprising a total of 100 lines, his work commemorates 50 years of creative urban architecture and 50 years of Singapore’s greening campaign. It depicts a gleaming cityscape of crystalline forms rendered by 50 vertical lines of metal. The metal is built atop a landscape of paths, waterways and landforms weaving around the city; formed by yet another 50 meandering lines of tropical wood, each engraved with text lines of 50 local plant species. The work is emblematic of the dramatic transformation of Singapore’s skyline and greenery; a vision best achieved together. Kenneth was incidentally the top prize winner in the Student Category during the last Award in 2009. His success at this year’s competition validates his creative journey as an artist since his graduation.
In the Student Category, three out of four of the winning entries were by ITE College Central (Ang Mo Kio) students in the first year of the space design (architecture) course. The winner of the CDL Youth Sculpture Award 2013 title is 16-year-old Kenneth Chua Wei Feng, whose work “Tunes and Muse – A Playing Sculpture” was lauded by the judges for its unique interactive element and structurally impressive design concept. Inspired by the xylophone, the piece encourages the audience to participate by creating a dialogue between two different art forms; sculpture and music. The musical sounds created will be amplified through an underground sound box.
“As a homegrown developer, beyond just shaping our cityscape with architectural icons, we are honoured to have helped contribute to our social landscape and enriching our cultural legacy. Through this sustained arts initiative, we have unearthed talented young artists who have since gone on to make their mark in the arts arena locally and globally. To date, we have commissioned and installed a total of five public sculptures, with another iconic piece at the heart of the city at Raffles Place Park, to be unveiled later this year. Together with our partners, we hope to nurture a thriving community of local sculptural artists that will form one of the pillars of the arts and cultural identity in Singapore,” said Mr Kwek Leng Joo, Managing Director of CDL.
25 of the most creative solutions, including the award-winning works will be on display at the 5th CDL Singapore Sculpture Award Exhibition from 2 to 6 October 2013. The Exhibition is presented by CDL in partnership with The Arts House.
Gracing the Official Opening of the Exhibition at The Arts House this evening, Mr Lawrence Wong, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information, presented the prizes and plaques to the eight winners of the competition.
A total of 305 submissions were received for the 5th CDL Singapore Sculpture Award, the second highest number of entries over the last four competitions. Of these, some 20 were first-time participants in the Open Category. The Student Category continued to receive strong support from 23 secondary schools and tertiary institutions, with Temasek Polytechnic submitting 50 entries.
