LTA removes artwork plaques following online flak
The Land Transport Authority has removed the accompanying plaques for the mural “Welcome to Jingapore” at stations along the Downtown Line following comments from netizens that the word “Jingapore” was a misspelling.
Responding to queries from Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore, LTA spokesperson said, “The title ‘Welcome to Jingapore’ is a wordplay on the artist’s name. By combining his name ‘Jing’ and ‘Singapore’, the work was an attempt by the artist to portray Singapore through his eyes.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had received feedback that the word ‘Jingapore’ appeared to be a misspelling. LTA is in discussions with the artist. Although the accompanying explanatory plaques have been temporarily removed, the art pieces continue to be displayed at the stations.”
Welcome to Jingapore, the Art in Transit work by local artist Jing Quek, comprises two murals installed at Tampines West and Tampines East stations. The art work features images of people, places and objects found near Tampines West and Tampines East stations, respectively.
The plaques, which explained the artwork and credited the artist, were originally located at the platform and the orange wall near the gantry at Tampines West Station and both were no longer there on Thursday (November 9).
Earlier this week, netizens shared the image of the plaque questioning the spelling of the name. Quek responded on Facebook on Wednesday evening (8 November) saying that the naming was intentional.
He has also been using the name, a combination of his own name and “Singapore”, as far back as 2011. His post has received over 190 responses and 51 shares at the time of publication.
The award-winning artist, who has a series of works which have been exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum, wrote on Facebook that “in the great tradition of Chinese and English linguistics, it’s called a Pun.” He also told netizens not to get “too outraged”. Quek declined to comment on the removal of the plaques.
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