If you can’t bring the people to the arts, bring the arts to the people lah.
“Jom teh tarik,
I’ve got something to show you...”
Some of my best projects have started this way. What Jia Ping (then with Think City, and currently founder of Pollin8) showed me was a 200 feet wall inside a pedestrian tunnel, inside a train station. Punctuating the wall were doors, wall fans, notice boards and plug points. I could understand why it would not sell well as an advertising space. Plus there where health and safety regulations to abide by, and lighting was by stark, functional fluorescent tubes.
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But the question 'what would you do?' was like music to my ears. Think City had adopted this wall to be part of their Arts on the Move programme, and together with regular performances, brought the arts to commuters at Masjid Jamek LRT Station.
And so began a few years of great collaborations with artists, photographers and NGOs, many mistakes, heart attack moments and stress with massive multi gigabyte files, but more than that, just so much fun. Over the course of three years we showcased photography, poetry, drawings and crafts, all done with a community spirit. You can read about some of these projects here.
It was especially thrilling to attend the installations of each new mural. The installation team arrives with the printed panels at midnight, after the station is closed. Roll after massive roll of printed adhesive backed panels would be laid out on the floor – and by the morning these four supermen would have put up a whole new wall.
After weeks of peering at the design on a 15 inch screen, seeing the results appear on a 200 feet long wall is a truly breathtaking moment.
AWAS:
WONKY
WALLS
The advantage of working with experienced printers and installers such as Applied Imaging Sdn Bhd was that they could immediately spot inconsistencies that others might miss, and as a result, we could design around the issues. How do we avoid light switches landing on a really awkward area of the design, for example, or having crucial details cut off due to wonky walls? With meticulous measuring, and ample buffers.
Every wall mural began and ended with activities that benefitted various communities. Aside from showcasing the arts, there were free workshops, fundraising drives, awareness campaigns, creative writing activities, live drawing demonstrations, and even... a little bit of a singsong.
SNL Singers spreading their Rasa Sayang in the LRT!
Here is acapella group Nuance5 singing Tanggal 31 on the train platform
And here they are with Sejahtera Malaysia