VIRTUAL TOUR
ART IN TRANSIT
Learn about the art in our MRT stations
Get a close-up look at the myriad art gracing our MRT stations from the comfort of your home via this brand new microsite developed in honour of Singapore HeritageFest’s 20th edition.
This set of virtual tours introduces the arresting visuals, sculptures and reliefs displayed in some of the nation’s MRT stations as part of its ongoing Art In Transit (AIT) programme. Under the AIT programme, artists are commissioned to create original artworks for MRT stations, introducing everyday commuters to new vistas of artistic expression. As of 2022, the AIT programme spans 103 stations, 107 artists and features more than 440 artworks.
Discover the stories behind four North East Line stations and the ambitious, site-specific works designed for them that serve as gateways to the history and culture of the various neighbourhoods they represent! As the inaugural line in the AIT programme, the North East Line artworks were fully-integrated into the station's spaces, and allow commuters to appreciate their rich colours, shapes and textures afresh each time they travel.
Click on the thumbnails below to explore rich multimedia content and a new series of artist interviews filmed 20 years after the works were first installed in the stations.
Take a Virtual Tour
Select a station below to learn more
Art Outreach remains committed to celebrating the unique confluence of art, architecture and engineering in Singapore’s largest public art programme, while also sharing historical, cultural and heritage insights referenced by the site-specific artworks that often act as invaluable repositories of our nation’s stories.
Mae Anderson
Chairman, Art Outreach Singapore
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Art In Transit Tours
A 19-year Love Affair (and we are still at it!)
The Art In Transit tours were born from a long-time partnership between the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Art Outreach, where original prototypes of artworks for the Northeast MRT line were kindly donated to Art Outreach by LTA. These were the construction prototypes and maquettes that were auctioned at Art Outreach's first fundraiser in 2004; a year after the Northeast MRT line and the Art In Transit Programme were launched, and also a year after Art Outreach was established.
The first tour was put together at the collective request of the successful bidders of the auction artworks. They were keen to see how the prototypes they bought were translated and presented in the stations as integrated artworks on the walls and floors. Andrew Mead, who was then Senior Architect for LTA, led a visit to selected stations along the North East line. He shared anecdotes on how the works were produced and installed, while Art Outreach presented information on the artists and their practices. The response from tour participants was overwhelmingly positive, and that led to a series of many more tours before the momentum and increasing demand for the tours resulted in a formal launch of the Art In Transit Walking Tours in 2008.
Over the years, Art Outreach’s Chairman, Mae Anderson, has dedicated herself to researching, developing and guiding the tours, extending the route from an initial few stations to all 16 stations across the North East line and expanding the tours to include all 31 stations along the Circle Line to date. Mae has served on LTA’s Art Review Panel from 2012 to 2022, and continues to lead tours for artists that are appointed to the Art In Transit programme. Art Outreach also presents the Art In Transit programme as part of our curriculum for our long running School Assembly Programme, where we bring key works from the stations to primary school pupils in engaging and dynamic sessions through a series of interactive games, videos, and discussions that uncover fun facts about the artworks, artists and station neighbourhoods.
Art Outreach remains committed to celebrating the unique confluence of art, architecture and engineering in Singapore’s largest public art programme, while also sharing historical, cultural and heritage insights referenced by the site-specific artworks that often act as invaluable repositories of our nation’s stories.
103 stations, 107 artists, more than 440 artworks and counting… here’s to the Art In Transit programme growing from strength to strength!
Meet the Artists
SINGAPORE
HERITAGEFEST 2023
As part of the 20th Singapore HeritageFest in May 2023, which celebrates our rich sporting and public transportation history, Art Outreach will be presenting a series of guided tours to introduce the public to the Art in Transit (AIT) programme, Singapore’s largest public art showcase.
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