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Actions Displays	Details Remove from selection Add to selection CollectionSouth & Southeast Asian Collection Object numberS1999-0020-008-0 TitleBukit Ho Swee Fire CreatorKoeh Sia Yong (1938) Description“Bukit Ho Swee Fire is a woodcut, a medium that detracts from what Sia Yong is usually known for, namely oils. Human emotions, such as grief and sorrow are clearly the central focus of Sia Yang's woodcut. His approach in depicting event showed his concern for the devastation, both human and physical terms. Woodcut was an effective medium of choice as he sought to disseminate his social message to inform the population of the tragedy that affected the lives of many of the local in habitants.” (Crossroads: The Making of New Identities, Page 40) Bukit Ho Swee Fire by Koeh Sia Yong shows a family directly affected by the fire. Their home destroyed, and their father possibly killed in the fire, the children gather listlessly around their weeping mother. Koeh Sia Yong is a central figure in the social realist woodcut movement in Singapore, especially in his role as one of the founding members of the Equator Art Society. The art society was founded in 1956 and its members included Koeh's NAFA contemporaries Lim Yew Kuan, Chua Mia Tee, Lee Boon Yang and Lai Kui Fang. The artists of the Equator Art Society were influenced by the social realist woodcut movement in China and attributed social responsibilities to art and artist in post-war Singapore. A grieving family of five in the aftermath of the Bukit Ho Swee fire. The youngest child is trying to get the attention of his distraught mother while his three siblings look on with resignation at what remains of their home. Production placeSingapore Production date 1961 Object categoryWoodblock Print MaterialInk on paper TechniquePrintmaking Dimensions H: 20.5 cm L: 15.3 cm

CollectionSouth & Southeast Asian Collection

Object numberS1999-0020-008-0

TitleBukit Ho Swee Fire

CreatorKoeh Sia Yong (1938)

Description“Bukit Ho Swee Fire is a woodcut, a medium that detracts from what Sia Yong is usually known for, namely oils. Human emotions, such as grief and sorrow are clearly the central focus of Sia Yang's woodcut. His approach in depicting event showed his concern for the devastation, both human and physical terms. Woodcut was an effective medium of choice as he sought to disseminate his social message to inform the population of the tragedy that affected the lives of many of the local in habitants.” (Crossroads: The Making of New Identities, Page 40) Bukit Ho Swee Fire by Koeh Sia Yong shows a family directly affected by the fire. Their home destroyed, and their father possibly killed in the fire, the children gather listlessly around their weeping mother. Koeh Sia Yong is a central figure in the social realist woodcut movement in Singapore, especially in his role as one of the founding members of the Equator Art Society. The art society was founded in 1956 and its members included Koeh's NAFA contemporaries Lim Yew Kuan, Chua Mia Tee, Lee Boon Yang and Lai Kui Fang. The artists of the Equator Art Society were influenced by the social realist woodcut movement in China and attributed social responsibilities to art and artist in post-war Singapore. A grieving family of five in the aftermath of the Bukit Ho Swee fire. The youngest child is trying to get the attention of his distraught mother while his three siblings look on with resignation at what remains of their home.

Production placeSingapore

Production date 1961

Object categoryWoodblock Print

MaterialInk on paper

TechniquePrintmaking

Dimensions

H: 20.5 cm
L: 15.3 cm

Details