Rediscovering Void Deck 2010 - Holland Village, Singapore

One of the murials, a collaborative work between two artists.

Working in partnership with La Salle graduates, Very Special Arts Singapore (VSA), Home-Fix, the Buona Vista CC Youth Centre and the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, Artyii organized a first in Singapore initiative to bring fine art to neighbourhood void decks. Officiated on the 24 July 2010 by Minister Lim Swee Say, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Artyii is proud to present Rediscovering Void Decks 2010

Void decks are a Singaporean phenomenon. It is used to describe the common spaces at the lobbies of public housing in Singapore. With over 80% of Singapore’s population residing in the Housing Development Board’s (HDB) apartment flats, void decks are a pervasive part of a Singaporean’s life. On an average day, expect to see weddings and funerals, chess and soccer, bird watching and shoe cobbling, being held at various times of day.

Therefore, to commemorate the Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC’s racial harmony day celebrations, Artyii has put up a series of wall murals to probe local residents into thinking what racial harmony and social integration really means to them.

Through this, we hope to push the frontiers of fine art into the masses, break the uniformity of void decks and pave the way for more creative uses of common spaces.

Public housing is key to maintaining harmonious ties among the different races in multi-racial Singapore. HDB’s public policy requires that every HDB flat has a proportionate mix of races saying in them to enhance social integration.