Heritage
History through the years
1958 - 1991
Nestled in Bukit Timah, 5 Kingsmead Road stands as a testament to the life and work of Chen Wen Hsi 陈文希 (1906–1991), one of Singapore's most important pioneer artists. Born in 1906 in Baigong village, Jieyang County, the Chaozhou prefecture of Guangdong in China, Chen moved to Singapore in 1949 and began his career as an art educator at the Chinese High School. In just a few years Chen cemented his place as a pivotal figure in the Nanyang art movement, which combined Chinese art traditions with Western modernist influences and Southeast Asian themes.
In 1958, Chen moved out from the teachers’ quarters in the Chinese High School to a house at 5 Kingsmead Road, a property that was less than a kilometre from the school.
In 1959, Chen had a stretch of double-sided wall specially erected near the front porch and spent the next few years painting an abstract mural on each side. These mural works, which showcase his experiments with Cubism and the Nanyang style, measure 178 x 420 cm and 178 x 194 cm, respectively.
The residence was more than just a home; it was Chen's creative sanctuary. He maintained a studio on the right side of the house, overlooking a garden where he kept a variety of animals—including gibbons, peacocks, roosters, dogs, and squirrels—which often featured in his artworks. For over two decades, Chen also held regular painting classes in the house, nurturing the love for art and painting amongst the younger generations and aspiring artists in Singapore.
5 Kingsmead Road was Chen’s home for thirty-four years until his passing on 17 December 1991. Fortunately, the wall with his two abstract murals has survived on site since Chen’s time to the present, bearing proudly his artistic legacy.
1998 - 2019
After Chen's death, the house remained vacant for nearly eight years until artist Tay Joo Mee and her husband Greg Seow acquired it in 1998. In addition to the murals, animal cages, books, furniture and paper used by Chen for painting were amongst the various objects left behind on the compound.
While the original architecture of Chen Wen Hsi’ house had largely been modified, the couple, working with Architect Timothy Seow, conserved the front portion of Chen’s residence and the artist’s murals, integrating these into the design of their new house. They also kept the original window grilles and metal gates, which were designed by Chen himself.
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
Left to deteriorate during the eight years or so when the house was unoccupied, the murals succumbed to mould, algae growth and paint loss. Shortly after moving in, Tay engaged German Restorer Renante Kant and her team to oversee the cleaning and restoration of the murals. The whole process took several months to complete.
Some years later, Tay also constructed a glass-walled room to house the smaller and more exposed mural Studio II indoors. This modification provided the murals even more protection against weather elements but still allowed them to remain largely visible to passers-by from outside the house.
Image courtesy of Tay Joo Mee
In 2019, Tay Joo Mee sold her property to the current owner, Audrey Koh and her family. That same year, the residence was opened to the public from 12 April to 3 May 2019, for the facilitation of the monumental exhibition, Homecoming: Chen Wen Hsi Exhibition @ Kingsmead, co-organised by Tay Joo Mee, Merlin Gallery and artcommune gallery. The exhibition allowed the public to explore Chen's former residence with the opportunity to view over 30 of his works, including the 2 preserved murals.
2019 - Present
Audrey Koh and her family acquired 5 Kingsmead Road in 2019. While studying the plans for her new residence, Koh sought to achieve a balance between creating an ideal home for her growing family needs and continuing to share Chen’s artistic legacy with the Singapore public. For the next few years, Koh worked closely with Ho Weng Hin, a partner of Studio Lapis, a Singapore-based architectural conservation specialist consultancy, and Alan Tay and Sarah Ng of Formwerkz Architects to preserve and integrate Chen’s murals into the environment of her new residence.
Through a careful and laborious process, the stretch of wall with Chen’s murals was extracted from the location it had stood since 1959 and moved to an art storage while the new house was being built. Over the next few years, the team also experienced significant delays and new challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When part of the house was finally constructed, the wall with Chen’s murals was transported back and repositioned on the first floor of Koh’s abode. Only after the murals were secured in place could the architects continue with the remaining vertical construction of the house.
Today, one of Chen’s two murals is entirely visible from behind a low iron glass to viewers from outside the house, Additionally, almost the entire first floor of Koh’s house has been transformed into a viewing gallery with works by other important Singapore artists on rotation. These include paintings by Georgette Chen, Chen Chong Swee, Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng, Fan Chang Tien, Lim Yew Kuan, Liu Kang, and Tan Choh Tee.
Also on showcase are commissioned sculptures by local contemporary sculptor Lim Soo Ngee and multidisciplinary artist Oh Chai Hoo. Lim’s sculpture was constructed from the discarded tree trunk of the rambutan tree originally planted by Chen Wen Hsi in his home garden. After Chen’s passing in 1991, the rambutan tree was kept thriving by the next owner of 5 Kingsmead Road and had remained on site until 2019. This notable sculpture by Lim draws on the theme of renewal and rebirth through a process of deconstruction and reconstruction, which aptly mirrors the physical transformation of the 5 Kingsmead Road property itself.
On the other hand, the series of 3 ceramic sculptures by Oh Chai Hoo were made using clay derived from the soil of Chen Wen Hsi’s former home garden. Oh’s ceramic sculptures borrow the form of scholar’s rocks as a response to Chen’s embodiment of Chinese literati essence and as a way to complement the spatial design of Koh’s new garden home.
With the official launch of 5 Kingsmead Road as an arts and culture heritage site in Singapore in 2025, Koh achieves her vision of sharing Chen’s precious artistic legacy with the Singapore public. Besides preserving the cultural significance of 5 Kingsmead Road as the site of Chen’s daily life and inspirations, Koh hopes to encourage more public interest in and support for Singapore art talents.
