Haw Par Villa Sketchwalk (30 Aug 2014)

Haw Par Villa is the most bizarre place of interest in Singapore. It's an attraction you won't find mentioned on travel magazine.

It's actually a theme park.

The park was originally called Tiger Balms Gardens and was built in the 1937 by Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par. In 1988, Singapore Tourism Board took over the park and modernised it into a Haw Par Villa Dragon World. Entrance fees were imposed and the attraction did not do well and was forced to provide free entry 10 years later. Now, the park is open 9-7am daily.

Today at the sketchwalk, I found out that many people had never been to the park before. It's not surprising because this place is never advertised anywhere. I thought the place had been torn down many years ago but only found out a few months ago that it still exists. It's great that it still exists because the statues and diorama inside are really quite cool, in an offbeat way. There are over 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas depicting scenes of Chinese mythology and folklore.

There are a few beautiful gates such as these in the park.

There are information boards explaining the stories behind all the dioramas. This one is of spider spirits seducing Xuanzang, the monk from Journey to the West.

I believe some of the statues are restored and repainted over because the colours are quite vibrant. It could also be that this two are under shelter which shields them from the weather. There are also statues that are not restored and those are really worn and have algae all over them.

The 10 Courts of Hell exhibit is features a lot of cruel torture, but imaginative scenes.

There are lots of mosquitoes there so you really have to keep walking and not stand still for too long.

Even though this is outdoors, the paintwork looks quite new.

I'm not sure what adjective I should use to describe the design of the statues in the park.

The rabbits on the left are really dirty.

The Chinese folklore has had Planet of the Apes for quite a while.

I imagine with the correct lighting at night, this park can be quite a terrifying place.

Alice Lim's drawing tools today.

Someone joked that these two are the pandas Kia Kia and Jia Jia that are currently at the Singapore Zoo.

The morning turn out wasn't huge but during show and tell it became really crowded.

That's the gallery curator Chun Kai Feng who has kindly offered space in his gallery for our show and tell session. He runs Latent Spaces (facebook) at Haw Par Villa. The park does not see much visitors so I sense that the gallery is really niche. Anyway, they had NAC grant and the support of Singapore Tourism Board so it's great they are able to do something to the defunct buildings at the park.

Huge turn out as always. The park is just beside the MRT station, so it's a convenient place to visit. Admission is free.