Behind the Scenes

Journey with Mother and Child by Ng Eng Teng

Johnny Chen (Registrar) documents the arduous process of shifting Ng Eng Teng's Mother and Child from its original location at Tampines Central Park to its new home by the steps of the Gallery’s City Hall building.

By Johnny Chen

Posted on 20 March 2020

5 mins read

Journey with <i>Mother and Child</i> by Ng Eng Teng — *Mother and Child* by Dr Ng Eng Teng installed outside National Gallery Singapore.

Nicknamed “The Grandfather of Singapore Sculpture”, Dr Ng Eng Teng was acclaimed for his innovative modern sculpture over a career spanning four decades. You may have seen his monumental sculptures when passing through places like Changi Airport, Orchard Road or the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Particularly known for work carrying warm humanist themes, Dr Ng’s sculpture brings life and vibrancy to these public spaces.

The Gallery received one of Dr Ng’s most beloved works, Mother and Child in late November 2019. One of two in this series, it was cast in 1996 and put on display in Tampines Central Park. The distinctive 3.5 metre-tall bronze sculpture features a mother in the intimate act of holding her child, conveying her caring and warm love. Now installed at the City Hall steps, the sculpture a long-term and prominent place in Singapore’s Civic District.

While artworks within the Gallery’s exhibition spaces are routinely rotated, shifting Mother and Child from its original location to its new home here was an immensely different task.

Ng Eng Teng’s *Mother and Child* in its original location at Tampines Central Park in late 2018.

After months of planning for the safe handling and movement of this sculpture, the day of its deinstallation finally arrived. The sculpture was divided into two sections. The body of the sculpture (top section) weighs approximately 750kg, while the rounded base (bottom section) weighs approximately 200kg. The size, scale and sheer weight of the sculpture made for a challenging but interesting deinstallation experience.

After wrapping the body of the sculpture with fabric and pallet stretch film, art handlers strap this section of the sculpture to a boom crane.

Pallet stretch film was also used for the base, acting as a protective layer against physical damage such as scratches. The top layer of the concrete plinth was carefully drilled and hacked to reveal the bolts, used to secure the rounded base to its support.

A boom truck with a mounted crane was used to lift both sections of the sculpture to the back of the truck for transportation to our offsite storage facility.

When the sculpture was temporarily housed in our storage facility, our Objects Conservator performed surface cleaning over a period of two days to reduce and remove surface deposits such as dust, soil and insect droppings.

The sculpture had to be installed late at night to avoid traffic and disruption to our visitors. A concrete plinth was fabricated specially for its installation at the Gallery. After this plinth was placed and bolted to the ground, the work’s rounded base was carefully lifted and moved into position.

Teams of contractors and art handlers worked together on stabilising and bolting the rounded base to the concrete plinth.

After the rounded base was secured, the top section of the sculpture was strapped and lifted onto the ground for final adjustments.

The body of the sculpture is joined to its rounded base by a customised joint. As such, the body of the sculpture has to fit in at a specific angle to join its rounded base. Art handlers had to manually adjust the body of the sculpture as it was titled upright by the crane.

The body was lifted carefully into the hoarded work area for placement onto the rounded base.

The body was carefully affixed onto the spherical base.

Sealant was applied around the joint fitting to seal off any gaps and prevent the accumulation of rainwater.

After final adjustments to the angle of the body, the protective wrapping was removed and the sculpture finally unveiled.

The Ng family and guests of the Gallery at the sculpture’s official opening in December 2019.

*Mother and Child* by Ng Eng Teng, now on display outside National Gallery Singapore.

Look out for more articles on handling, caring, storing, packing and hanging artworks by the Gallery's Artwork & Exhibition Management departments on Perspectives Magazine.