Bras Basah food court takes down mural used without permission, apologises to artist

Artist calls out Bras Basah’s Shifu Food Court for using plagiarised mural, venue apologises

On Tuesday (1 Oct), a local artist publicly criticised Shifu Food Court for using his mural without permission.

The food court, located in Bras Basah Complex, is set to reopen this month after renovations.

Lee Xin Li, who runs the art blog ‘Pok Pok & Away’, told MS News that a friend sent him photos of his artwork used without permission at the food court.

This led to him taking to Facebook to make the post.

Illustration was originally created for 2020 Grand Prix

Mr Lee had originally created a 360-degree illustration for the 2020 Singapore Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

His artwork featured F1 drivers exploring Singapore’s culture.

To his dismay, the same illustration had been used as a mural at Shifu Food Court “without financial renumeration, permission, or communications”.

He added that the mural even contained a hashtag he had created for his client.

Mr Lee also pointed out significant defects in the mural, which he attributed to the use of generative AI, describing the result as a “mangled mess”.

The illustrator expressed deep disappointment, noting that Bras Basah Complex holds sentimental value for him as an institution for artists.

“The possible fact that AI was used on the artwork and that it was for another client makes it worse,” he told MS News.

Bras Basah Complex says they have no part in mural situation

The Bras Basah Complex Facebook page responded in the comments section within an hour, apologising for the incident.

It explained that it was a volunteer group with no purview on the actions of private shop owners.

However, it said it had reached out to the Shifu Food Court owner about the situation.

While Mr Lee appreciated the prompt reply, he found it unsatisfactory, pointing out that the tenant “occupies a very public space”.

Shifu Food Court also addressed the issue in the comments, stating:

We were unaware about this as we completely left the indoor designing to the contractor.

They promised to investigate the matter and take immediate action if the claims were accurate.

There was also confusion about the involvement of students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

Shifu Food Court clarified that NAFA students were responsible only for the exterior murals, not the artwork in question.

Shifu Food Court takes down mural & issues apology

At around 10am on Wednesday (2 Oct), Shifu Food Court took down the mural in question, as reported by 8world News.

The operator also issued a Facebook post apologising to Mr Lee once again.

“We genuinely had no idea that the design provided by our contractor contained your work,” they wrote, stating that there was no intention to use his art without permission.

Shifu Food Court acknowledged the oversight and confirmed it was taking responsibility, actively investigating the issue.

Mr Lee thanked the public for bringing the matter to the relevant parties’ attention, saying that the resolution would not have been possible without their involvement.

He told MS News that he felt Bras Basah Complex and Shifu Food Court could have handled the situation better by offering an apology and seeking a solution immediately.

According to him, they only did so after the issue gained more attention. However, Mr Lee appreciated that the mural was swiftly taken down by the parties involved.

This was not an isolated incident for the artist, who revealed that his artwork is used without permission almost annually, with at least two occurrences this year alone.

Also read: URA & MOH agree to keep smoking samsui woman mural as it is, building owner fined S$2K

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Featured image adapted from Pok Pok & Away on Facebook and 8world News on Facebook.