Nutmeg & Mace
First placed in Singapore: 2009
Corner of Orchard & Paterson Rd, in front of ION Orchard
A crucial corner in Singapore, though now removed from the mainstream pedestrian flow as you have to go underground through the mall to cross the road...
Patron: ION Orchard
ION Orchard's rather bizarre marketing blurb on this piece: In A Nutshell
It's for posers: 'Nutmeg & Mace', the giant nutmeg signature sculpture marking the corner of Paterson and Orchard roads is a must-see pit stop. Singapore artist Kumari Nahappan was commissioned to create this whimsical piece, which harks back to the days when Orchard Road was a nutmeg plantation.
Unveiled July 2009, as part of the integrated art program of ION Orchard. Other works include Heman Chong's videowall programming, Kurt Laurenz Metzler's Urban People and Troika's Digital Waterfall.
Text of the Label:
[[This is the large label at "back" of the work]]
Kumari Nahappan
Nutmeg & Mace, 2009
Bronze
Dimensions: 4.8m (L) x 3.3m (W) x 3.6m (H)
ION Orchard's signature sculpture connects the mall building site with its past as a nutmeg plantation - a reminder that present-day social spaces are enlivened with histories and collective memories. Award-winning Kumari Nahappan, a versatile painter and sculptor, is reputed for her public artworks that explore Nature's forms and Asian identity. Her two-tonne bronze sculpture is an interpretation of an opened nutmeg seed revealing its distinctive crimson mace - the unique lace-like coveringHistory of the Site and the Nutmeg
The Orchard Turn integrated development is sited on Singapore's main shopping belt, Orchard Road - named after the orchard and nutmeg plantation of the 1830s until commercial development cleared the site in the 20th century.
Today few are familiar with the evergreen nutmeg tree or the site [sic] of its seed - so distinctively protected by its red lace-like membrane (the mace). The nutmeg, native to the Indonesian Spice Islands, was once traded as a highly prized spice and essential oil and its supply source was a tightly guarded secret. A symbol of trade prosperity, the nutmeg is celebrated as the only tropical fruit bears two flavours - referring to how both spices of nutmeg and mace are extracted from a single seed. The unique intertwining of seed and mace carries special resonance for the joint venture between Singapore's CapitalLand and Hong Kong's Sun Hung Kai Properties.
[[Then there is a second smaller label towards the front of the piece]]
RESPECT THE ART
Photography is allowed, but please do not climb onto nor rough handle the sculptures.This site is monitored by CCTV cameras and the ION Orchard management reserves all rights to take action against any person responsible for damaging its sculptures, and will not be held liable for any injuries or losses sustained.
Last updated: Aug-7-2022
