Over recess week, the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and NUS Museum brought students together for a 4-day workshop with Malaysia-based artist collective Pangrok Sulap. Using woodcut block prints as a storytelling medium, participants explored how images can capture campus life, identity and community.
Storytelling through woodcut prints
Known for their socially engaged practice, Pangrok Sulap mentors guided participants to foundational woodcut printing techniques, and guided them through collective design – discussing how personal observations and shared experiences can be translated into bold and readable imageries.
Listening first: a day with migrant workers
Building on Pangrok Sulap’s long-standing work with marginalised communities, the workshop included a one-day engagement with migrant workers. Across languages and backgrounds, workers narrated personal stories from daily routines, personal interests, and recollections of home. These became visual elements in a collaboratively developed print design.
Public art as student life, made visible
The workshop formed part of the NUS Public Art Initiative, which seeks to deepen the role of public art in enriching student life on campus. Students were invited to co-create a woodcut mural design for the wall at Yusof Ishak House.
Designing with the community in mind
As Assistant Curator Ling Jia Le noted public artworks contribute to placemaking and must reflect the values of the community they belong to. Involving NU S students – one of the largest groups on campus – helps ensure the artwork speaks to lived experiences and shared identity.
Leaving a mark
For exchange students Divya Vaidya, MBA Business, and Julian Nicholls, Year 3 Architecture, the workshop was a way for them to learn more about the NUS community while leaving a tangible mark – an artwork shaped by many hands and perspectives.
From themes to symbols
Ideation began with four themes: arts, community, leadership, and sports. They were chosen to reflect different facets of student life. Students were split into groups corresponding to these four themes, with each group producing one or several designs related to the theme they were assigned. All the designs will be collaged together in the final composition. With mentor guidance, students looked for experiences that resonate widely, surfacing familiar sights and moments: NUS chickens, scenes inspired by Supernova, and the energy of campus arts and sports groups.
The challenge of representing “everyone"
Students reflected that it was challenging to keep the design broad enough to encapsulate the wider student experience while grounding it in recognisably NUS elements. The final designs became a testament to collaboration.
A collective mural, a shared belonging
The workshop enabled participants to translate shared NUS experiences into a collective mural design – strengthening connection and fostering a sense of belonging across the community. From carving to printing to consensus, the process itself became part of the story the mural will tell.
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