S’pore artist finds artwork distorted & used without permission for mural in Bras Basah food court

Local illustrator Lee Xin Li was overseas when a friend shared photos of the newly reopened Shifu Foodcourt at Bras Basah Complex with him.

To his surprise, there was something familiar in these photos — Lee's very own artwork.

Speaking to Mothership, Li said he was not informed before it was used as a "mural" in the food court.

The art piece was part of a "digital 360-degree immersive experience" commissioned by the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2020.

Wasn't asked for permission

In a Facebook post on Oct. 1, Lee said that he had fond childhood memories of Bras Basah Complex, also commonly known as "book city," and that the place's renovation was supposed to be a "joyous moment" for him.

That was until his "illustration magically appear[ed] somewhere" without his permission.

Lee said that to "further add insult", he found a "mangled mess" on the mural, which he suspected was caused by the use of generative artificial intelligence.

Here's what his original artwork looks like:

Original artwork by Lee

As the 2020 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lee was approached to draw an illustration depicting the 20 F1 drivers immersed in local Singapore scenes instead.

The piece, which features the drivers exploring Singapore's hawker culture and iconic landmarks along the Singapore River, was designed as a digital 360-degree immersive experience.

One can view the original artwork here.

Artwork displayed at Shifu Foodcourt

Here's what it looks like in the food court:

And a close-up of the mangled portion:

Misused artwork wrongly attributed to NAFA students initially

In a Sep. 21 Instagram post, Shifu Foodcourt initially attributed the murals to NAFA. However, it was later clarified that only those on the exterior were original artwork painted by students from the institution.

Food court say they unaware of artwork's misuse

Both Shifu Foodcourt and Bras Basah Complex responded to Lee's Facebook post, stating they were unaware of the misuse.

Shifu Foodcourt added that the interior had been "completely left" to the contractor to design.

In response to Mothership's queries, Shifu Foodcourt's public relations team said the artwork had been completely removed as of 10am on Oct. 2, 2024, after they were alerted about it the night before.

"When we started on this renovation project, we had entrusted the interior designing entirely to our contractor and unfortunately, we were ignorant of the fact that the work they presented to us had been sourced from the artist’s original creations.

It was never our intention to use creative work without proper credit or permission, and we take responsibility for this oversight.

Shifu is dedicated to spotlighting the Singapore art scene, and using artists' intellectual property without consent goes against our ethos, whether or not it was intentional."

They said they have also reached out to Lee with an apology and to clarify the situation.

On the misattribution to NAFA students, Shifu Foodcourt said that it is "proud" to showcase murals created by talented students and has contacted NAFA to apologise for the "oversight" in misinterpreting and linking NAFA to the "3D decal" in question.

Artwork 'sourced from Google'

On whether the mural was created using generative AI, Shifu said that after their investigations, they found out the image was "sourced from Google" and "had not been altered with AI".

Instead, the contractor had "expanded" the artwork to fit the wall.

Not the first time this happened: Artist

In an update on his Facebook, Lee acknowledged that his artwork had been taken down and that Shifu Foodcourt had given an apology in the comments section.

He told Mothership that someone had offered to keep him in touch with Shifu Foodcourt, but "details are in flux".

Unfortunately, Lee is no stranger to such situations, for this is not the first time his artwork has been used without his knowledge.

Citing an incident just earlier this year, Lee told Mothership his Kueh illustrations were stolen and made available via Canva as a "stock image".

A local brand unknowingly used the illustrations for their packaging, but the situation was "resolved amicably" after discussions.

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Top image from Pok Pok & Away/Facebook & brasbasahcomplex/Instagram via Pok Pok & Away/Facebook