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Kwan Shan Mei
关山美
Born
Wong Fang Yan

1922
Harbin, China
Died8 May 2012
Vancouver, Canada
Known forChildren's book illustrations

Wong Fang Yan (Chinese: 王芳彥; pinyin:Wáng Fāngyàn; 1922 – 8 May 2012), better known by her pseudonym Kwan Shan Mei (Chinese: 关山美; pinyin:Guān Shānměi), was a Chinese-born artist based in Singapore.

She is most well known for her illustrations in children's books and textbooks, including Moongate Collection and Mooty the Mouse series, as well as the Ministry of Education's Primary Pilot Project (PPP) series.

Early life and career

[edit]

Kwan was born Wong Fang Yan in Harbin, China. Influenced by her politician father who was an avid art collector, she was an understudy for the artist and prominent cartoonist Chow Han Mei in Shanghai for a year.[1]

From 1949, she worked as an illustrator in Hong Kong for Chinese publications, including the Sing Tao Daily, where she was a cartoonist.[2] The Hong Kong film 血染相思谷 (Bloodstained Valleys) was based on her novel.[3]

Career in Singapore

[edit]

She arrived in Singapore in 1963, starting her career as Chief Figure Artist for the now dissolved Far East Publishing Company.[4]

In 1970, she moved on to illustrate for the Nanyang Siang Pau (Singapore), creating the complementary drawings of Chinese beauties for their daily Chinese classical poems.[5]

She then joined the Educational Publications Bureau, where she illustrated the covers of the PPP readers for Primary One.[6] She simultaneously worked full-time for several other book publishers as an illustrator.

Her most popular illustrated series was created with author Chia Hearn Chek, Moongate Collection – Tales from the Orient (Moongate), which picked up international recognition and was translated into several languages including Urdu, Japanese and Chinese.[7]

Outside of book illustration, she also designed costumes for the Ministry of Culture's National Dance Company in their Monkey God production.[8]

In 1980, she created the drawings made into teakwood carvings that formed the centerpieces of the Dynasty Hotel (now the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel). Her previous experience in illustrating Chinese tales led to her being chosen to draw the panels of various Chinese legends.[9]

From 1984, Kwan joined the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, teaching illustration until her retirement in 1999. She remained a freelance book illustrator in Singapore before she moved to Vancouver, Canada.[10]

Her success as a Singaporean children's book illustrator has been noted to be rare, with the Mooty the Mouse and Moongate series being the only series to "make a splash" among readers, according to then National Library children's services co-ordinator Perumbulavil Vasini.[11] Her popularity may be attributed to the "versatility" of mediums she used in her work, which ranged from pastel colours to traditional Batik and Chinese Ink.[12]

Death and legacy

[edit]

Kwan died on 8 May 2012, having taken a fall a few months prior.[13][14]

She has since been honoured in various exhibitions of her works.

In 2018, the first Singapore Comic Festival paid tribute to Kwan, displaying her original manuscripts and illustrations for The Adventures of Mooty. The Asian Festival of Children's Content organised by Singapore Book Council held a retrospective exhibition of Kwan's books and drawings, as well as a public sharing on her life.[10] A continuation of the exhibition later in the year was held at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Center (SCCC).[15]

Since 2020, several of the children's readers and textbooks she illustrated, including Bala on the moon, have been kept and displayed at the permanent SCCC exhibition ‘Singapo人: Discovering Chinese Singaporean Culture’.

Awards

[edit]

For her illustrations in the Moongate series, Kwan received an honourable mention in the 1973 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava. Locally, she won the two gold and one silver medal in the Best Designed Book category in the Singapore Festival of books over 1974 and 1975.[16]

In 1976, she was the sole inaugural recipient of the National Book Development Council's (now the Singapore Book Council) Book Award in the Children's Books category.[17] Two illustrations from Moongate were selected by the British National Book League to be displayed to an international audience at the Commonwealth Book Fair.[18][19]

She went on to win the top prizes in 1979 and 1980 in the National Book Development Council's Book Design competition in the Children's Books category, for The Fairy Snail and Pepy and the Peacock respectively.[12]

In 1980, she was awarded with the Grand Prize at the 2nd Noma Concours.[5]

She was posthumously inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2021 for her contributions to Singapore's arts and culture industry as a "pioneering illustrator".[17]

Illustrated works

[edit]
  • Primary Pilot Project series (1971–1973), by the Ministry of Education[20]
  • Moongate Collection – Tales from the Orient series (1972–1983), retold by Chia Hearn Chek
  • The Adventures of Mooty (1980), by Jessie Wee
  • Folk Rhymes of China (1981), translated by Zhou Bianming and edited by Judy Kong[21]
  • The Cockerel's Crest (1982), retold by Chen Chen[22]
  • The Stone Junk (1982), by Wen Ying Hua[23]
  • Vylee (1983), by Tim Brierley[24]
  • The Goddess of Mercy (1986), by Quah May Ling[25]
  • Animal Antics series (1986–1989), by Telma Robin[26]
  • Crash! Boom! Bang! (1989), by Linda Hughes[27]
  • Mountain of Flames (1990), by Alan Chong[28]
  • Ada and the Greedy King & other Chinese minorities' folktales (1991), by Li Xue Wei[29]
  • Identical Monkey Kings (1991), by Alan Chong[30]
  • A Treasury of Asian Folktales (1991), by Linda Gan[31]
  • Animal Frolics series (1994), by Allison Amore Lee
  • Tang-Song Lyrics (1996), translated by Xu Yuan Zhong[32]
  • Ancient Chinese Humour (1996), by Kwan Shan Mei[33]
  • Times Asian Folktales (1998), by Christina Hvitfeldt[34]
  • The Adventures of Mooty (2009 reprint), by Jessie Wee[35]
  • The Adventures of Mooty (2019 commemorative edition), by Jessie Wee[36]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Tan, Ban Huat (13 July 1979). "Flair and practice make Madam Kwan a top illustrator". The Straits Times. p. 1.
  2. ^ Li, Yi Jun (7 May 2021). "词画关山美". Sin Chew Daily (in Chinese).
  3. ^ "血染相思谷". Reel to Reel Institute (in Chinese).
  4. ^ "More staff for F.E.P. as the firm expands". The Straits Times. 29 May 1965. p. 5.
  5. ^ a b Goh, Beng Choo (23 June 1992). "Grace in every line". The Straits Times. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Primary Pilot Project". Singapore Graphic Archives.
  7. ^ "Colourful tales bring success". New Nation. 20 August 1975. p. 9.
  8. ^ Chan, Margaret (30 June 1978). "Towards a S'pore identity..." New Nation. p. 19.
  9. ^ Tang, Geraldine (3 June 1980). "In grand style". The Straits Times. p. 3.
  10. ^ a b "Kwan Shan Mei: Drawing From The Heart 关山美：以心动笔". Asian Festival of Children's Content 2018. Singapore Book Council. 2018.
  11. ^ Perumbulavil, Vasini (19 October 2000). "PERUMBULAVIL, Vilasini (Mrs)" (Interview). Singapore: National Archives of Singapore.
  12. ^ a b "Many ways to tell a story, says woman who knows". New Nation. 20 August 1980.
  13. ^ "KWAN SHAN MEI". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Singapore Council of Women's Organisations.
  14. ^ "Kwan Shan Mei (关山美)". Singapore Graphic Archives.
  15. ^ 释放无限可能 UNLOCKING POSSIBILITIES (PDF). Singapore: Singapore Chinese Cultural Center. 2019. p. 33.
  16. ^ Tan, Florence (28 February 1976). "AUTHORS MUST REACH OUT". New Nation. p. 9.
  17. ^ a b Menon, Malavika (8 March 2021). "Seven women inducted into Singapore Women's Hall of Fame". The Straits Times.
  18. ^ "Pictures flow from her brush like magic". New Nation. 3 September 1976.
  19. ^ "MOONGATE FOLK TALES FOR BOOK FAIR". The Straits Times. 9 March 1976. p. 5.
  20. ^ "Kwan Shan Mei". Marshall Cavendish.
  21. ^ Chow, Sook Yin (9 September 1981). "Pictures charm where words fail". The Straits Times. p. 1.
  22. ^ Chen, Chen (1982). The cockerel's crest. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: Educational Publications Bureau. ISBN 9971-0-2284-2. OCLC 226028548.
  23. ^ Wen, Ying Hua (1982). The stone junk. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: Sin Chew Jit Poh. ISBN 9971-933-14-4. OCLC 226029141.
  24. ^ Brierley, Tim (1983). Vylee. Singapore: Federal Publications. ISBN 9971-4-0389-7. OCLC 17384668.
  25. ^ The Goddess of mercy. Shan Mei Kwan, May Ling Quah, Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore. Singapore: Educational Publications Bureau. 1986. ISBN 9971-0-5430-2. OCLC 226073107.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^ "Of immigrant tales and animal frolics". The Straits Times. 6 September 1986. p. 28.
  27. ^ Hughes, Linda (1989). Crash! Boom! Bang!. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: Federal Publications. ISBN 981-01-0030-2. OCLC 226084300.
  28. ^ Chong, Alan (1990). Mountain of flames. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: Federal Publications (S) Pte Ltd. ISBN 981-01-0171-6. OCLC 53147102.
  29. ^ Ada and the greedy king & other Chinese minorities folktales = [Zhongguo bei fang shao shu min zu min jian gu shi]. Xuewei Li. Singapore: Federal Publications. 1991. ISBN 981-01-2047-8. OCLC 27272991.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  30. ^ Chong, Alan (1991). Identical Monkey Kings : Chinese Legends Colouring and Sticker Activity Book. Singapore: Earlybird Books. ISBN 9810101724.
  31. ^ Gan, Linda (1991). A treasury of Asian folktales. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: Federal Publications. ISBN 981-01-0154-6. OCLC 422100952.
  32. ^ Tang-Song lyrics. Yuanchong Xu, Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore: EPB Publishers. 1996. ISBN 9971-0-0433-X. OCLC 59758100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  33. ^ Kwan, Shan Mei (1996). Ancient Chinese humour. Singapore: EPB Publishers. ISBN 9971-0-0336-8. OCLC 222056850.
  34. ^ Times Asian folktales from ... Singapore: Earlybird Books. 1997–1998. ISBN 981-01-0718-8. OCLC 46836700.
  35. ^ Wee, Jessie (2009). The adventures of Mooty. Book one. Shan Mei Kwan. Singapore. ISBN 978-981-4561-84-6. OCLC 899589064.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  36. ^ Wee, Jessie (2018). The Adventures of Mooty-Commemorative Edition. Shan Mei Kwan. SG: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd. ISBN 978-981-4828-36-9. OCLC 1056070419.
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