Singapore — The Kaws: Holiday Singapore exhibition at The Float @ Marina Bay has been allowed to resume after its organizer was served a court order on Saturday (Nov 13) to put a halt to the event, one day before it was supposed to open to the public.
The Ryan Foundation, a Singaporean non-profit arts organisation, sued the Hong Kong-based organisers, AllRightsReserved (ARR), for alleged breach of the foundation’s intellectual-property rights and a breach of confidence.
ARR claimed, however, that the allegations were groundless.
The interim injunction was lifted on Monday (Nov 15) in the State Courts by District Judge Kow Keng Siong.
The organiser wrote in a release to the lifting of the injuction, “AllRightsReserved and KAWS:HOLIDAY Singapore welcomes the Court’s judgement today, for justice has prevailed. Our company hopes that people can relieve their burdens under the pandemic and relax on the shores of the beautiful Marina Bay.”
ARR also celebrated its win in an Instagram post, writing, “This evening, and after hearing arguments from our legal team, the Court discharged the injunction and ordered @theryanfoundation to pay AllRightsReserved the legal costs. The Court further ordered that there will also be an inquiry into the damages sustained by AllRightsReserved by reason of the injunction. This means that the ‘KAWS:HOLIDAY’ exhibition can now be reopened tomorrow!”
The exhibition at the Float@Marina Bay features a 42-metre inflatable sculpture designed by United States artist Brian Donnell, also known as Kaws.
Kaws the sculpture has over 3.6 million followers on Instagram and has toured Japan, Seoul, Taipei, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Doha.
The Kaws reclining version hugging a miniature Kaws inflatable was scheduled to be on display in Singapore from Nov 13 – 21.
The Ryan Foundation revealed having visited Hong Kong in 2019 to discuss bringing Kaws to Singapore.
They had submitted details of the exhibition to ARR, including contact details of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as well as other key point persons.
Founding director of The Ryan Foundation, Ryan Su, said that they received the injunction papers on Friday night, serving it to ARR on Saturday afternoon.
Kaws said in a statement that he has no contractual agreement with The Ryan Foundation, noting the claims were baseless.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Kaws thanked the public for coming to the opening of Kaws Holiday: Singapore.
“This is my seventh holiday project with @arr.allrightsreserved and we have been talking about wanting to exhibit in Singapore for years. It’s nice to see it finally come to life,” the artist added. /TISG
Kaws:Holiday S’pore exhibition shut down by court order 1 day before public opening at Marina Bay