Nicole SohWhile tidying up her room in March, Ms Megan Foo found her study notes for Art, one of her A-Level subjects. Instead of throwing them away, she thought it’d be a good idea to share the knowledge in a fun way with her TikTok followers.
That idea has since been turned into an art history series with more than 100 TikTok clips. Her very first videos were dedicated to the history of Nanyang Artists and the founding of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). She’s also shared fun facts about Renaissance artists, interesting details of artworks seen in k-dramas, and highlights of famous galleries and exhibitions in Singapore and beyond.
Her niche videos have drawn over 32,000 followers to her account so far.
Video Credit: Megan Foo
Ms Foo’s keen interest in the arts was nurtured from a young age. “Growing up, my parents have always been supportive of my interest in art and were the ones [who] encouraged me to join the Art Elective Programme (AEP) when I was 13,” she said.
Ms Foo continued to pursue Art for A-levels in junior college. This was when she lived and breathed the works by artists from all over the world, including Singaporean sculptor Ng Eng Teng and American pop art pioneer Andy Warhol.
Although the Singapore Management University (SMU) graduate didn’t join the art sector, she’s happy that she can create content on art history in her free time.
She found a “partner-in-crime” who previously worked in her company, beauty giant Sephora. Her former colleague Sylvain Truong, 28, is also a fellow art enthusiast.
In a three-part series, the pair teamed up to introduce the Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa, in English and French.
was heavily criticised at the time of its creation.
Video Credit: Megan Foo
In another video about the Chinese ink paintings of horses by Xu Bei Hong, they spoke in Mandarin.
making artworks including animal paintings look almost life-like.
Video Credit: Megan Foo
“We initially started the [collaborative] series as a fun way to practise the languages that we were learning and we ended up creating more content than expected,” Ms Foo said. She’s learning French now while Mr Truong is picking up Mandarin.
Ms Foo’s series has been a useful resource for art students. One of her followers, Jazlina, left a comment on her video, saying: “I swear you teach me more than my art teacher.”
Chamunda Diva Kay, a 24-year-old undergraduate, also appreciated Ms Foo’s “very informative” videos.
“The way she delivers her content is very clear, educational, and makes me interested to look up artists she explores in her videos,” said the Nanyang Technical University (NTU) student who’s taking a minor in Art History. “Studying art is quite a daunting task sometimes, yet her content makes people want to know and explore more.”
Ms Foo believes that more people in Singapore will grow an interest in the arts as they are introduced to more exhibitions in our galleries and museums. It helps that Singaporeans enjoy free admissions to many of these shows as well.
She believes that if people have deeper knowledge of art history, they will be able to appreciate the artworks they come across at a deeper level. You can look forward to more educational clips from her on maegzter.