Suri bin Mohyani was one of the co-founders of the Singapore Art Society in October 1949. He learnt to paint in 1935 under the tutorship of Richard Walker, the first Art Superintendent of Singapore schools. Mohyani was well-known for his watercolours of kampong life and scenery in the 1940s and 50s. Kampong Kuchan situated off Lorong 3, Geylang was inhabited by a tribe of Malays who were purportedly the descendants of Orang Laut. The artist’s imagining of this fishing village evokes nostalgia for the past. This work was exhibited in the Singapore Art Society exhibition at the British Council between 20-28 October 1951.
