Day at the Museums

Yesterday, was 22 May 2005, and there were free admissions at several museums in celebration of the International Museum Day.

Several hours before I met QH to have dinner at Little India, I was visiting the musuems, namely, the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilisation Museum (Empress Place).

It was pleasant to see the lobby of the Singapore Art Museum get a new look. Hopefully, with its new look, it could attract more visitors.

The exhibition that one should catch at the Singapore Art Museum is the one titled "Art of Our Time". It features the museum's permanent collection. I was pleased to participate in a tour of this exhibition given by one of the museum's curators, Ms Joyce Chan. The Singapore component, "Unyielding Passion: 8 Masters of Singapore Art" , features eight artists who have made significant contributions to the Singapore's art scene. My favourite artists among them were Georgette Chen, Chua Mia Tee. I also quite appreciate the works of Liu Kang and Iskandar Jalil. Going through the part of the exhibition reminds of the days that I took art history of Singapore back in my secondary years.

The other component (The Southeast Asian component) of the same exhibition was referred to as "Of Tides and Times: Encounters with Southeast Asian Art". It explores the art of the Southeast Asian through themes that range from nation-building, social commentary and notions of identity. It took me a while to relate to the works in this sections for I have comparatively less knowledge of Southeast Asian art as compared to Singapore art and Western art. In my opinion, appreciation of certain works would deepened with greater understanding of the historical, social and cultural context in which the works were created. Rather than lamenting on my comparatively limited knowledge of Southeast Asian art, I decided to take the chance to learn new knowledge.

I enjoyed the tour. It felt as if I was enriched in terms of my knowledge of the art of Singapore and Southeast Asia.

I also visited the "President’s Young Talents 2005" exhibition held at the Singapore Art Museum. However, I was probably still trying to digest the information that I was provided with from the "Art of Our Time" exhibition that I found myself having some challenges relating to the exhibits in the "President’s Young Talents 2005" exhibition. So, I decided to visit the Singapore Art Museum some other day.

I walked about the area nearby the Singapore Art Museum to find a book, and to take photographs. Towards the later part of the afternoon, I was at the Asian Civilisation Museum (Empress Place), to catch glimpses of the exhibitions there. I did not spend as much time there.

After the Asian Civilisation Museum, I walked about, and found myself near the Parliament House. It was quite a surprise for me to find mushrooms growing on the grass compounds of the Parliament House. I have no idea how the spores of the mushrooms found themselves there. Perhaps someone had wanted to test how fertile the compound was?


Mushrooms found nearby the Parliament House. 

Anyway, if you have missed visiting the museums yesterday, you may visit them on other days, (though please note that there will be admission charges usually). By the way, you might be pleased to know that on Fridays, 6.00pm - 9.00pm, admission to the Singapore Art Museum, the Singapore History Museum and the Asian Civilisation Museum is free.