Five museums, six locations, in one day!

Posted by oceanskies79 under Exhibitions, Museums/Heritage Galleries
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Singapore Art Museum.

31 Jan 2009, Saturday: I was in great need to have quiet and constructive time to myself. My choice was to go for a museum spree which would see me covering five different museums at six different locations in one single day.

The goal of my museum spree was not so much to visit every single exhibitions at the various museums. My intention was to have a glimpse of all the new exhibitions that were on display. As such, I generally skipped most of the permanent exhibitions that I had already viewed during my past visits to the museums.

My first stop for the day was the Singapore Art Museum. I started my visit to the Singapore Art Museum with a guided tour as I felt I was almost clueless about contemporary art. I was privileged to get a personalised guided tour to the exhibition Is it tomorrow yet? This exhibition showcases more than 150 works from the Daimler Art Collection (1926 - 2006) in Stuttgart Germany. Some of the works were thought-provoking. I was particularly attracted to the works that are minimalist in nature. The works by artists associated with the European Zero Movement (1960s) also appealed to me. Perhaps I was in the mood for the simplicity that day?

If I were to offer my personal opinion, I think the works from the exhibition Transcendence: Modernity and Beyond in Korean Art caught my interest more than the works from the Daimler Art Collection. Held till 15 Mar 2009, Transcendence: Modernity and Beyond in Korean Art examines Korean contemporary art development over the last five decades. I particularly like the works by Kim Tshang Yeul, Lee Lee Nam and Lee Yong Deok. This is an exhibition worth a visit in my opinion. I may be able to get more out of my visit if I could get someone to provide me guidance to better appreciate contemporary Korean art.

While I have limited exposure to the works of S Mohdir, A Ghani Hamid, Iskandar Jalil, Sarkasi Said, Tumadi Patri, Rofizano Zaino, Harman Hussin, Amin Yasin, Sazali Rahmat and Rudy Djoharnaen, I was nevertheless delighted to be treated to works by current and former members of APAD (Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya). There were a number of noteworthy works in this exhibition titled APAD: Tradition, Innovation and Continuity.

I was probably in need for more treats to visual art. After my visit to the Singapore Art Museum at 71 Bras Basah Road, I headed for lunch before visiting 8Q sam at 8 Queen Street. I would consider 8Q sam as an extension of the Singapore Art Museum intended for contemporary art.

What has brought me to 8Q sam?
I was there to check out the exhibition This is Not a Print!. This is one exhibition that I would recommend. This exhibition features over 70 multiples and prints from the Singapore Art Museum’s Tylers Collection which was acquired by the museum from master printer Kenneth Tyler’s Collection. Possibly, I will find time to view this exhibition again at a time when there is a guided tour.

An image derived from one of Roy Lichtenstein’s prints.

National Museum of Singapore.

I must have been eager to view more new exhibitions. After getting myself a treat to a chocolate drink, I headed for the National Museum of Singapore. The exhibition that I had wanted to check out was Come-in: Interior Design as a Contemporary Art Medium in Germany. There were some nice works from this exhibition. I found myself singing away to harmonise the melodies from one of the video installation that was on display. It was quite an interesting work with an interesting and catchy tune. The security guards must have kept themselves wary of the visitor who hummed aloud as if she owns the museum. Anyway, admission to this exhibition is free.

The lovely thing is that the museums under the National Heritage Board are largely located within walking distances to each other. It was therefore too tempting for me to resist walking five minutes from the National Museum of Singapore to the nearby Peranakan Museum.

The latest exhibition at the Peranakan Museum then was Serenity In Stone: The Qingzhou Discovery. In this exhibition, visitors get to see serene-looking sculptures carved from limestones. These sculptures were part of the archaelogical finds that were made by chance in the city of Qingzhou in Shandong province, northeast China. No photography was allowed at this exhibition so I shall just show how the corridors leading to this exhibition had looked like. Personally speaking, while I have found myself feeling serene while I was in this very exhibition, I could not quite appreciate most of the works because of my limited knowledge in Buddhist art. I think I would need a guide if I were to check this exhibition out in the future.

Anyway, there was quite a lot to see at the Peranakan Museum. I had visited it a few times over the past few months so I decided to just have a quick glance of the permanent exhibits before heading the next museum.

At the Peranakan Museum. A replica of the kitchen of a Peranakan’s household.

What was next? I naturally chose to visit the museum that was within walking distance from the Peranakan Museum, i.e. the Singapore Philatelic Museum.

The Singapore Philatelic Museum ushers in the Year of the Ox with the exhibition A Cow and Bull Story. From this exhibition, I learnt a bit more about the cow. I managed to get a glimpse of the names of the four compartments of a cow’s stomach: rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. I suppose I don’t have a love for the cow. The only thing that I remember vividly after the exhibition was the story of why the ox became the second animal in the Chinese zodiac. Nevertheless, I recommend this exhibition because it is very visually attractive for the young ones.

By the way, there is an exhibition titled The Eternal Cow from 23 Jan 2009 to 15 Feb 2009 at the Singapore Philatelic Museum. The Eternal Cow features sculptures and paintings by P. Gnana, presented by the Gallery of Gnani Art. This is an exhibition worth a view.

My craze for the museums was yet to be satisfied so after my visit to the Singapore Philatelic Museum, I visited the nearby Asian Civilisation Museum. I went to check out the exhibitions Neither East Nor West: Asians in Monochrome and Fantastic Creatures!. My mind was probably feeling rather saturated by the late afternoon such that I did not like both of the two exhibitions at the Asian Civilisation Museum that I had mentioned. What I like, however, was the music that was played at the exhibition venue of Neither East Nor West: Asians in Monochrome. I was tempted to sit there just to listen to the music but I decided to move on and view some of the exhibits from museum’s permanent exhibition instead.

When I realised that my mind was becoming saturated yet enriched from my museum spree, I decided to call it a day. Five museums at six different locations all in one day. I was able to make all the visits to the museums at no additional charge because I have a season pass membership. I am happy that my season pass membership has allowed me to spend many fulfilling hours at the museums.

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