Singapore Museums
With my second trip to Singapore this year, I was determined to make time and make sure I go to museums. On the list were the Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore and the Asian Civilizations Museum.
The Art Museum is free to visit from 6pm to 9pm, we started our museum hopping with there. The current exhibit of a Chinese master was interesting, the style is new and tickles the mind, as we started with this collection, it felt ok. We moved on to the next gallery and I was in a performance art hall with video screens on the wall, since I am not a fan of performance art, I quickly breezed through it all, the other galleries had more or less the same type of art pieces and installations, provocative and mind boggling, the last 2 galleries had 1 filipino artist with 2 artworks, interesting. The last gallery was a photo gallery and nude sketches.
The Structure itself was magnificent, a 2 story colonial era building with a 3rd floor on each wing and a open space in the middle. It was unfortunate that there was an 8qSAM on the other side, will have to schedule this for next time.
The next day, we headed of to the National Museum of Singapore, amusingly it’s just across the Singapore Art Museum only the Singapore Management University stands in-between.
The living galleries on the main building were free at certain times of the day but the History Gallery is the main exhibit of this museum. The 10 dollars to see it was very much worth it, it is on the 2nd building at the back accessible from the 2nd floor going down to the first floor. We were provided individual units with headsets wherein we inputed numbers on the floor and a audio describing what you are seeing as well as some commentaries and historical background plays.
As it was almost 6 when we went it, we were not able to finish and our visit was cut short, although the living galleries where still open, we were still a little bit disappointed, will have to make sure that I visit the museum early next time. The museum is at the foot of Fort Canning Park, so after or before the Museum visit, you can still see the park.
The last Museum we visited on our last day in Singapore was the Asian Civilizations Museum, this is all about asian civilization. The Museum structure already has a lot of history all by itself and turning it into a museum was a very good decision. It is on the bank of the Singapore river and at the front of the museum is where Sir Stamford Raffles first landed, at the back is the City Hall, another marvelous structure.
The Museum had an existing Kangxi Emperor exhibit from the Forbidden Palace Museum in Beijing, which had very exquisite and remarkable collections from that era. The other galleries were all about the different civilizations in Asia, with a gallery dedicated for the muslim and hindu culture. There was also a gallery with gold artifacts worn by ancient civilizations.
Again, the 8 dollars cost to visit was well worth it, there is a free museum tour at 3pm.
Museums have lockers so if you are bringing in backpacks, deposit them and have a leisurely museum visit without the hassle of lugging around a backpack. The museums are accessible by MRT and Bus, if your are going by MRT, they are a short walk from the station.
The Singapore Art Museum and the National Museum of Singapore is a 5 to 10 minute walk from the Dhoby Gaut MRT station while the Asian Civilizations Museum is across the river from the Raffles Place MRT station, cross through Cavanagh Bridge, the first cross river bridge in Singapore.
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