Thursday, June 28, 2007

SINGAPORE: THE ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEM





The main feature during my visit was the BEAUTY IN ASIA exhibit which discusses the concept of beauty in this part of the world.

The museum is housed at the Empress Place, formerly an office of the British colonial government.

Reception. Tickets are at SGD 8 (Php 240). As usual, taking photos (w/o flash) is allowed.

There's a small space here devoted to Singapore history as a fishing village. There are dioramas, too, which depict scenes of the old days when the river shaped the city into what it is now.


From old to the new. Forms of payment then and now.

And the adventure begins...

At every corner, there's a screen which feature a virtual guide. You can touch the screen and the image comes alive. Featured guides are from all nationalities that compose today's Singapore society.
This one supposedly represents Buddha's footstep. It's huge. Probably a meter long and half a meter wide. The size is just symbolic, of course, but he did make great strides when he was alive.

Wedding implements from Malaysia.

Headdress used by the bride.

An assortment of krises from Mindanao. This is for you, Tutubi!

A sample of the masks collection. These are from Thailand.

A sample of Indonesia's shadow puppetry called Wayang Kulit.

An assortment of musical instruments from all over Asia.

This is where you can lounge for a bit and listen to music made from the instruments featured above.

The astrolabe - the Arabs' gift to modern navigation.

Samples of plates from the Arab world. I like plates.

A slide show approximates the feeling of being inside an actual mosque.

And finally, to the special exhibition. Sorry if there are few photos from here. Most of it cannot be photographed. A few pieces of indigenous fabrics and clothing from the North represented the Philippines. Sadly, there was no mention of our extensive gold collections, pottery, and even tattoo traditions.

Lotus shoes. My first time to actually see samples of the shoes that made many Chinese women's feet disfigured all their lives. So amazing yet so sad. The concepts of beauty can sometimes be severe, many suffer from it.
Namaste! Welcome to India! A wooden door welcomes visitors to the India exhibit. This is the last part of the entire collection before you exit the building.

A representation of a dancer made up entirely of wood.

An interesting - and rare - representation of an emaciated Buddha.

The museum's shop. The Philippines is represented by fabrics from the Goulborn \ Silk Cocoon company which uses indigineous fiber into their articles of clothing.

Finally, I'm out into the sunshine! You can rest your tired feed here at the row of restaurants outside the ACM. The area is called Indochine. It has a fantastic view of the river and Boat Quay.

The Q Bar besides ACM.


The old Parliament House.

The Victoria Theatre. All of these buildings are just around the area of the ACM.

A statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore, on Boat Quay. Thanks for the warm welcome, ACM! What a tour, eh? It's almost like I brought you in with me. Donations are welcome to offset the SGD 8 entrance fee, ha ha ha! Kidding.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey i;m going to SG next year, around feb or march. i wanna catch the job fair. we should sit down and talk. enlighten me ha. i'll buy you coffee hehe

:)

Anonymous said...

Amazing collection. Didn't manage to visit the museum when I was there. Now that I've seen it here, mukhang kelangan next time mabisita ko rin yan.

By the way, I'm not in Malaysia. Not all my post are real time kasi. Some are quite recent, others hinahabol ko lang.

Anonymous said...

Rick, in what way - and aspects - should I enlighten you re finding a job? Gumawa ng talata ukol dito. BTW, ganda ng coverage mo ng Taste Asia bloggers meeting. Inggit me.

:-)

Ferdz! I know naman na you arent blogging in real time. Was just amazed at the travels you\\\'ve been making! Super pasyal ka talaga!

Jeruen said...

Wow. I like the exhibit. Buti pinapayagan kang kumuha ng pictures. There are museums that don't allow you taking pictures eh, like the ones in Ecuador.

Anyway, I love the fact that you put plenty of pictures in your entries. Ang kaso they always make my browser crash.

Kaya I learned of a trick. Once I go to your site, I hit the Stop button, and then click on the individual pages, so the pages will load individually. Ha!

kegler747 said...

I like that musuem kse everytime i visit singapore there's a different collection being featured unlike other museums na years bago magkaron ng new collections.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your post, it was very entertaining. Hope you can all come by the ACM in May to Spetember, there will be a Vietnamese exhibition then. And in the next year or so there may be a Philippine exhibition too! :-)