Visit to Asian Civilisations Museum – Part 1

Worth Visiting Again and Again

by Diana Daymond

Many of us have already visited ACM once, twice, a half dozen times. NO MATTER!!!. It’s time to head down to Singapore to enjoy the newly renovated treasure trove whose freshly curated galleries are bursting with artifacts you probably have not seen before.  Virtually all of ACM’s galleries tell stories shared by Malaysia and are sure to inspire our guiding.

In 2014 ACM announced an ambitious plan to build a modern new wing, develop a light filled entrance upon the Singapore River and create larger spaces where stories about artifacts and culture can flow into one another like the rivers and trade routes of South East Asia.  These large and lovely new galleries opened in 2017.

For museum docents, the curatorial ambitions of the new spaces are even more exciting.  In 2014 the initial vision was explained by Director Alan Chong:

“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to present Asian art and culture in an interesting, new way. We thought it would be more interesting to reflect Singapore’s multiculturalism by looking at how these cultures connected, not only in the great port cities of Asia, but also how they interacted and blended, and communicated with each other, engaging in a cultural dialogue over thousands of year.” ¹

The latest director Kennie Ting further developed the integrated approach and explained that the Museum is sifting from an ethnographic focus to one that pays more attention to art.

“What this means is not that we forget the cultural and historical significance of each object… but in the curation of the pieces here, we are also now focusing on the aesthetics, the elements of craftsmanship, design and tradition. In presenting only masterpieces from Asia, we say that in Asia, we have a very long tradition of excellent innovation and craftsmanship. We should be extremely proud of this heritage we have, particularly here in South-east Asia.”²

The practical realization of these curatorial visions are immediately apparent on each floor which are filled with artifacts and stories shared with Malaysia. The ground level flows through with the history and culture of South East Asian trade. The second floor shows how systems of faith and belief spread across South East Asia, with resulting cultural and aesthetic adaptions of religious art. In 2019 the third level will open focusing on the textile traditions of South East Asia, another shared focus.  Subsequent write ups will share details of the treasures to be viewed.

Muzium Negara is filled with far more artifacts and displays than can be shared in one tour. It can be energizing to re think your route through the museum using new threads of emphasis.  A few ideas: How might you structure a tour based on the ACM focus of aesthetics?  Trade focus?  Craftsmanship? Cultural and or religious adaption? Migrations of peoples?

If you are looking for some inspiration to change your tour, every corner of The Asian Civilizations Museum should provide enlightenment. The guides who visited just last month are already out of date. Since our tour the Islamic Galleries have opened and feature a magnificent Hornbill sculpture from Sarawak that the Docents of Muzium Negara are sure to appreciate.

¹https://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/arts/asian-civilisations-museum-undergo-extensive-renovations April 18, 2014:

²The Straits Times: November 27, 2018: Asian Civilisations Museum to open 3 new galleries for Christian Art, Islamic Art, and Ancestors and Rituals

For Part 2, please see ‘Tang Shipwreck Gallery’

For Part 3, please see ‘Faith and Belief’