These days, it's super easy to get cultured in Singapore; why, the Lion City happens to be home to several top-level museums and galleries in the entire region. Are you planning to fill up your free time with some culture and art? Simply make your way to the nearest museum. You'll get an opportunity to learn about the history and untold stories that have shaped the local people's identity for decades.
The National Museum
The Singapore National Museum happens to be the largest local museum. The museum has two main galleries- the Singapore Living Gallery and the Singapore History Gallery. The latter carefully traces Singapore's history, starting from how the nationhood began in the 14th century, going on to the current times. On its part, the Singapore Living Gallery dwells on four primary themes- fashion, food, photography and film. While here, ensure you visit the Story of the Forest section and the permanent exhibition; you'll definitely experience the power of the National Museum's collection- it's amazingly made vivid with a spectacular digital presentation.
ArtScience Museum
The art science Museum beautifully fuses art and science. The museum features 21 gallery spaces; it has hosted many world-famous exhibitions in the past. Many of these exhibitions featured costumes, props and sets from blockbuster films in the mould of the Harry Porter franchise and Titanic. You'll find that Future Word, which is the current permanent exhibition, is a true mind-bender. Team Lab, the Japanese art collective, is credited with designing the exhibition. The spectacular show memorably takes visitors around an exciting interactive journey characterized by digital art, music and magic.
The Asian Civilizations Museum
This museum is recognized as the first in the entire region to present an integrated perspective of civilizations and pan-Asian cultures. The museum has 11 galleries that showcase over 1,300 artefacts from various civilizations, including South Asia, West Asia and China. In this place, you can enjoy an exciting collection put together by modern Chinese masters as well as the famous Dr Tan Tsze Chor. There are many collections by several Singapore artists who prepared the exhibition pieces featuring the 20th-century turbulent events.
Changi Chapel and Museum
Changi Chapel Museum is hosted in a purpose-built venue; the chapel is actually a reconstruction work (note that the original came to Australia soon after the war). Many consider Changi Chapel Museum the most iconic of all World War II sites in Singapore. You might be particularly interested in hearing the stories of ingenuity and industry that come from within the POW camps located right there.
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
The Lee Kong Chian NHM is the first-ever South East Asia's natural history museum. The museum spreads over 2 floors and covers 2,500 sq m over 15 zones. The gallery section showcases more than 2,000 S. E Asian plant and animal specimens. You can enjoy the event highlight- it offers you the chance to get close to and familiarize yourself with several 150 million-year-old dinosaur fossils; there are three of these. What a sight!
Singapore Art Museum
This was a former boys' catholic school that was later converted into a public museum in the 1990s. At that time, the government had a policy that directed converting old colonial buildings into public utilities and museums. The Singapore Art Museum has relatively tiny, hidden gallery spaces. Thus, it has never had the chance to host any blockbuster shows. Instead, the museum focuses on holding smaller exhibitions. Most of these features 20th-century Asian visual art; it often draws from a private collection of pioneer art from S.E Asia. Note that the Singapore Art Museum was recently closed for redevelopment; it planned to reopen sometime in 2021.
Parkview Museum Singapore
This museum is otherwise known as the ";Gotham City"; building. The Parkview square carries the largest Italian art collection in the entire SE Asia region. It has a huge range of contemporary art features from Europe and Asia. The museum's private gallery has hosted exclusive exhibitions as well as themed showcases. It has also offered guided gallery tours for many art enthusiasts.
Creative Workshop and Gallery
The Creative Workshop Gallery was first established in the year 2002. The gallery generally promotes artistic experimentation with print and paper mediums. It features contemporary artworks and works with various international curators, gallerists and collectors. Do not forget to visit the Axis World; this is essentially an exhibition guest that the local art guru Tan Siuli curates.