Arts Picks: Singapore laws at National Gallery, dancer Mythili Prakash returns and artsy high teas

Laws Of Our Land: Foundations Of A New Nation

The National Gallery Singapore is closed this weekend, thanks to the National Day Parade. But those looking to mark the nation’s birthday can check out this show from Aug 13, when the gallery reopens. The exhibition is tucked into rooms which used to be the Chief Justice’s office on the third floor of the Supreme Court wing. 

Word of warning – there is a lot of reading in this show because the focus is on laws. But word geeks will find this a nice dive into the country’s legal foundations.

The show – put together by the National Library, the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) and partner institutions including the Supreme Court – centres on three laws: the Citizenship Ordinance, the Women’s Charter and the Employment Act. Each law is presented with background information that situates its formation in the founding of the nation, as well as the social-economic contexts which made these laws urgent and necessary. 

Amid the 37 artefacts on display are some intriguing papers, including an early marriage certificate and a colourful reproduction of a 1959 poster urging people to vote. 

The curators have made an effort to jazz up a dry topic. Like the Curiocity series of exhibitions at the National Library, this show incorporates audio interviews and video clips.

There is an entertaining two-minute interview with Mr Boon Hock Soon, former assistant registrar of marriages, in the Women’s Charter section which is worth listening to in its entirety. He recalls an avalanche of people showing up to register their customary marriages in 1973 and the understaffed Registry of Marriages having to call in reinforcements to process quickie civil marriages and expedite paperwork. 

An interactive quiz in this section also gives visitors a chance to see if they would have ruled in the same way as the judges in three landmark cases of divorce and inheritances involving a clash of English laws versus local customs and traditions.

It is an illuminating exercise as it shows how much gender assumptions have changed and how the Western legal code has shaped contemporary thinking in Singapore. 

Also look out for a video clip in the labour law section, from a 1995 television documentary which focused on the hard lives of Chinese men who migrated to Singapore to perform hard physical labour for poor wages. There are interviews with former labourers and a rather horrifying re-enactment of some of them throwing an ill roommate out on the streets to die. 

There are also augmented-reality snippets, including one featuring a slightly creepy mui tsai (little sister), which highlights the plight of young Chinese girls who were sold into indentured labour from a young age.

For those who have no patience to trawl through the wordy display, join a free curator’s tour on the third Friday of every month at 5.30pm. 

Where: National Gallery Singapore, 1 Andrew Road
MRT: City Hall
When: Till 2029. The gallery is closed for the National Day weekend from Aug 8 to 12. Thereafter, it opens daily from 10am to 7pm
Admission: Free
Info: str.sg/LVfr

She’s Auspicious by Mythili Prakash

American choreographer-dancer Mythili Prakash is presenting a new work at the Esplanade on Aug 10 and 11. This second-generation bharatanatyam dancer has earned acclaim for her performing and choreography. She counts among her mentors famed British choreographer Akram Khan, in whose company she has danced since 2019. 

This production of She’s Auspicious marks her return to the venue after 12 years. Danced by an all-female ensemble, the work explores the contradictions and complexities in society’s worship of goddesses and its treatment of women.

The work has had a long gestation, premiering at Germany’s Reflektor Festival before undergoing further development at the famed Jacob’s Pillow dance centre in 2022. 

This is part of the Esplanade’s Raga series, which showcases Indian performing arts.

Where: Singtel Waterfront Theatre, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: City Hall
When: Aug 10, 8pm, and Aug 11, 3pm
Admission: $40 an adult
Info: str.sg/in38

Arts-themed high teas

There is no better time than this upcoming long weekend to check out two themed high teas in town, which aim to appeal to arts and book lovers. 

Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha is famed for his dreamily ornate and stylised illustrations of beautiful women.

Pullman Singapore Hill Street has collaborated with the Alphonse Mucha Museum for a Mucha-themed experience. The hotel’s Mucha Artistry rooms are already fully booked, but there is an Artistry In Time Afternoon Tea at Madison’s which art lovers might want to try. 

The tea menu includes macarons and cakes emblazoned with Mucha’s art as well as themed cocktails including a Mucha Vesper. 

The other artsy high tea is Anti:Dote’s literary-themed Adventures In Storyland: The Nursery Alice, produced in collaboration with the British Library. It takes inspiration from the latter’s 1890 adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Nursery Alice, which was targeted at younger readers. 

Sip your tea amid decor that recreates classic images from famed illustrator John Tenniel’s work. These images are also echoed in the culinary offerings such as a smoked salmon, rose cream cheese and trout roe dish that recalls a Queen Of Hearts playing card, and an egg mayonnaise and Earl Grey tea course presented as a clock. 

Where: Madison’s, Pullman Singapore Hill Street, 1 Hill Street
MRT: City Hall
When: Till Sept 14, 2 to 5pm (Mondays to Saturdays)
Admission: $68++ a guest, with a minimum of two persons each set
Info: str.sg/maXX 

Where: Anti:Dote, Level 1 Fairmont Singapore, 80 Bras Basah Road
MRT: City Hall 
When: Till Aug 31, daily from 3 to 5pm, and additionally on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 2pm 
Admission: $68++ an adult with a choice of two non-alcoholic beverages (mocktail, coffee or tea) and $35++ a child
Info: www.antidotebar.sg