Revisit toys of yesteryear at National Museum’s new showcase Play:Date
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – From Barbie dolls and McDonald’s toys to Hot Wheels and Tamagotchi, the National Museum of Singapore’s (NMS) newest showcase, Play:Date – Unlocking Cabinets Of Play, is a throwback to toys from the 1980s onwards.
Taking place from July 5 to January 5, 2025, the display is an expansion of popular galleries and exhibitions that featured toys, such as Growing Up (2015-2023) and 2022’s Off/On: Everyday Technology That Changed Our Lives, 1970s-2000s.
In 2022, NMS also hosted the first Doraemon exhibition outside of Japan, which drew large crowds.
Mr Jonathan Goh, 42, the museum’s senior assistant director of strategic marketing and communications, says: “We thought Play:Date sounded nice because this showcase is about toys, and the term is also an invitation for visitors to have a play date with us.”
Assistant curator Ruchi Mittal, 31, says: “I was already looking at what we had in the collection for Growing Up, but for this, I looked at things more broadly to see what categories of toys we could possibly put out an open call for.”
Split into three categories – character, vehicular and digital – the showcase includes more than 250 objects on loan from 10 Singaporean collectors.
Many toys from the 1980s onwards are recognisable across generations. The museum is hoping to draw a wide demographic, as well as encourage conversations between generations about the toys they remember playing with.
The museum makes use of brightly coloured construction hoardings to draw in visitors.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
The showcase also makes creative use of available space while the museum building is undergoing a three-year phased revamp set to be completed by the end of 2026
The front of the museum facade is closed off behind hoarding, which has become the blank canvas for five young Singaporean artists.
Tiffany Lovage, Candice Phang, Ng Yin Shian, Muhammad Izdi and Kristal Melson were commissioned by independent co-creation agency Mama Magnet to paint murals that liven up the hoarding with bright colours and remind passers-by that the museum is still open.
Mr Goh says: “We wanted vibrant, contemporary artworks that were appealing and fun. We’re very happy that Mama Magnet approached artists who all happened to be younger.”
The murals include three-dimensional interactive elements, such as a cat’s fuzzy belly, a sliding puzzle and interchangeable facial features on a character’s face. Visitors are encouraged to play with the elements, though they would be well advised to use hand sanitiser.
Mr Goh says: “There will be periodic cleaning of the interactive elements on the hoardings.”
All five murals feature 3D elements, three of which are interactive.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
The museum will also replace certain pieces as they wear out over the course of the show.
Visitors should be prepared for a squeeze as the showcase, located on the second floor, is displayed in a small space with a winding pathway through the toy displays.
The first displays are of Barbie dolls and McDonald’s toys. The showcase also includes three operational re-creations of arcade-style gaming machines: driving game Roadblock Highway, brick-breaker game Brick Battle and matching game Memory Match.
The showcase features two arcade-style gaming machines and a matching game that visitors can pay to play.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Those who want to play the arcade games will have to buy a starter pack (priced at $5) on the Play:Date exhibition website. The pack comes with a base virtual avatar and three game credits for the machines. Booster packs of five credits can be bought online for another $5 each.
To play, visitors must scan a QR code on the arcade machine or matching game. They can earn points to customise their avatars with fun accessories, such as bags of kopi and durian hats.
They can also make a donation to get a printout of their completed look or pose with their avatar in a human-size toy box for a commemorative snapshot.
Points from the games can be redeemed to dress avatars up with fun accessories, such as bags of kopi and durian hats.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Given the small footprint of the display, the museum is reminding visitors that the showcase will be on for six months, so there is no need to rush down for the opening weekend.
Mr Goh says: “During the opening period of the showcase, we will ensure that the main showcase area is not too crowded, and have introduced measures such as staggered entry for visitors.
“We will also include advisories on our online platforms, like our website and social media, to advise visitors on larger-than-usual crowds should this situation arise.”
Book it / Play:Date
Where: National Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Road str.sg/KHEk
When: July 5 to Jan 5, 2024; 10am to 7pm daily
Admission: Free
Info:
Tamagotchi collector finds comfort in virtual pets
The Tamagotchi collection on loan from Ms Rachel Liew features a range of sizes and colours.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Not everyone collects their childhood toys, but for Ms Rachel Liew, it was a sense of community that drove her collecting journey.
The 34-year-old’s assortment of Tamagotchi is one of eight collections on loan to the National Museum of Singapore for the Play:Date showcase featuring iconic toys.
The small devices were made by Japanese toy company Bandai. Each containing a digital pet, they were all the rage in the 1990s.
Singaporean artist Shian captures the frenzy of toy queueing in mural
The three-panel mural shows the developing narrative of people starting to queue for toys and those already clamouring for their finds.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
There is a familiar scene in one of the five murals spread across the construction hoarding in front of the National Museum of Singapore: people queueing for new toys.
Freelance illustrator Ng Yin Shian – better known as Shian – says the work is her take on the theme of play.
Meet virtual character Gman at National Museum’s Play:Date
Mr Oh Jia Hao, maker of animated character Gman, wanted to create something that embodied his childhood self.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Meet Gman, a 3D animated character with a toothy grin that its creator is hoping may one day become Singapore’s version of Bearbrick.
Created by graphic designer Oh Jia Hao, better known by his Instagram handle Lioncolony, an animated Gman struts along the walls of a tunnel leading visitors inside the National Museum of Singapore.
Born on Instagram less than a year ago, Gman began virtual life donning trendy outfits on the social media platform.
Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that the showcase was titled Play:Date - Unlocking Cabinets of Curiosity and that the Growing Up gallery began in 2017. These have been corrected.
