SINGAPO "REN": DISCOVERING CHINESE SINGAPOREAN CULTURE
The new permanent gallery at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre is a good place to take children and tourists for an interactive introduction to the Chinese Singaporean community.
This is not so much a serious history gallery as it is an accessible pop culture-lite sampler, where artefacts such as one of designer Lai Chan's glamorous cheongsam gowns, singer Stefanie Sun's 2000 Golden Melody statuette for Best New Artist and director Anthony Chen's 2013 Golden Horse trophy for the film Ilo Ilo take pride of place.
Visitors are encouraged to pick up a radio-frequency identification bracelet which they can tap to answer survey questions at various points in the exhibition.
There are five zones. One charming section is the second gallery focusing on traditional Chinese beliefs about filial piety and integrity, which is filled with interactive drawers, hidden behind doors and windows salvaged from old flats in Bedok South and Redhill Close.
The section about festivals such as Qing Ming and Mid-Autumn inevitably incorporate a food element. But what makes this part uniquely Singaporean is the nod to other cultures. The write-ups on the Nine Emperor Gods and Tua Pek Kong festivals note the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which coincides with the former, and the syncretic deity of Datuk Kong, born from a mix of local animist beliefs.
The food section incorporates an immersive multimedia experience about Singapore dishes such as laksa and chilli crab, and a fun kopitiam drink order game that pits two players against each other.
Do not skip the videos on screens lining a re-creation of five foot ways, as there is an entertaining one about Singlish.
The final section, with its rickety conveyor belt of Singapore products, is a bit befuddling and the weakest link in the chain. But by then, visitors would have been too entertained to mind.
WHERE: Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Gallery, Level 2 Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, 1 Straits Boulevard MRT: Tanjong Pagar WHEN: Permanent gallery ADMISSION: Free INFO: singaporeccc.org.sg
RAILTRACK SONGMAPS ROOSTING POST 2
The quiet chirp of bird calls drifts out of the Jendela even before one steps into the space.
The Migrant Ecologies Project's multimedia installation at the Esplanade's visual arts space is at once soothing, immersive and absorbing.
Carefully arranged branches arc over hanging collages of photographs, drawings and stitching, all artfully lit to create evocative shadows.
Each "assemblage" tells stories about a patch of land along the former Malaysian railway tracks at Tanglin Halt.
All are strung together by the theme of birds and bird calls, and nature enthusiasts who track the birds and are able to mimic their cries.
The Nest-Infestations installation, featuring scale models of Tanglin Halt's famed Chap Lau Chu (10-storey blocks) with tangled crowns of branches sprouting from assorted corners, is worth spending some time in, as there are recorded interviews with people reminiscing about various avian encounters in the neighbourhood.
This layered work is created by Zachary Chan, Lucy Davis, Kee Ya Ting and Zai Tang, who have made a thought-provoking collection that brings together community anecdotes, poetry and sound in an act of recollection and recreation that explores the collision of nature and urbanisation.
WHERE: Jendela, Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, 1 Esplanade Drive WHEN: Till April 5, 11am to 8.30pm (weekdays), 10am to 8.30pm (weekends) MRT: Esplanade ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/JxfJ
LIVING WITH ANIMALS - PAST AND PRESENT
Modern Singapore is so urbanised, it is easy to forget this island state has a rich natural history.
National University of Singapore associate history professor Timothy Barnard has mined this rich vein of Singapore heritage for a different way of looking at British colonial history here in his book, Imperial Creatures: Humans And Other Animals In Colonial Singapore, 1819-1942.
His book contains fascinating anecdotes about the use of animals by colonial administrators, such as the macaques which Botanic Gardens deputy director E.J.H. Corner trained to climb trees and gather specimens.
Buy the author a cuppa, as he will be in residence tomorrow at the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, and find out more about this fascinating aspect of colonial history.
WHERE: Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, 01-01 The URA Centre, 45 Maxwell Road MRT: Telok Ayer WHEN: Tomorrow, 10.30am to 2pm ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/Jxft
