Explore the best of Asian art and craftsmanship at ACM
Singapore today is a melting pot of cultures and diversity and there’s no better place to experience the best of Asian culture than at ACM, with its incredible showcase of Asian art and craft!
From its Trade galleries on the first floor, Faith and Belief galleries on the second, and the Materials & Design galleries on the third – with a focus on Fashion and Textiles, and Jewellery, you’ll definitely be able to experience Asia through design at the Asian Civilisations Museum.
Step into ACM and view some of the best objects anywhere, and leave with a deeper understanding of the long-standing traditions of craftsmanship that go into making these beautiful objects; traditions that are very much part of our collective Asian identities, histories, and cultures.
The Center of Asia’s Trade Route
The Tang Shipwreck Collection provides a window into what the world was like more than a thousand years ago. The Collection, containing some 60,000 ceramics, as well as luxurious objects of gold and silver, paints a picture of the rich economic, cultural and people-to-people exchanges that connected civilisations along the “Maritime Silk Road”, a sea route running from the Middle East to China.
More than 50,000 hand-painted bowls that were made in Hunan province were found in the wreckage of the Tang shipwreck. This staggering number is testimony to the organisation and creativity of China’s ceramic industry.
Common designs are clouds, flowers, birds, and mountains, but as they were painted by many different artisans, it resulted in variations ranging from realistic to the abstract!
Beauty through Faith and Belief
ACM has very special and unique galleries that come together to showcase faiths and beliefs in Singapore on the second floor! One example is a gallery of Christian art made in Asia, which refers to Christian or Catholic objects made in Asia for use in Asia, or for export to the rest of the world.
But the most important collection on this floor is what is known as the former Raffles Library and Museum collection. Built up during Singapore’s British Colonial Period and consisting of hundreds of pieces of sacred and ritual objects deriving from the many animistic traditions across island Southeast Asia, it is the oldest part of ACM’s collection, dating back to the late 1800s!
Today, they are displayed in the Ancestors and Rituals Gallery, which explores the central role of the ancestor and venerating the ancestor in all the many island Southeast Asian communities and traditions.
Exploring Asian identities through dress and adornment
The Fashion and Textiles gallery presents a diverse range of fashions and textiles through periodically changing displays, showing how identities and cross-cultural exchanges are revealed through dress!
The Jewellery gallery will be the first permanent gallery in the world to spotlight island Southeast Asian jewellery, exhibiting its varied and complex styles, forms, and uses through a showcase of objects from the Neolithic period to the 20th century. The gallery illustrates how jewellery is present at every stage of life, and shares an intimate relationship with its wearer, functioning beyond the aesthetics of individual pieces.
Get an insight into Asian materials
The Ceramics gallery presents a comprehensive survey of the wide range of Chinese ceramic production, featuring masterworks from the Neolithic period through the Qing dynasty. In particular, a large selection of ACM’s excellent collection of white Dehua porcelain – also known as blanc de chine – are beautifully displayed.
Did you know that plum trees were popular pieces created by Dehua potters during the 18th and 19th centuries? This example is one of the largest and most complex, with gnarly roots, a craggy rock, and two women enjoying themselves.
Current Exhibitions
Besides the permanent galleries, there are also periodic exhibitions at the Asian Civilisations Museum! With the current spotlight being on the community of people behind the museum and their stories.
1. Faith Beauty Love Hope – Our Stories, Your ACM
Inspired by the best of the museums’ collection, this special exhibition tells the stories from the heart and imaginations of staff and supporters of the museum. With over 60 objects to admire, everyone will get an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate their strengths in this time of challenges and disruptions.
- Date: Now to 28 February 2021
- Guided Tours: Monday - Thursday: 11am | Saturday - Sunday: 3.30pm
2. thINK: Chinese Calligraphy, Connoisseurship, and Collecting
To be read as ‘think ink’, this extension of Faith Beauty Love Hope features the voice of a collector, and celebrates timelessness and constancy, in a time of great change. It also presents the intimate relationship between a collector, their collection and the making of a legacy.
Observe historical objects from the Ming and Qing periods within an intimate setting or get acquainted with the art of the brush and reflect on issues such as how we communicate and what we choose to hold dear.
- Date: Now to 25 April 2021
3. Perfect Stranger
Photo by Sarah Isabelle Tan
Another extension of Faith Beauty Love Hope, Perfect Stranger by local artist, Dawn Ng features the voice of an artist as she tackles the wonder and absurdity of the human condition. Here, you are invited to choose your own adventure in this calming experience, free to weave between the artworks into Dawn’s world and reflect on your own sense of time, space and self.
- Date: Now to 28 February 2021
- Tickets: Free for Singaporeans and PR
4. Drop-in Craft Activities
As part of this experiential exhibit, there will be a drop-in craft activities programme on the opening and closing Saturdays! Take home a piece of Faith Beauty Love Hope in the form of a woven diary made by you.
- Date: 27 February 2021
- Time: 1pm - 5pm
Book your visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum with your SingapoRediscovers Vouchers
- Location: 1 Empress Place Singapore 179555
- Opening Hours: Saturday-Thursday: 10am - 7pm | Friday: 10am - 9pm
- Last admission: 1 hour(s) before closing time
- The Asian Civilisations Museum is SingapoRediscovers Vouchers eligible
