Do you love art? I certainly do. Especially works like Jeff Koons’ Michael Jackson and Bubbles (courtesy of Artsy).
While I’m not an art collector myself, I enjoy visiting art galleries and museums. I relish uncovering the rich and multi-layered narratives behind each and every artwork, immersing myself in aesthetic experiences which transport me from the ordinary to the sublime.
A curator hard at work (source of image)
Curators. I should know them.
Guardians of museum collections, curators acquire artefacts and artworks, conduct research, publish articles or books, and mount exhibitions.
Courtesy of Gadling
Have you heard of the Tenement Museum in New York?
Founded in 1988 by Ms Ruth Abram, the Tenement Museum is a historic house museum located in the Lower East Side of New York City. Occupying a former block of apartments and shops, it depicts the gritty lives of immigrants to New York and the US from the late 1900s to early 20th century.
Tina and Ethan posing next to an animatronic Apatosaurus
“Roar, Growl, Hiss, Grr, Screech and Scream!”
Welcome to the world of the fabulous dinosaurs (also known as the “terrible lizards”) at Dinosaurs-Live!, a recently opened exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre. Happening from now til 26 Feb 2012, the exhibition showcases almost 50 life-sized dinosaurs, reptiles and other prehistoric creatures brought realistically back to life by awesome animatronics.
As part of my recent work trip to London, I spent many hours visiting numerous museums and art galleries in the city, topped by a full day meeting with the Tate Group. The institutions I visited include the Tate Modern, National Gallery London, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A Museum, and the British Museum. While the trip was exhausting – we’ve put together a comprehensive report on its outcomes – there were many learning points that we have gleaned from some of the world’s leading cultural institutions.
Here are 20 highlights of my trip, in no particular order. Note that this list is quite museum-centric as that’s where I spent most of my time. Each highlight is accompanied by a photograph.
An eye catching installation at the entrance of the V&A Museum.
Aerial view of the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC (source: Tripadvisor)
NHB’s Night Festival 2008
I love reading Nina Simon’s Museum 2.0 blog for her cutting insights on stuff happening in my neck of the woods. One of the issues that she recently wrote about – audience development – is something that museums and art galleries in Singapore are also grappling with.
In her post, Nina questioned the need for museums to organise “hip” events to attract younger audiences at the expense of alienating a broader more diverse crowd. While many museums have shifted from being a “cabinet of curiosities” for an elite few to “community destinations”, the question now arises whether their activities should be narrowly focused on distinct segments or appeal more broadly across visitor groups.
Southeast Asia’s exciting maritime past comes alive this 15 October with the opening of Singapore’s first maritime museum. Known as the Maritime Experiential Museum & Acquarium (MEMA), the attraction at Resorts World Sentosa features more than 400 rare objects including the Jewel of Muscat (a life-sized reproduction of a 9th century Arab dhow), and treasures from the Belitung Shipwreck. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, an international museum design firm, the museum depicts the romance of a bygone era with tales of seafarers braving the stormy seas along the Maritime Silk Route.
Set in the 15th century, the museum’s centrepiece revolves around the story of legendary Admiral Zheng He who launched many maritime voyages from China to the Western oceans with a fleet of 300 shops. Through highly interactive features and realistic replicas, the stories of exotic lands and seas from the past comes alive.
With the theme “Home – What We Love About It”, Singapore HeritageFest 2011 kicked off yesterday, across multiple venues around the island, in colourful fashion.
Occupying a disused power station in the heart of London beside the River Thames, Tate Modern is one of the world’s leading modern art museum. With an impressive display of art from 1900 to the present, Tate Modern attracts some five million visitors annually, and is one of a family of four Tate galleries in the UK (which includes Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives).
Collectively, the Tates cover the national collection of British art from the year 1500 to the present day, and of international modern art. All their collections are accessible online, and the Tate Group embraces an extensive social media engagement strategy encompassing Facebook, Twitter, Youtube videos, photos on Flickr, a Video Channel, and a Blog.