The Asian Civilisation Museum “where Asian cultures come alive” as their logo says is one of the most important museums of Singapore representing several of the diverse cultures which makes today’s Singapore. The museum has the most outstanding South East Asian various cultural collections, which make it a must-visit place for all the fans of Asian culture who want to get closer to the culture of Singapore.
The Asian Civilisations Museum founded in 1997 used to be on the same place where the Peranakan Museum used to stand in the Old Tao Nan School building from where it is finally moved. The main collections were those, which were inherited from the collections of the former Raffles Museum that is not standing for a long time. The new building of the museum started its operation back in 2003 in the beautifully renovated colonial style Empress Palace Building. The specific cultural areas the Asian Civilisation Museum is concentrating on contain China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Western Asia. All these areas have their specific roles in the making of today’s Singapore. The Asian Civilisations Museum is located right by the Singapore river and with its new trademark colours brown and orange it wants to represent all the energy yet all the values which has made Singapore as it is today a great cohesion of all the beautiful cultures.
It may seem only 4-5 countries for some but in real, these countries contain so many different cultures and nations each one of these having their own cultures, beliefs, traditions that are reflected the best through various objects of art.
The most outstanding exhibitions of the Asian Civilisations Museum include exhibitions of Thai, Khmer, Viet, Javanese, Indian Chola, Burmese and Bhutan art works. Among many other exhibitions from nations of the Chinese mainland, represents the art pieces of several Indian schools, including the Gandhara, Mathura, Kanishka eras and among the exhibited collections we will see sculptures made out of various natural materials such as red stone, paintings, porcelains, textile works and even colonial prints starring next to medieval art works. This museum really gives us all the best chance to get closer to all the diverse cultural effects what has created Singapore colourful nation. Let yourself be amazed from the real Javanese temple sculptures, then go to see the Peranakan gold textiles, marvel at the various beautiful ornaments and all the rest of all different art works, which today make up the huge collection of the Asian Civilisation Museum.
The Asian Civilisations Museum includes 11 galleries and represents altogether more than 1300 different artefacts, the number of which is continuously growing.
Next to the ongoing exhibitions, there are also several seasonal and temporary exhibitions held by the Asian Civilisation museums exhibiting great guest – collections of other Asian culture museums. One of its current exhibition hosted special Bronze Age masks coming from the Sichuan Museum of China. Among the most spectacular seasonal exhibitions, we can hold the exhibition of Indian gold jewellery, featuring breathtaking art pieces of Indian jewellery. The collections next to Buddhist artworks also contain several Islamic art pieces as well.
Not only can you look around in this beautiful museum but also you can spend a quality time there, relaxing in the café and the restaurant of the beautiful Asian Civilisation Museum. The admission fee for adults costs SGD 8 with discounts for children and elderly people. The Asian Civilizations Museum is open from 9.30 am to 7 pm ever day.