i think its time i took a hiatus from the whinging and whining about how miserable things can be for a change.
when was the last time you had this much fun at a museum?
gardens, galleries and museums are my favorite venues in melbourne, not really because of its authority as a storehouse of capital culture but rather because of how tastefully accessible they are to a public.
i’ve always been interested in museology even without knowing the word. after been through some vigorous academic training in that area, i can better appreciate the development of the national museum of singapore and place its standing on a broad spectrum of museums in capital cities.
upon my return to singapore, i’m pleased to be able to visit a national museum that engages all stratas of society and one that does its share of the interrogation of historicity in its postcolonial present, in a postcolonial city. gone are the days where a national museum gazes at the periphery as a cabinet of curiosity and panders to the glory of an uncontested pedestal.
i’m also quite happy to see new daring of the old dame in crossing the genre of its exhibits. the present block buster exhibit – children’s season seems to be more ‘at home’ in an art museum than a national museum. kids were everywhere, shattering the once staid golden decorum that a museum is supposed to carry at all times.
