NUS MUSEUM

Learning Objectives
For the Camping and Tramping Through the Archive: The Museum in Malaya, there are many learning opportunities that fit these curricula:

• Lower Secondary Science on “Classification”
• Lower Secondary Singapore & Malaya History
• Upper Secondary History on “Concept of Southeast Asia”
• Lower Secondary Art in appreciation of the types of art that came to be collected in local museums to reflect our heritage
• Upper Secondary Art on the ways of life in early Singapore

Students will learn how to make inferences and evaluations of artefacts found & different ways of seeing.

Students will be able to see the different ways daily experiences are interpreted and used as sources of inspiration by artists & be engaged in craft work themselves.

Students will be able to learn how to make observations & classify these collections on display.

Learning Site
Camping and Tramping through the Malayan Archives: The Museum in Malaya
NUS Museum is a comprehensive museum for teaching and research. It focuses on Asian regional art and culture, and seeks to create an enriching experience through its collections and exhibitions. The Museum has over 7,000 artefacts and artworks divided across four collections. The Lee Kong Chian Collection consists of a wide representation of Chinese materials from ancient to contemporary art; the South and Southeast Asian Collection holds a range of works from Indian classical sculptures to modern pieces; and the Ng Eng Teng Collection is a donation from the late Singapore sculptor and Cultural Medallion recipient of over 1,000 artworks. A fourth collection, the Straits Chinese Collection, is located at NUS’ Baba House at 157 Neil Road, Singapore.

Camping and Tramping Through the Archive: The Museum in Malaya. January 2011-2012

This term Camping and Tramping is inspired by a lesser known 19th century document compiled by a British officer describing the field work and travails of his time with the colonial office in Malaya. Such documents and colonial museums attempted to provide an understanding of the region. This exhibition shows some of the results of their field work. With the rise of the Museum in British Malaya, a systematic collection of regional flora and fauna was carried out.

Working the Tropical Garden (Till 28 August 2011)

Asian Symphony, Ng Eng Teng’s largest known public mural measuring 1.8 x 9 m, was commissioned for the Garden Hotel in 1971. Conceived in an era when Singapore was beginning to emphasise environmental planning as the key to sustainable development, the mural is an idealised expression of man’s synergistic relationship with nature. It was recently donated to the NUS Museum and is now installed at National University Health System building at Kent Ridge.

This exhibition brings together working sketches and a maquette which were part of Ng’s preparatory work for the mural, as well as other materials which elucidate the artist’s articulation and treatment of the figure. The displays complement the Museum’s permanent exhibition Sculpting Life: The Ng Eng Teng Collection, allowing a survey of key thematic and formal interests which the artist had explored since the 1960s.

Ways of Seeing Chinese Art (Ongoing)

Polychrome Jar with Floral Motif Late Ming (17th C) Jingdezhen Ware, Jiangxi

Ways of Seeing Chinese Art features over 200 objects including ceramics, jades and bronzes from the Lee Kong Chian Collection. The exhibition presents a comprehensive history of Chinese ceramic art with more than 100 ceramic pieces dating from prehistory to the early 20th century, representing wares produced by major kilns in China.

Sculpting Life (Ongoing)

Ng Eng Teng (1934 – 2001) was a painter and potter by training but is most recognised for his sculptural pieces featuring humanist themes. A beneficiary of the artist's generous donations, NUS Museum has over 1,000 of Ng's works including sketches, paintings, maquettes, sculptures, figurines and pottery. An archival display-cum-exhibition, the presentation will be divided into three sections – The Formative Years, Body/Form/Perspectives and Materials/Processes/Public Works – exploring a range of biographical, stylistic and thematic interests. The presentation surveys the breadth and depth of Ng’s oeuvre and encourages further research and dialogue on the artist, his productions and facets of the era in which he lived and worked.

Ng Eng Teng, Acrobat (detail), 1988 Ciment fondu, paint, lacquer

Additional Information
Learning Journeys Visits will be on a first-come-first served basis, depending on availability.

Opening Hours:
10am-7.30pm (Tuesdays – Saturdays)
10am – 8pm (Sundays)
Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays

Cost:
Please call to enquire for different programmes.

Bus to alight students at entrance of University Cultural Centre. NUS Museum can be accessed from the UCC level. Walk right towards the NUS Museum. NUS Museum location map here.

Parking facilities: Carpark 3, turn left upon seeing sign for “Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music” & “Office of Estate and Development.

For more information, please visit our museum blog www.nusmuseum.blogspot.com or our museum website www.nus.edu.sg/museum

Programmes
1. Visit to NUS Museum