Singapore’s National Museum marks 60 years with two new immersive exhibitions that connect past and present

Anniversary shows open at the National Museum, inviting visitors into Singapore’s story

The National Museum of Singapore has marked its 60th anniversary with the opening of two large, immersive exhibitions. The shows are built to be felt as much as read: they combine sound, film, archival objects and new artwork so visitors move through the island’s past and present rather than only looking at it on walls.

On a civic level, the museums say the pair of exhibitions aim to draw more people into conversations about national memory — how stories are chosen, who is visible in history, and how ordinary lives fit into a fast-changing city. The mood in the galleries is quietly celebratory: these are not dry displays but rooms staged to stir curiosity, empathy and debate.

What the two exhibitions offer and how they were made

The first exhibition frames a broad social history. It uses personal objects, never-before-seen photographs from the museum’s archives and interactive stations where visitors can listen to oral histories. Large-scale projections recreate street scenes and markets from different decades, while a central installation — a reconstructed shophouse room — lets people sit with household goods and recorded memories. Curators worked with community groups to source items, and a multimedia artist created an ambient soundscape that responds to visitor movement.

The second exhibition takes a more creative route. It pairs contemporary artists with archival material to rewrite old narratives. One headline piece is a multi-screen film that stitches together government footage, family videos and newly filmed interviews to show how city planning, migration and everyday trade shaped neighbourhood life. Another standout is an immersive light-and-sound installation that translates census data and maps into a sensory experience — not as a dry chart but as rooms of changing color and rhythm meant to suggest movement and population change.

Both shows use simple technology — projections, motion-triggered audio, and augmented displays — rather than flashy gimmicks. That choice keeps attention on the objects and voices at the centre, while the tech helps visitors feel present in a past city rather than detached from it. The curatorial teams include long-term museum staff alongside guest curators and artists, reflecting a collaborative approach to content and design.

How the displays trace Singapore’s six-decade journey

The anniversary theme gives the exhibitions a clear arc: from early settlement and trade to the rapid urban growth of the late 20th century and the city-state’s global profile today. The galleries weave government records, immigrant stories and household items to show the decisions and daily acts that built modern Singapore.

Rather than presenting a single heroic narrative, the shows highlight trade-offs and tensions — the push for development, the loss of old streets, and the ways communities adapted. In doing so, they ask visitors to reflect on memory: which stories are kept in museum rooms and which are left to private collections or oral memory.

Plan a visit: dates, tickets and access

Both exhibitions opened with the anniversary and will run for several months; specific closing dates are posted at the museum and on its events calendar. Tickets are available at the museum box office and online; the museum recommends buying weekend slots in advance because the new shows are expected to draw steady crowds.

The displays are located in the museum’s main wing and are fully accessible, with ramps and lifts connecting gallery spaces. Audio guides and captioning are available for key installations, and family-friendly tours and hands-on activities are scheduled on weekends. The museum is also running a series of talks and curator-led walks tied to the exhibitions.

Curators, visitors and cultural figures weigh in

Museum staff described the shows as a chance to broaden public conversations about history. The lead curator said the goal was to make archives feel alive: to show how objects and voices from the past still shape people’s lives today. A guest artist noted that pairing creative practice with archive material allowed new connections to emerge.

Early visitors responded warmly. One visitor said the reconstructed rooms felt ‘‘familiar and surprising’’ — simple things like a wooden cupboard or a radio drew immediate memories. Cultural figures and academics praised the collaborative sourcing of objects and the focus on everyday lives, saying the approach offers a richer, more inclusive view of the nation’s past.

What the anniversary shows mean beyond the museum

These exhibitions do more than celebrate 60 years: they signal a shift toward participatory storytelling and community partnerships. For tourism, they add a modern, experience-driven draw; for schools, they offer new ways to teach history through sight and sound. The museum also hinted that this collaborative model will shape future projects, suggesting its next shows will continue to blend archive, art and public input.

Sources

• prnewswire.com