Peranakan Museum
39 Armenian St, Singapore 179941
Phone : +65 6332 7591
Get to know Singapore’s vibrant Peranakan community and history at this top-notch museum, filled with fine artefacts and fun exhibits.
It’s safe to say that the Peranakan Museum is the go-to destination for Peranakan heritage and culture. It houses what is reputedly the world’s finest collection of Peranakan artefacts – such as jewellery, furniture and textiles – in 10 permanent galleries over three floors.
Various aspects of this hybrid Southeast Asian culture – made up of Chinese, Malay and Indian elements – are brought to life here, through the interactive and multimedia exhibits.
Highlights include an elaborate 12-day Peranakan wedding, the stories of prominent Peranakans in Singapore’s history and how today’s Peranakans have evolved with their culture.
Their heritage is a tale of adaptation, after all. The term ‘peranakan’ means ‘locally born’ in Malay, and refers to the descendants of foreign traders who married local women in Southeast Asia centuries ago.
Singapore’s Peranakan community is mostly Peranakan Chinese, descendants of Chinese traders who settled in the busy ports of Penang and Singapore in the 19th century.
The Peranakan Museum is housed in a handsome old school. Now a National Monument, the former Tao Nan School was built in 1912, and was the first modern Hokkien school set up in the Straits Settlements.
A little-known fact: The building’s layout is based on Straits Settlements bungalows, where rooms sit around a central hall while toilets and kitchens are outside the main building.
Source : yoursingapore.com
The different galleries are found in the following manner:
Gallery 1 (Level 1)
Galleries 2 – 5 (Level 2)
Galleries 6 – 10 (Level 3)
Special Exhibitions Galleries (Level 3)
Gallery 1 titled Origins provides an introduction to Peranakan culture and to various Peranakan communities in Singapore, Malacca, Penang and Southeast Asia. Visitors to the subsequent rooms will learn about the story of the traditional 12-day Peranakan wedding, where significant ceremonies like the lap chai (exchange of gifts) and chiu thau (coming of age) are presented. Visitors can also see the elaborate wedding chamber and a wedding procession taking place indoors on Level 2. Gallery 6 Nonya, features the arts and crafts of Nonyas like beadwork, along with a display on the Nonya kebaya, and the womenfolks’ role of transmitting cultural values to Peranakan children. Gallery 7 shows Religion, on Peranakans and their faiths. Gallery 8 illustrates the commerce, politics and social affairs of prominent Peranakans in Singapore’s history in this exhibition titled Public Life. Gallery 9 on Food and Feasting, provides a grand banquet setting with the world’s best collection of nonya porcelain. And finally the visual experience concludes with an introspection of modern Peranakans and how they feel about their heritage and the future of their culture in Gallery 10 (Conversations). Additional Special Exhibitions Galleries will feature changing specific-themed exhibitions.
Source : wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAjjhkzoaLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yue2QXBCJTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOWRSAYlR9Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvLiAXlN0Y4
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Opening hours and Admission
Getting there : The museum is about a 10 minute walk from City Hall and Bras Basah MRT Stations
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