Singapore’s refurbished Peranakan Museum to reopen in February

Singapore’s refurbished Peranakan Museum will reopen its doors to the public in mid-February 2023 following nearly four years of renovations. Peranakan Museum is a department of the Asian Civilisations Museum, operating under the National Heritage Board.

Peranakan Museum presents the cross-cultural art of Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia. Installed in the former Tao Nan School, built in 1912, it holds one of the world's finest public collections of Peranakan objects.

The completely refurbished building will feature brand-new permanent galleries presenting exceptional objects from Peranakan material culture, as well as a fresh new exhibition design and museum visitor experience. Visitors will be able to gain greater insight into the diverse Peranakan cultures of Singapore and Southeast Asia through new thematic showcases, objects, interactive displays, and programmes. The museum has worked closely with various Peranakan communities over the last four years to explore lesser-known aspects of Peranakan culture, and to contemplate the question 'what is Peranakan?'.

Interviews, stories, and contemporary expressions will showcase living cultures - such as that of the Arab Peranakans, Chinese Peranakans, Chitty Melakans (or Peranakan Indians), and Jawi Peranakans - while anchoring these cultures, with their distinctive customs and practices, within the context of the larger Malay­ Indonesian world.

Visitors will experience nine galleries across three floors. The galleries examine three grand themes pertaining to facets of Peranakan identity, namely "Origins", "Home", and "Style". Besides familiar and well-loved artefacts and set-pieces, the museum will also premiere an extensive range of new objects acquired or generously given to us in the course of the last decade.

Come February, the Peranakan Museum will also present new commissions - including one from contemporary artist Sam Lo - inspired by Peranakan identity.

More information will be released closer to the reopening date. For information on the Asian Civilisations Museum visit www.acm.org.sg h