Following a three-year revamp, the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) will reopen its doors to the public on Saturday (April 25).
Visitors can look forward to the six refreshed permanent galleries in MHC, which explore the history and heritage of the Malay community in Singapore.
These galleries showcase a mix of artefacts and modern works from commissioned artists and the community, curated according to various themes across different eras.
AsiaOne went on a media preview of the revamped Malay Heritage Centre on Wednesday (April 22), here are some highlights visitors can expect.
One artwork that greets visitors in the Preview Gallery is Earthly Echoes by Fazleen Karlan, who goes by the moniker Neo_Artefacts.
The artwork was inspired by real-life excavation sites in the Kampong Glam area, Fazleen told the media.
She combined artefacts such as ceramic shards found during two separate excavations in 2001 and 2024 to create five sculptures.
“What I’ve been trying to capture is how Kampong Glam, as a location, has witnessed so many changes over the years. And these artefacts can attest to all these changes that happened over a long period of time,” Fazleen said.
While looking at her work, visitors can “think like an archaeologist” and discover different items embedded in the sculptures.
“At the end of it, you can also sketch out your favourite artefact and share it with me on social media,” the artist said.
Another display in the MHC is Bintang Layar, Bintang Cipta — a tribute to women who contributed to the Malay film industry during its golden era.
Artist Mysara Aljaru told the media that the mixed-media installation invites visitors to imagine a world where women had been given equal opportunity in directorial and scriptwriter roles at that time.
“If you open the drawers of the installation, you will find letters written by Malay women currently in the film industry and dedicated to their predecessors.
“These women played vital roles in the industry, but their efforts either went unrecognised, or their work was taken credit for by those above them,” she added.
‘Stories are not just stories’
The new galleries are housed in the original Malay Heritage Centre’s main building, which was first built as a palace for Sultan Hussein in the 1830s, and feature an arc discovered during the revamp.
Previously covered by plaster and paint, the arc, as well as Istana Kampong Gelam, are now shown in their original state to showcase the building’s rich history.
Speaking to AsiaOne, MHC’s assistant curator Syafiqah Jaaffar said that multiple factors are considered while curating artefacts and works for the galleries.
Curators often have to choose between arranging a gallery chronologically or by theme due to space constraints, she explained.
“In an attempt to challenge ourselves, we thought: ‘Why not combine both?’ And that’s how we came up with these six chrono-thematic galleries,” Syafiqah said.
Curators wish to highlight the stories behind the displays, she told us.
“Stories are not just stories. They contain within themselves a lot of memories and values. That’s why folklore, for example, continues till this day.”
“When we look at an object, we don’t just want to talk about the object itself but the story behind it — and that’s something that we’re trying to explore,” Syafiqah added.
A hands-on experience
Some of the works and displays in the MHC galleries also have interactive elements for visitors to get a hands-on experience.
For instance, one section of the second gallery, An Era of Changing Kings, requires them to type their names out to see what they would look like in Jawi, Rejang and Lontara scripts.
Along the Corridors of Cultural Memories, another display — a wooden congkak board fashioned after the petala wati (A Kelantanese mythological bird) — comes with a digitalised version of the old-school game.
Making the game digital allows for one or two players to learn and enjoy playing congkak while ensuring that the board does not get damaged.
Visitors can also put on a show in the Wayang room, which allows them to pick up and interact with various styles of shadow puppets from the region.
Parade, performances, workshops
MHC will also be hosting a nine-day festival from April 25 to May 3 to celebrate its reopening.
The festivities will kick off with a parade with 300 people from various Malay sub-ethnicities including the Bugis, Jawi and Orang Laut communities.
They will be presenting pushcarts which have been transformed into what MHC general manager Hafiz Shariff described as “mini museums of culture and heritage”.
Visitors will also be able to enjoy performance showcases such as Tari Topeng (Javanese masked dance) and Silat (regional martial arts) as well as workshops teaching traditional arts such as puppet-making and batik printing.
More information about the Malay Heritage Centre and its opening festival, as well as links to register or purchase tickets for various programmes can be found at https://www.malayheritage.gov.sg/.
Address: 85 Sultan Gate, Singapore 198501
Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays, 8am to 9pm (Closed on Mondays)
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
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