Past Exhibitions

2025

AMAZÔNIA: Photographs by Sebastião Salgado

Amazônia was a major exhibition by the award-winning photographer Sebastião Salgado (b. 1944, Brazil). It spotlighted the Amazon region and its ecosystems coming under the threat of deforestation and climate change, while featuring the voices, portraits, and perspectives of the Indigenous communities who live in – and with – the largest rainforest on the planet.

This multisensory and immersive exhibition, curated and designed by Lélia Wanick Salgado, comprised over 200 photographs, a soundtrack by Jean-Michel Jarre, two projection rooms, video testimonies from Indigenous leaders, tactile image plates for the visually impaired, and a space dedicated to Instituto Terra, the reforestation non-governmental organisation founded by the Salgados. Amazônia powerfully demonstrated the beauty and majesty of the Amazon region, while issuing an important call to protect and conserve what has been called the “lungs of the world”.

Play:Date – Unlocking Cabinets of Play

Play:Date – Unlocking Cabinets of Play was an experiential pop-up showcase centred around the themes of toys and play. A collective effort with our local community of artists and toy collectors, this showcase presented over 250 locally and globally recognisable toys across various eras.

2024

Story of the Forest

A breathtaking showcase of artistry and creative technology, Story of the Forest was an immersive virtual presentation in our Glass Rotunda by renowned Japanese digital art collective teamLab.

Inspired by the museum's treasured William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, the installation transformed 69 drawings from the collection into three-dimensional animations that invited you to interact up close with the enchanted wildlife and landscapes of 19th century Malaya.

Singapore, Very Old Tree

Created by renowned local photographer and artist Robert Zhao, this intimate exhibit at the bottom of the Glass Rotunda invited visitors into the images and stories of 17 trees in Singapore – providing an alternative perspective of Singapore’s history and the personal connections that Singaporeans have with our local trees.

The exhibition and its name were inspired by an old postcard from the National Archives of Singapore. Titled "Singapore. (very old tree)", the postcard depicts an unspecified tree dating back to 1904. This exhibition was first commissioned as part of the Singapore Memory Project and was later showcased as part of the nation's SG50 celebrations.

Plastic – Remaking Our World

A special exhibition charting plastic’s meteoric rise in the 20th century, its environmental impact, and cutting-edge solutions for a more sustainable way of using plastics in our society. Featuring over 300 objects, posters, films, and photographs, including rarities from the dawn of the plastic age, objects of the pop era and contemporary designs and projects, the exhibition also included a local narrative of Singapore’s history with plastics, featuring a blend of physical and digital displays of National Collection items as well as an interactive space.

2023

Now Boarding: Experiencing Singapore through Travel, 1800s – 2000s

Our Now Boarding exhibition looked back at the history of travel, tourism and hospitality in Singapore from the 1800s to the 2000s.

Semangat yang Baru: Forging a New Singapore Spirit

A special exhibition that captured the ferment and dynamism of our early years, when the leaders and people of Singapore rallied together to build our fledgling nation between the 1950s and 1970s.

Growing Up

Set against the larger historical context of Singapore’s early years as a young nation, this gallery offered a look at the parallel societal changes in the tumultuous 1950s and 1960s through the kampung, school and entertainment venues.

Modern Colony

By the end of the 19th century, Singapore was already a global city brought about by an influx of people, ideas and goods from Asia and Europe. This gallery explored the cosmopolitan nature of Singapore as British Crown colony in the 1920s and 1930s.

Surviving Syonan

This gallery shone the spotlight on how the people of Singapore coped with daily life and responded with grit and resourcefulness to the Japanese Occupation, a period of great adversity and abject scarcity. It celebrated their resilience, tenacity, resourcefulness and self-reliance.

Voices of Singapore

Through cultural artefacts including music, performances, television and theatre, this gallery explored how Singaporeans constructed a complex terrain of self-expression in the 1970s and 80s.

Spinning Connections

From food to performing arts, Southeast Asia’s intangible cultural heritage is an important link to our past and intrinsic to our rich cultural identity. To pay homage to the time-honoured traditions and living expressions that define and connect us across the region, Spinning Connections presented four original video artworks that showcase creative contemporary responses to the theme of intangible cultural heritage.

A Voyage of Love and Longing

Drawing inspiration from the practice of belayar (voyage) in the Malay Archipelago during the 19th century, A Voyage of Love and Longing invited visitors to re-trace the complex emotions at its different points, from departure to return, through the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings.

Moving Memories

Artist Yew Chong’s life-sized murals took visitors on a trip through time and through scenes of Singapore, both past and present.

2022

The Doraemon Exhibition Singapore 2022

Celebrating Japan's beloved manga character, Doraemon, through the works of globally renowned contemporary Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami, Mika Ninagawa and Yoshitomo Nara.

Hawkapura: Atmosphere, Character, Flavours

In visualising and creating various everyday and specialty dishes across generations, Singapore has proudly carved its own identity and passion centring around the subject of food.

OFF / ON: Everyday Technology that Changed our Lives, 1970s – 2000s

This immersive showcase explored how everyday technological tools changed and shaped the lives of Singaporeans from the 1970s to 2000s.

Dislocations: Memory & Meaning of the Fall of Singapore, 1942

Dislocations: Memory and Meaning of the Fall of Singapore, 1942 was a commemorative exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the British Surrender to the Imperial Japanese Army in Singapore on 15 February 1942.

Rooting for Change: Artistic Responses to Climate Change and Sustainability

Three multimedia artworks created as an artistic response to climate change and sustainability, inspired by the museum's collection to create fresh connections between environmental issues that concern our present and allow us to imagine what our future might look like.

New, Great and Happy: The Amusement "Worlds" of Singapore

Relive fond memories and learn interesting fun facts about amusement parks in Singapore. Enjoy some of the classic amusement park games and rides, provided by local carnival veteran Uncle Ringo, at the Nati...

Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore

Made possible by people from all walks of life in Singapore, this exhibition told the story of how people came together to respond to and live through this local and global crisis, through photographs, film and donated artefacts.

Home, Truly: Growing Up with Singapore, 1950s to the Present

As part of The Straits Times' 175th anniversary, this intimate exhibition invited visitors to see themselves in the stories presented, adopting a personal and contemplative tone to encourage reflection on what Singapore means as our home, and our hopes for the home we aspire to be.

#NeverBeforeSG

#NEVERBEFORESG addresses the impact of COVID-19 in Singapore and serves as a visual documentation seen through the eyes of 87 creatives.

2020

@ Home, Truly: A Digital Experience

What memories bind us together as Singaporeans, and what makes this home, truly? @ Home, Truly: A Digital Experience let viewers join nine-year-old Nadine and her beloved Gong Gong (Mandarin for “Grandfather”) as they conversed with each other about living and growing up in Singapore.

An Old New World: From the East Indies to the Founding of Singapore, 1600s–1819

As part of the Singapore Bicentennial commemoration, this exhibition told the lesser-known stories of Singapore's history 200 years before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles.

2019

Packaging Matters

This exhibition explored the world of food packaging in Singapore, from the early bottling and canning factories in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, to the light industries of the 1960s–1970s when food was manufactured in factories.