On Wednesday after class, our ex-teacher of Singaporean history, Dr. Quek, took a group of us to the Business Canteen, just a short walk away from our usual canteen (the Arts & Sciences Canteen). She touted the Indian food, so that's what I got, and it was absolutely one of the best meals I've had in Singapore.
^^ I wish I knew what everything was...chicken, rice, cabbage/carrots, naan, chick peas, and a mango/yoghurt milkshake. Yum!!!!
Eating in the Business Canteen.
After that, a group of us had planned to go to the Singapore Art Museum downtown after class. We caught a bus around 3 and rode all the way into town. It was one of the first times we'd ridden a bus into town without a chaperone - meaning one of the first times we'd actually paid attention to what was whizzing by us. Thus, I took a lot of pictures of the buildings and fields we passed. Unfortunately, I don't know what most of the things are. But note all the cranes - I can understand why Singaporeans jokingly say that the national bird of Singapore is the crane (haha)!
The Singapore Art Museum was pretty straightforward as far as art museums go, but I really enjoyed it. Entrance was free for students, which is always a plus, and most of the art was aesthetically pleasing to me (which is always my favorite part about an art museum). We also spent a lot of time playing in the kids' areas, drawing pictures and being silly. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the day, and a lot of fun!
^^ One of my favorite paintings. I am partial to self-portraits.
^^ Drawing pictures in the kids' area!
^^ They had a station where you could lean over a mirror and trace your face. So funny!
After the museum, we just went back to PGP for dinner and a chill night of cake-decorating for our professor's birthday (pictures in the next post).
One more thing I'd like to talk about as regards the museum is the information plaques accompanying the paintings. The plaques were interesting in that they gave very matter-of-fact interpretations of the art. "This piece was produced by this artist in this year. Short bio of the artist. Short explanation of what the painting means." It removed any sort of subjectivity, as though art were a thing one could discuss in "right" or "wrong," "black" or "white" terms. We also saw a group of students on a tour.
All of this made me think about the presentation the museum was giving, and the way it might affect young Singaporeans' views on art. Like many things in Singapore, the museum plaques were very cut and dry. I'll talk about this more in a future post, but Singapore school systems are set up around rigorous standardized exams. This museum was an interesting extension of that - standardized art. My homestay family said that Singaporeans are not taught to think, but taught to spit back information and pass tests. This method of teaching, like the plaques, tries to make messy, complicated, ambiguous things very cut and dry.
This is all so interesting to me, especially because our UNC-professor-taught class here is exactly the opposite. There is a low focus on explicit facts and much more focus on thought and ways of understanding/ thinking about the world around us. If there could be a motto for the class, it would probably be, "Nothing is cut and dry - everything is infinitely complex and variegated."
This mindset seems completely incompatible with the Singaporean one to me. I thought it was interesting that all of these musings arose for me at the museum. Hopefully you've enjoyed reading about them!
