ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM

Description

Essentials about the Asian Civilisations Museum in brief

If you are interested in Asian art and culture, you should not miss the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) when visiting Singapore. The ACM is the only museum in the region dedicated exclusively to the artistic heritage of Asia. Covering 14,000 square meters, over 1,000 exhibits showcase the rich cultural traditions of a variety of Asian peoples.

The history of the Asian Civilisations Museum

Singapore is an ideal location for such a museum, because the small city-state has always been a melting pot of diverse Asian peoples and cultures. For centuries, Chinese, Indians and Malays have lived here side by side with many other Asian nationalities. In order to present the multifaceted art of Southeast Asian cultures, the Asian Civilisations Museum was founded in 1993. Since 2003, its exhibition rooms have been located in a beautiful historic building on the banks of the Singapore River.

The exhibitions of the Asian Civilisations Museum

The ACM showcases both the historical connections between Asian cultures and their points of contact with Western cultures. On the first floor is the Trade and the Exchange of Ideas Gallery, where visitors can trace Singapore’s history as a global trading center through a variety of exhibits.

One of the highlights of the Asian Civilisations Museum is definitely the Khoo Teck Puat Gallery, where visitors can admire the famous Tang Shipwreck Collection. This is the cargo of a 9th century Chinese shipwreck discovered in 1998 that sank in the Java Sea. The more than 60,000 objects found on board are an impressive journey back in time to late Tang Dynasty China. Lovers of Chinese porcelain will also get their money’s worth at the ACM. More than 300 excellently preserved Chinese ceramics await visitors on the third floor of the museum.

In addition to China, the many peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia are of course also represented in the Asian Civilisations Museum with countless exhibits. From Buddhist art from India, Myanmar and Thailand to stone sculptures of Hindu gods and temple capitals from Java and Vietnam, the ACM covers a very broad spectrum of cultures and eras.