Everyone was raving about National Gallery Singapore and how could we missed that especially now is the month long June school holiday? Yes, we joined the crowd and headed over to National Gallery Singapore with our friends and we couldn’t help containing our excitement. Not because of where we were going but the main reason was we got to catch up with our friends! Smarties love catching up with their friends during holidays where they don’t have to worry about homework, spelling or tests. Sounds stressful huh?
We met up, took the public transport and here we were at the National Gallery of Singapore! We saw huge yellow with polka dots balloons and mummies couldn’t help but take pictures of us together.
We explored the Children’s Biennale 2017 section where the art installations encourage children and adults to create and imagine. Our first stop was the Homogenizing and Transforming World art installation. It was very well organized as they limit the number of people into the room so that everyone gets to enjoy the art without having a huge crowd that pushed each other around. Smarties and friends were happily tapping and bouncing between the white balls to change its colors and sound. Amazing isn’t it? Even I was fascinated by it and I was happily playing around like a child too!
Firewalk: A Bridge of Embers in which the work creates an illusion of depth. Smarties’ friends were pretty scared of it and couldn’t really step on it but they were nice to pose a picture for us though whereas smarties had a great time imagining themselves floating in the air above what’s below.
Mummies had a great photography session over there too. In actual fact, we were feeling jelly inside us.
Next to this installation is the Obliteration Room where the room was covered with bright colorful dots. We didn’t know that we can actually purchase the stickers from the counter and let the children paste it anywhere they want. The children were initially a little upset but very soon they got over it and enjoyed their time whipping up dishes in the kitchen. They were taking turns being guests and chefs.
Being Yourself is an art installation where the children get to use their sense of touch to feel the woodcuts. Children get to feel the different parts of the textured wall and make their own prints to take home as mementos.
After the “coloring”, we headed to This Changed My Life where the children got to write their wishes on a ribbon and later tied it up with other ribbons that were stretched across in a room. Smarties wrote what they want to be when they grow up and I’m surprised by mei mei’s change of ambition from a teacher to a policewoman. Maybe I should bring her for the Wonderwoman movie and see if she will change her ambition to that so that she can help save the world! Oh what big dream I have!
The boys love this section as it is related to Science. This installation is called A Guide To The Flora and Fauna Of The World, Children’s Edition where you get to discover 39 animals, plants and environments that have been altered by humans, and see if you can spot what is natural and what is man-made.
Did their imagination run wild over here? Yes, they did. Gor gor couldn’t wait to kiss the frog and change it into a princess so that he could live happily ever after while…
mei mei pretending to be a mermaid swimming in the ocean with a white polar bear behind her.
We actually missed Rock & Sphere and skipped Duplet as there was a lady sitting under the cloud too long for us to wait. We headed straight to The Sonnet In Blue where a huge maze of handmade flowers was displayed in the area. The petals of the flowers contain words and poems penned by young students from Singapore and Southeast Asia, compiled with the support from the Poetry Festival (Singapore). The children pretended to be in the ocean and swimming within it and playing hide and seek around the area. Finally, a group shot before we headed off. Just as expected, it is always so hard to get all the little ones (although not little anymore) to look at the camera.
To conclude, the trip was fun and awesome because we had friends with us to enjoy the moments together. Listening to each child’s story while exploring each installation was simply enjoyable and amazing. The gallery really encourages and sparks loads of creative imagination in the children. This is beneficial for them as it encourages them to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas that can be beyond reality. It’s a great way for them to discover what surrounds them and collect those experiences. Lastly, it develops their communication skills and improves their vocabulary while they are playing the imaginary games and doing storytelling to each other. A really great way to learn out of the classroom, isn’t it true?
If you have not been to Gallery Children’s Biennale 2017 at the National Gallery Singapore yet, do so before it ends on the 8th Oct 2017. We believe you will discover something that is extraordinary that we may have missed. Do share with us your discovery or even your imaginative story.