ASHLEY HO CAI EE
Executive Summary / Abstract
During this attachment, we were tasked to assist in an ongoing cataloguing, create a Museum Guide as well as a blogpost for the NUS Museum's blog site that features the experiences of previous interns. Some activities we took part in includes observing a workshop for senior interns, touring the NUS Museum and the NUS Baba House.
Background Information of the Organisation
As a university museum, NUS Museum’s mission is to actively facilitate intellectual and cultural life within and beyond the University. With a distinct focus on Asia, the Museum contributes to and facilitates the production, reception, and preservation of knowledge through collections development and curatorial practice.
The Museum is a cultural hub, developing partnerships within NUS, the culture and heritage industry, and the global knowledge community.
Located at the University Cultural Centre, NUS Museum comprises nine galleries and additional ancillary spaces which host a wide range of exhibitions, module collaborations and supporting programmes that contribute to the cultural and interdisciplinary conversation within NUS and beyond.
Since 2004, the NUS Museum has been part of NUS Centre For the Arts.
Background Information of the Project / Tasks which I was involved in
For this attachment programme, we were given three tasks to complete.
1. Assisting in the on-going cataloguing of the NUS Museum's Resource Library. The Resource Library is a reference resource that contains publications on Southeast Asian arts and art histories, exhibition catalogues and materials from art auction houses. The task I was involved in dealt with a separate section of the Resource Library which housed publications which were donated by the art historian T.K. Sabapathy.
2. Creating a museum guide which provided some of our own insights of the artworks for visitors to view.
3. Creating a blogpost for the NUS Museum blog site which records what previous interns have learnt during their time at the museum.
A picture of our workroom
Elaboration / Record of the Activities Done
Cataloguing
For the cataloguing process, we were required to unpack and go through 15 boxes of books donated by the art historian T.K. Sabapathy in March and May 2019. After unpacking the books from the boxes as shown in the picture of our workroom above, we were required to key in some of the data in the book (such as the title, author, publisher etc.) into an excel sheet. We were also required to stamp the books to indicate that they were donated by T.K. Sabapathy in May/March 2019.
Creating a Museum Guide
After we were done with the cataloguing, we were given the task of compiling a museum guide for the exhibition ‘Radio Malaya: Abridged Conversations about Art’ located on the second level of the museum. This task required us to choose five artworks from the exhibition and compiling extracts from different sources to present the visitors with the way we viewed the artworks and to support or provide contrast to their own perceptions of the artwork. During this process, there was a lot of researching to be done in order to find extracts from credible sources which were relevant to the artworks that I chose.
Creating a Blogpost
At the end of the programme, all interns are required to write a blog for NUS Museum's blog site that includes the things we've learnt and reflect on the experience we had at the museum.
Observation of Workshop for Senior Interns
As one of the activities we had during the WOW programme at the museum, the senior University interns had a workshop which we were invited to observe. During this workshop, the senior interns discussed their views on the definition of a museum provided by ICOM, the International Council of Museums, as well as what problems museums in Singapore face and what are some methods to solve or mitigate these problems. During this workshop, I learnt many different new perspectives on what a museum is as well as some of the issues museums face behind the scenes, including things like preservation of artifacts and being relevant in today's society.
Tours around the NUS Museum and the NUS Baba House
A picture of a Chinese ink painting in the NUS Museum.
During this programme, our mentor at the NUS Museum took us on a tour of the NUS Museum and answered some queries we had about the museum. She described the origins and stories behind some artworks we saw as well as gave explanations to the reasons why certain artworks are displayed a certain way.
Pictures of the NUS Baba House located at Neil Road. Due to restrictions given by the museum, we were unable to take any pictures inside the house.
Our external mentor also booked us a museum tour at the NUS Baba House located at Neil Road. This museum was the house of a wealthy Peranakan Chinese family for several generations since the early 1900s, and was sold to NUS in 2006 and opened in 2008. The tour allowed me to get a glimpse of a Peranakan household in the early 1900s and taught me more about the unique traditions and culture in a Peranakan family in Singapore. As we visited the museum around the Chinese New Year period, we also got to see some typical Chinese New Year decorations such as the lantern and red cloth placed outside the house which is not usually displayed during other times of the year.
Elaboration / Record of Results / Deliverables / Impact of Work Done
Cataloguing
The end product of the cataloguing were finished boxes of books which were all stamped and catalogued accordingly. Although it seems like a small and trivial task, cataloguing the books were important as it provides the organisation with a clearer record of the books and catalogues that T.K. Sabapathy donated, indicating what they have and do not have.
Creating a Museum Guide
The end result of this task was a Museum guide. To create this guide, I compiled extracts mostly from the National Archives of Singapore where I picked out certain portions of transcripts of oral interviews between people that were relevant to the artwork I chose.
Some pictures of the extracts that I used for the artwork 'Gambling' pictured above
Creating a Blogpost for the Organisation's "Diary of an NUS Museum Intern" Series
The product of this task was a blogpost to be posted on the NUS Museum's blog site (http://nusmuseum.blogspot.com/)which included our experiences and what we have learnt over the course of our month long attachment. This was a good way to wrap up my learning at the museum and reflect on the experiences I have gained over the course of the programme.
3 Content Knowledge / Skills Learnt
1. During this programme, I got to learn more about art and art history in Southeast Asia. The cataloguing process allowed me to look through various catalogues which featured the works of primarily Southeast Asian artists. This broadened my perspective on the different types of art and reemphasized how art can come in many different forms and types. Furthermore, I got to know about some famous Singaporean artists which prior to this programme I had little to no knowledge about.
2. Secondly, I got to learn more about the Peranakan culture in Singapore back in the early 1900s and some features of a traditional Peranakan household in the past, such as the way they dress, the types of food they eat and how their house are typically arranged. During the programme, it also highlighted how although the Baba Peranakan culture is heavily influenced by the Malay and Chinese traditions, it turns out to be unique as it ends up incorporating two different influences to make their own special culture and tradition. For example, the Baba Peranakans typically had ancestral altars in their houses which was more influenced by the Chinese but had long, rectangular tables which were influenced by the Malays.
3. Lastly, I got to learn skills like the basic analysis of artworks. This skill was important for the task which required us to create a Museum Guide. The basic analysis and paying more attention to the details of an artwork helped me to get a better understanding of what the artist is trying to portray through his work and the main subject of the artwork. Sometimes it is easy to overlook certain details of an artwork which completely changes the meaning of the work. For example, in one artwork I chose for the Museum Guide, it featured St. Andrew's Cathedral located near City Hall today. When I saw the artwork, I was too focused on the cathedral itself and failed to see that there was a demolished building featured in the painting, which was actually one of the main points of the painting. I only realized this after my external mentor pointed this out to me, making me reshape my views of the artwork and what it was trying to portray.
2 Interesting Aspects of your Learning
1. Over the course of the internship, I learnt a lot about the challenges that museums face and some measures they are taking to reduce them. This made me realize that museums face several critical challenges such as the preservation of works displayed in the museum and how, for example, they swap artworks on display every few months to ensure that it does not get exposed to light for too long as it may cause the colours to fade. Additionally, it highlighted the fact that each museum faces different types of problems. For example, when curating the Baba House, one of the main problems the curators faced was how they should arrange the museum such that it preserves the 'feel' of a home despite being a museum. However, the NUS Museum does not face such a challenge due to the nature of the museum.
2. During the programme, I also learnt about the work that goes behind the scenes at a museum which was rather interesting as I would not have gotten to know about it otherwise. Our task of creating a museum guide was assigned to us so that we could learn about the work curators do -- from choosing a few artworks out of a whole collection and the extensive research they do to create a Museum Guide -- on a smaller scale. Before this programme, I did not know what curators did, but this exercise gave me some insight into the type of work they do and how much effort goes into curating an exhibition at a museum.
1 Takeaway for Life
Through this experience, I got to learn about the hard work and effort that goes behind what we see at a museum. Before this, I knew very little about what goes behind the scenes at a museum but this programme allowed me to get a glimpse of what it is like to work at such a place and the many challenges museum curators face when doing their job. This highlighted how behind every exhibition, no matter how simple it may seem at surface level, always has a lot of effort and work put into it in order to create something for the public to view.
A picture taken with our mentor and the other interns at the museum :)