Finding love at Singapore Art Museum

“Daddy, how do I get myself a date on Valentine’s Day?” Pangzi asked, a few years too early.

“Why do you want a date?” I said, non committal.

“I dunno, but it seems cool to have one,” he said. “Everyone else in school does.”

“You sure? Anyway if you’re hard up for one, I know just to place to take you,” I said, sensing the opportunity.

In no time we found ourselves at the new Singapore Art Museum extension at Tanjong Pagar, right next to some shipping warehouse.

“Daddy, why are we at a factory again?”

“Don’t you know you can find love at the unlikeliest of places?”

“Wait, is this a gallery?”

“Singapore Art Museum! Home to contemporary art… and romance. A bit out of the way though.”

Near the Singapore Art Museum entrance, we came to this Instagram-worthy spot called the “Flirting Point”.

“See? People come from all over to meet here,” I said. “You can stick around and wait for a date.”

“Awkward. Maybe I’ll go inside and look.”

“Found anyone in this room?”

“Only a few mannequins and broken hands in a glass box,” he shrugged. “Art is sure as confusing as love.”

Then we came into a space with video essays documenting what seemed to be experiments on sound amplifiers.

“Anything here?”

“Not a soul,” he said disappointed. “No soul mate who likes music I guess.”

In the next room, we found what was unfortunately more rubbish. Mushrooms were growing out of musical instruments.

“Look daddy, this is really rotten music!”

“Composition and decomposition. Geddit?”

This Singapore Art Museum extension wasn’t very big, with only three galleries on one floor.

But the largest combining art, music and nature made the trip worth it.

The exhibits played with light and space, featuring a lot of wood and recyclable material.

It felt modern yet rustic.

Soon Pangzi had forgotten what he was here looking for.

I had yet again succeeded.

We were here: