Singapore's playgrounds from the past to the future
Playgrounds are an important source of our collective memories and identity for those who grew up in Singapore.
Titled “The More We Get Together: Singapore’s Playgrounds 1930 – 2030”, this new exhibition by the National Museum of Singapore brings visitors on a retrospective and prospective journey through four vignettes: Singapore’s Early Playgrounds (1920s – 1960s); Playing in the neighbourhood: HDB Playgrounds (1974 – 1993); Making Fun and Safe Playgrounds a Business: The Rise of Singapore’s Proprietary Playgrounds (1990s – 2000s); and Our Playgrounds, Our Future.
Activities include an immersive toddler playpen installation at the museum’s Main Rotunda, created by French artist Matali Crasset, a mosaic wall where visitors can pen their playground memories, and a rope play structure that is adapted from the rope pyramid in West Coast Park, one of the tallest play climbing structures at the time when it was built in 2000. Visitors can also view original blueprints of Singapore’s classic mosaic playgrounds, such as the famous Toa Payoh dragon playground, designed by HDB’s 1st playground designer, Mr Khor Ean Ghee. The public creations and feedback from this exhibition will guide the conceptualisation and design of the National Museum’s first permanent playground that will be constructed in 2019 near the museum’s banyan tree.
The More We Get Together: Singapore’s Playgrounds 1930 – 2030 runs till 30 September 2018 at the Stamford Gallery. Admission is free.
Reporting by Flora Yeo.
