A profusely illustrated, hard-bound catalogue to accompany the exhibition. Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives presents historical essays on Peranakan culture and entries on each of the fifty men and women selected for the exhibition.

Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives

Biographies & Memoirs

Guan, Kwa Chong

Yoong, Jackie

Teo, John

Ang, Daphne

Community & Culture

Asian Civilisations Museum

Colonel William Farquhar (1774-1839) was a British Colonial Officer who became Commandant of Malacca in 1803, a post through which he was able o indulge his interest in natural history, sending men to collect various plant and animal specimens, which he then commissioned artists to paint.

Natural History Drawings of Malaya Peninsula 1803-1818: The Complete Farquhar

Arts & Photography

Bastin, John

History & Criticism

Didier Millet

Historians rely on Singapore's strategic position to explain its great success as a royal trading port in the 14th century, and as a British colony after 1819. What, then, accounts for the many centuries when it seemed not to thrive, and was seen in the words of John Crawfurd as "only the occasional resort of pirates"? This seeming paradox sits uneasily at the heart of Singapore historiography, and over time historians have suggested a variety of ways to resolve it. This volume collects studies about Singapore before 1800, bringing together different efforts across the 20th century at reconstructing Singapore's "missing years". Some authors have found additional details by scouring ancient and early modern texts for references to Singapore, and by reading well-known classics such as the Sejarah Melayu against the grain. Others have built narratives that bridge pre- and post-1800 perspectives by positioning Singapore within long-term global history. These efforts have yielded a much richer understanding of Singapore's changing fortunes before 1800. The articles collected in this volume represent milestones in this effort. Many are hard to locate, and two pieces are translated from Dutch to English for the first time. The collection is presented here with an introduction from historian Kwa Chong Guan. Book jacket.

Studying Singapore Before 1800

History

Asia

National University of Singapore Press

Assessments of Singapore's history invariably revolve around Sir Stamford Raffles' arrival in 1819. Before this date - we've been told - "nothing very much appears to have happened in Singapore". Pre-1819 Singapore was a sleepy, historically insignificant fishing village, little more than the "occasional resort of pirates". This ambitious book, co-written by four of Singapore's foremost historians, offers an assertive re-evaluation of that view, firmly situating Singapore's starting point seven hundred years ago. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary range of archival, textual and cartographical records, as well as the latest archaeological discoveries, the authors cast a singular historical trajectory for Singapore over the past seven centuries, animating its history like never before. Written in a compelling and accessible manner, and richly illustrated with more than 200 artefacts, photographs, maps, art works and ephemera, this volume builds upon the foundations of an earlier book, Singapore: A 700-Year History. Extensively rewritten to incorporate ground-breaking research findings, Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore widens the historical lens and offers a vital new perspective on the story of Singapore.

Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore

Heng, Derek

Borschberg, Peter

Yong, Tan Tai

Marshall Cavendish International (Asia)

Alamkara is a Sanskrit word for ornamentation or decoration. This book examines ornamentation in the context of Indian objects made for use in domestic, courtly, and religious settings. Three essays and a catalogue section develop this notion. From the exhibition:The first ever blockbuster exhibition of Indian antiquities was the result of a memorandum of understanding on culture between the governments of Singapore and India. This exhibition was setup with 330 loan artefacts from the National Museum, New Delhi at the former National Museum building (now Singapore History Museum on Stamford Road). It saw 120,000 visitors entering the portals of the museum within a record time. The exhibition was accompanied by attractive crafts, food and performances which saw community participation and support.The exhibition was thematically arranged, covering 5000 years of Indian art woven around a recurrent theme of decoration, Alamkara. The first section introduced the civilisation from Indus-Sarasvati cultures through sculptural development to fully developed temple forms with sculptures displayed in their design context. The idea of ornament was developed further to explain its aesthetic and artistic meaning and ramifications in various media. A whole section on ornamentation showcased jewellery, textiles and costumes for men, women and children along with contextual paintings to elaborate their historicity.The artefacts were further divided into more lifestyle-based themes such as from pot to plate, adorning the self, the pursuit of pleasure, the heroic ideal, kings, courtiers and craftsmen, mortal women celestial lovers and streams of devotion. These sections elaborated using a collection of artefacts based on their function and usage, the ideas of food, adornment, games and leisure activities, lovers and the world of women and religions practiced on the Indian subcontinent. The star piece of the religion section was a relic of Buddha, excavated from a site called Piprawah. These relics were honorably displayed on a platform which visitors could circumambulate. A large pillared hall evoking the Ellora buddhist caves from 7th-9th century in western India was the model for the religion gallery display. A large court interior was also evoked using tent panels, quilts, cushions and umbrellas with decorative huqqas and silverware.

Alamkara: 5000 Years of Indian Art

Sharma, R. C.

Mittal, Jagdish

Parimoo, Ratan

Architecture

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