ALWAYS THOUGHT MUSEUMS WERE DULL? EVER WANTED TO FIND A MUSEUM THAT FITS WHO YOU ARE?
With tons and tons of hand-drawn drawings and illustrations for you to complete, stamps and textiles for you to re-create, the Whats Your Museum Identity guidebook will get you hooked. From delicate Peranakan kebayas, ancient stamps to vintage robots, this book will appeal to anyone. If you’re a sassy fashionista, a quirky collector or adventurous traveller, this book is for you. Complete with the travel-sized MY AMAZING MUSEUM MANUAL that will make your museum experience more than fabulous!
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THE FASHIONISTA – peranakan museum –
THE COLLECTOR – museum of toys –
THE TRAVELLER – philatelic museum – 3
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THIS SECTION IS SPECIALLY TAILOR-MADE TO CATER TO THE YOUNG, FUNKY AND OH-SO-FABULOUS FASHIONISTAS. IT FEATURES UNIQUE PERANAKAN WEDDING ELEMENTS. SPECIFICALLY THE FASHION ASPECT OF THE WEDDINGS AND WE ALSO ADDED SOME OF THEIR CULTURAL PRACTICES INTO THE MIX FOR EXTRA MEASURE!
We all know that southeast asia has been a crossroad for trade since ancient times. The strong prevailing winds brought traders from far distant lands to Southeast Asia. Soon, the foreign traders settled down and married local women. Their decendants are now the ancestors of the Peranakans. Highlighted in this book are famous collections of the most exquiste yet delicate beadwork that happens to be an essential backdrop to any peranakan wedding. On a similar note, all of you creative fashionistas will glad and excited that this section includes blank canvases of peranakan slippers, kebayas and tableware for you to design yourself! With these interactive pages, you are sure to learn about the peranakan culture and be in love with the museum in a fun and creative way. So let your imagination and creativity run wild!
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THE PERANAKAN MUSEUM
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With a total of 10 different museum galleries, its no surprise that the peranakan museum in Singapore holds the world’s best and most comprehensive collection for all things peranakan. All 10 galleries do serve different purposes, for instance, this book delves into gallery 2-6 where it showcases all the small details of the 12 day peranakan wedding ceremony. 9
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(pronounced as: Ka-soat Man-nek)
You probably wouldn’t hear wedding bells at a Peranakan wedding, instead you would be subjected to the sweet sound of the Kasot Manek. As busy Peranakan women run around in them to get everything for a Nyonya’s big day. Peranakan beaded slippers are traditionally called Kasot Manek which means shoe beads in Malay. They were rather popular around the 1930s, worn by both Peranankan males and females. But nowadays, the practice of wearing such slippers are usually carried on by the females. There are different uses and types of the Kasut Manek. Brightly coloured ones with intricate beadings are usually worn during happy occasions such as weddings and festivals where as the less intricate and darker Kasut Manek, for instance in hues of navy or black, are usually worn for sad occasions, such as funerals. Two distinct types of the Kasut Manek are the covered face slippers and the open-toed slippers which are also called the peep-toe slippers.
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Jewelry has always been regarded as a highly sumbolic gift at Peranakan weddings. The Peranakan women would typically desire and prefer jewelry that are intricate and enormously-sized. I dont blame them at all. I mean, who wouldn’t want a unconventionally-sized neckalce? Most of the jewelry was presented to the bride by her husband’s family during the twelve day Peranakan wedding, it is most commonly displayed on red velvet and covered with an elaborate piece of embroidery or batik cloth. It is usually an unspoken rule that a Peranakan woman’s jewellery is an indicator of her husband’s wealth, therefore Peranakan wedding jewelry are to be considered as one of the more important things of the wedding. Other than the spouse, of course. When it comes to the wedding necklaces, floral motifs, auspicious Chinese animals and creatures are usually evident. Most importantly, intricacy is the name of the game. Necklaces are usually embellished with 10 different kinds of decorative panels, with nearly 600 tiny circular rings, about 320 tiny rosettes and a staggering 1,000 separate hand-crafted parts.
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The rather heavy textured page before this is a close up of the traditional wedding garment made from intricate and hand-made embroidered silk that is usually worn by the Nonya brides. Such wedding traditions are only to be found in Malacca alone. Most of these wedding ceremonies have died out in Penang, Singapore and most of Indonesia. They were a commodity right until the 1940s. The costume is usually accompanied with a headress worn by the bride, made out of gold and silver hair pins that are put into the hair to form a crown. At neck area is the phoenix collar to symbolise the power of the feminine phoenix in Peranakan society. Similarly, Peranakan brides are known to wear numerous jewelry and accessories to showcase her wealth and social status and is usually covered from head to toe in the finest garments for the grand wedding ceremony.
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THE PERANAKAN MUSEUM INTERACTIVE PAGES Here comes the long awaited part of the book, the part where you can whip out your colored markers, color pencils, pens or whatever you wish to doodle with and have a great time in this interactive section.
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friendlier, funnier and probably better than your run-of-the-mill museum guide.
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MY FIRST FANTABULOUS MUSEUM HANDBOOK This pocket-sized handbook section is made for you to bring along when you’re on your museum adventure. So now you can throw your dull and boring regular museum pamphlet away and appreciate our hardwork and dedicated for putting this incredibly genius handbook together.
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BRIEF HISTORY MUSEUM FLOORPLAN GALLERY DISCRIPTION I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
Installed in the former Tao Nan Chinese School, built in 1912, this intimate museum possesses one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of Peranakan objects. Galleries on three floors illustrate the cultural traditions and the distinctive visual arts of the Peranakans. The Peranakan Museum provides a stimulating and educational experience for all, while representing the living culture of the Peranakan community in the region. The museum is a component of the Asian Civilisations Museum, operating under the National Heritage Board.
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LECTURE ROOM
IXORA ROOM
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ENTRANCE
LEGEND: information
elevators
stairs
restrooms
exit
gallery - (1)
GALLERY 1: WHO AM I? Gallery one is perfect for you if you love portrait photography. The gallery showcases large high resolution photographs, and we mean high resolution photographs, of different Peranakan Chinese from different walks of life. The gallery is accompanied by a video viewing area for you to learn more about their culture. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
GALLERY 2-5: THE WEDDING Be prepared to drag your jaws along to floor when you reach these galleries, they feature actual ancient peranakan wedding artefacts. The jaw-dropping intricacy of the past Peranakans will make you not want to leave those galleries even after you’re done. Neat and comprehensive descriptions of their practices and wedding traditions are also present to educate you on their culture. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
GALLERY 6: THE NYONYA In gallery 6, the museum highlights the traditions and handiwork of the Nyonyas. Discover the intricacies of the Nyonya textile art and study the art of the Sarong Kebaya. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
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GALLERY 7: RELIGION This gallery is not meant for the easily-startled and timid individuals. It showcases the different religions of the Peranakan people and delves into topics such as the supernatural realm, gods, ancestors and spirits. Once again kids and timid adults are to avoid this gallery at all cost. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
GALLERY 8: PUBLIC LIFE Enter the world of commerce, politics and social affairs. This gallery showcases the Peranakan men and women who made an impact on Singapore’s society. Introducing prominent public figures that were Babas, such as Singapore pioneer Tan Kim Seng and former Cabinet Minister Lim Kim San. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
GALLERY 9: FOOD AND FEASTING Your Peranakan experience will not be complete without a preview of the cuisine and Peranakan dining customs. Here, you will see unique Tok Panjang porcelain dinner service for the traditional feast held during weddings and festivals. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
GALLERY 10: CONVERSATIONS In the final gallery, the museum revisits the meaning of the term “Peranakan”. Members of the community discuss how the culture has evolved over time, and what the future holds for the modernday Peranakan. PUBLIC RATING: INTERST LEVEL:
MISSING MUSEUM ITEM So heres a little interactive mini-game in the book where you are tasked to comb the museum to look for a particular object in the museum. In this case, you are tasked to look for a beaded wavy striped Peranakan pouch. If you managed to find it, write down below which gallery is it located at and you will be awarded 10 imaginary museum points!