While many of us would like to leave 2020 behind and look forward to brighter days, it’s important to remind ourselves how strong and resilient people have been during those dark months.
Documenting how people in Singapore lived through and experienced the pandemic is the National Museum of Singapore’s Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore. It will run from Feb 27 to Aug 29.
The exhibition is an intimate look into life in Singapore in the new normal, and perhaps a way to share with future generations what it was like during the early phases of the pandemic.
Credit: Edwin Koo
A visual record
Through the 272 photographs, a short film and 16 donated artefacts, visitors will get a glimpse of the diverse lives of fellow residents as they work and care for one another.
It also offers a glimpse into the social bonds, tenacity and resilience across the diverse communities in Singapore.
The exhibits span five themes—A Day in the Life, Essential Workers, New Ways of Living, Making Visible, and The Spaces Between Us.
View photographs by five photographers—Bob Lee, Edwin Koo, How Hwee Young, Brian Teo and Zakaria Zaina—as well as a short film produced by filmmakers Dave Lim and Adar Ng.
Credit: Brian Teo
They document the pandemic up close, as experienced by children, the elderly, migrant workers and professionals providing essential services.
Credit: Zakaria Zainal
The exhibition also features 16 pandemic-related objects, contributed by members of the public and organisations as part of the museum’s Collecting Contemporary Singapore initiative.
Artefacts range from a seal carving made by a doctor to remember a patient’s smile behind her face mask, to sketches and paintings which function as a visual diary of the lives of individuals during the pandemic.
Credit: National Museum of Singapore
You can still contribute objects and stories, as this public call, jointly held with the National Library Board, is open for submissions until Jun 30 2021.
Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore runs from Feb 27 to Aug 29 at the National Museum of Singapore. Admission is free for everyone. More information available here.
