An entire set of 84 hand-carved teakwood model pagodas has been painstakingly brought together and reunited for a special exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), running now to Jun 1, 2025.
Titled Pagoda Odyssey 1915: From Shanghai to San Francisco, the exhibition chronicles the collection’s incredible journey, starting first from the Tushanwan Workshop in China, where the models were painstakingly carved by young artists under the watchful eye of artistically inclined priests.
Ranging from just 30 centimetres to over 2 metres in height, the incredibly detailed models of the Jingzhou Pagoda (built in the Northern Song Dynasty), Pavilion of the Brilliant Mountain (an early Ming dynasty watchtower) and Dragon Flower Pagoda (Shanghai’s oldest surviving pagoda, having first been erected in 220CE) serve a dual purpose as both architectural archive and artistic achievement.
These masterpieces went on to represent China’s rich landscape of architectural heritage at the watershed Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, which commemorated the completion of the Panama Canal a year prior.
There, the collection of model pagodas found purchase amid other technological and cultural marvels from other world powers of the period, including demonstrations of the first transcontinental phone call and a fully operational automobile assembly plant.
That fateful date marked the last time the collection would be brought together for over a century – that is, until Pagoda Odyssey, which blends the exhibition of the groundbreaking collection with interactive elements and a uniquely Singapore spin.
The former presents an immersive virtual reality experience that brings visitors into the interior of the Pagoda of Six Harmonies in Hangzhou, one of the pagodas in the collection.
Visitors will also have the chance to touch – well, not the real teakwood models, but 3D-printed replicas of them for a novel and tactile experience. They can even craft model pagodas of their own using Lego bricks!
Don’t forget to drop by Towers of Faith, an accompanying photography display that looks at religious buildings right here in Singapore – five of them, to be exact. Examine Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, Yu Huang Gong, Sultan Mosque and the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple through a tantalising mix of archival footage and contemporary photography.
Pagoda Odyssey 1915: From Shanghai to San Francisco runs from now to Jun 1, 2025. Admission charges apply. Visit here for more information.
All photos courtesy of Asian Civilisations Museum.
