SINGAPORE: The National Museum of Singapore’s Glass Rotunda will reopen to the public on Saturday (Dec 10) after two years of renovation work. It is now home to two permanent installations featuring the flora and fauna of Singapore.
Story of the Forest is a digital installation based on the museum’s prized collection of watercolours, William Farquhar’s Collection of Natural History Drawings. Farquhar was the first Commandant of Singapore and had commissioned artists to illustrate the country’s flora and fauna, according to the museum.
Visitors to the Glass Rotunda can interact with the flora and fauna featured in Story of the Forest. (Photo: Dewi Fabbri)
The museum commissioned Japanese digital art collective, teamLab, to create the interactive digital installation, which turns 69 drawings into animated illustrations. Using sensors, the installation allows visitors to interact with the flora and fauna.
The second installation is a part of one of the museum’s latest acquisitions: Photographer Robert Zhao’s collection named Singapore, Very Old Tree.
Monkey God Tree, Jurong West. (Photo: Robert Zhao)
The installation, which goes by the same name, showcases 17 out of the 30 images in the collection, and attempts to explore the personal connections that Singaporeans have with trees around the island, according to the museum.
