Recent trip to Asian Civilisations Museum

August seems to be my favourite month to visit museums! My must-see exhibitions of the month were at the Asian Civilisations Museum, featuring Islamic art and artefacts.


Dressed up for the day! Not dressed to impress but for the comfort!

Miniature pictures of us on the way to the museum! Random, I like!

There was an exhibition called Shadow Spaces: Photographs of the Old Supreme Court at the foyer. Interesting and very inspiring!

Entering the Islamic Arts From South East Asia exhibition.

Buraq is the first thing that caught my attention. "The Buraq is often described as a half-mule, half-donkey creature with wings. The Buraq is depicted with a human face in certain regions of the world such as Mindanao."

Three copies of the Qur'an. "Only the most gifted calligraphers were invited to copy the Qur'an and those copies became striking works of art."

Two ikats with calligraphic patterns. "Called kain limar, they seem to have been popular within the highest courtly circles on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. Those bearing repeated religious inscriptions, like the two textiles on display, are particularly complex to produce, for they require great artistic skill and much time."

Cloisonne enamel. "Enamel is coloured glass fused to a metal surface at high temperature. Cloisonne enamel derives from the French term cloison, which means partition or divider. Small metal strips are used to divide the areas of coloured glass, and they remain visible after the object is fired and polished."

"Kendi is a Malay term derived from the Sanskit word 'kundika', a small ritual pouring vessel. A typical kendi has a bulbous body, a neck which is used for holding the vessel and a spout."

Multicultural Sarong. "The sarong, a long skirt, is worn by both Muslims and non-Muslims but the motifs on commissioned by a Muslim who had performed the Hajj."

Magic Square on a buckle. A little game for anyone who is interested for a quick challenge.

"Sarimanok are excellent examples of how pre-Islamic traditions were Islamicised in order to be better accepted. The creature seems to derive from a totemic bird of good fortune called Itotoro that was already a symbol of the Maranao people from Mindanao Island. Sarimanok are normally portrayed flying and carrying a fish in their talons."

That's all for this exhibition. Now, we may proceed to the next exhibition.


I was very excited to look at all the Islamic paintings at the Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in Islamic Arts. Right after we entered the exhibition, I spotted a game "Save the King"! I had to solve it first before immersing myself in the paintings.

It was such a nice experience to have a close look at the paintings, which were painstakingly created. Painters are known to use a single strand of hair from a squirrel's tail to paint fine details.

The exhibition featured more than 100 exquisite paintings and artefacts including architectural artefacts which were very amusing.

As an added bonus for this exhibition, there was a photo-taking session and an interactive art for everyone to create your own magical patterns. I created a blue flower pattern! Personally I think it looked awesome!

That's all for my museum trips this month, I'm looking forward to the next one! Weekend again! Yay!