Sites & Nature: A Collection of Remembering

We must remember the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible.

Sites & Nature: A Collection of Remembering is dedicated to ‘remembering’ through situating the insights from the permanent art collections of the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). This is the first time that an exhibition aims to look into both collections from an overarching perspective, exploring not only what has been collected by NTU, but also what artists have documented in relation to Singapore's history through their artistic practices.

 A unique fictional character and stage are created to facilitate the action of remembering. On this stage, visitors walk through the fictional old man’s blue rooms appreciating more than 40 works from the collections focused on two specific themes – Singapore River and Singapore Botanic Gardens, or more broadly, the city development and the natural environment of Singapore. Visitors are further informed via the multiple agencies carefully intersected in between, such as archival materials, artifacts, furniture, and plants, in conjuring a sense of knowing.

Revisiting the past is to provide a framework for the interpretation of the present and the future, and to appreciate the contribution of our pioneers in building a flourishing garden metropolis. In this exhibition, visitors are offered an informative account of what the artists remember, within a capacity exercised by individuals through artistic expression.