Singapore's Peranakan Museum: A Celebration of Craft and Color

Singapore’s Peranakan Museum: A Celebration of Craft and Color

travelertina

09:07:00 July 25, 2023

Asia,Singapore

Singapore’s Peranakan Museum explodes with light and color — it’s like no other museum in the city.

Brightly painted paper lantern with parrot and floral motifs in the stairwell of the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Housed in a refurbished 1912 beauty that was once home to the Tao Nan School, the museum is a festival of art, craft, and design, with a sprinkle of cultural investigation added in along the way.

Floor 1: What It Means to Be Peranakan

The small first floor gallery focuses on exploring the word “Peranakan.”

Map of Southeast Asia showing migration routes that shaped Peranakan communities in Singapore, at the Peranakan Museum

If you’re not familiar with the term, the museum defines Peranakan broadly as “someone who is locally born but has heritage from someone else — a mixture of cultures … Their unifying trait is the melding of ancestral cultures — Chinese, Indian, European, and others — with the indigenous cultures of the Malay-Indonesian archipelago.” Dozens of historical photographs show the wide range of Peranakan people in Singapore.

Vintage portrait of a young man with glasses in a scout uniform at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Historic studio portrait of four children in traditional dress and jewelry at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

From here, the museum is all about looking at Peranakan culture through different kinds of objects.

Floor Two: The Peranakan Kitchen and Home

The second floor explores kitchen implements (this is a kueh balhulu mold, used to make little eggy sponge cakes)…

Bronze kueh bahulu mold for traditional egg cakes on display at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

… ceramics (the Peranakans were not afraid of a little color!) …

Porcelain jar with phoenix design and qilin handle on lid at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Vibrant green porcelain plate with phoenix and floral motifs at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

… and objects related to family life:

Inlaid wooden Peranakan armchair with mother-of-pearl decoration at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Vintage wooden recliner with cane seat and armrests at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

In addition to what are obviously two chairs above, you’ll see an altar cloth and a carriage used in a child’s first birthday celebration. Known as Tedun, this central Javanese tradition involved placing a child in a carriage and pulling it three times around a chicken cage. Then the child would reach into the cage and select objects believed to foretell their future interests.

Floor Three: Peranakan Fashion, Jewelry, and Textiles

The third and final floor of the museum features wearable and decorative objects. The first room showcases batik (including a cloth that tells the tale of Snow White):

Close-up of maroon and blue batik motifs with birds, flowers, and creatures at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Red batik textile with chevron patterns and mythical animals at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Another room sparkles with jewelry like this kerosang (blouse fastener) …

Gold kerosang brooch set with sparkling gems on purple display at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

… diamond peacock belt …

Diamond-studded gold peacock belt with intricate filigree at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

… and amazing bridal headdress:

Elaborate silver bridal crown with pearls, filigree, and red pompoms at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

The Peranakans had elaborate wedding rituals (and I found myself wishing that the museum offered more information about them). Here is a traditional wedding bed:

Carved wedding bed with tassels, silk textiles, and embroidered curtains at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

The wedding bed sits at the far end of the fabulous decorative textiles room, which is where you first see the the Peranakan mastery of beadwork and embroidery on display.

Vibrant embroidery with birds, butterflies, and roses on blue fabric at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Colorful Peranakan and embroidered beaded borders with figures and birds at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Not only does the museum set out examples of finished work; they show you how pieces were made …

Partially finished Peranakan beadwork embroidery showing pink lotus and birds at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

… and the materials that went into the making:

Display of colorful glass seed beads arranged by hue at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Colorful loops of silk embroidery thread arranged by shade in a display at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

This is probably my favorite gallery in the museum, though the fashion gallery is a close second.

Vibrant pink Peranakan kebaya with intricate floral embroidery on display at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

This room is filled with sarongs and kabayas … and shoes!

Beaded red Peranakan heels with floral patterns displayed at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Beaded Peranakan slippers with squirrel motifs and floral designs at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

The Peranakans are famous for their beaded and embroidered footwear. Most of it looks really uncomfortable, but it’s beautiful — and that’s fashion! You can also see other elaborately-decorated items here like handkerchiefs, purses, belts ..

Embroidered belt with Dutch flags and flowers, at Singapore’s Peranakan Museum

The Peranakan Museum is easy to enjoy: it’s small enough to explore in an hour, and once you hit the second floor, the whole place starts bursting with color (don’t miss the third floor, where it gets even better). I do wish there were more stories about Peranakan individuals and traditions. But if you like to learn about a mix of cultures through artifacts — or if you just like to look at stunningly beautiful objects — then this museum definitely delivers.

Planning Your Visit to the Peranakan Museum, Singapore

Opening Hours: Daily, with extended hours on Friday evenings
Plan to Spend: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Cost: $12 for non-residents; $8 for students and seniors
Visit Note: The third floor is the best — that’s where you’ll find the most dazzling embroidery, beadwork, and batik
Closest MRT: Bras Basah or City Hall

Further Singapore Cultural Reading

For a closer look at Peranakan art and architecture, take a look at my post on the NUS Baba House in Singapore.
If you’re exploring more of Singapore’s cultural spots, you might also enjoy my Tea Lover’s Guide to Chinatown and my visit to Char Yong Heritage Hall, both rich with local history and tradition.
Excited about Singapore’s heritage centres? There are plenty to choose from — you can read about all of the country’s cultural heritage centres here. For a unique experience, check out the Singapore Coffee Shop Heritage Gallery.

Traveler Tina