chanced upon this pamphlet in e lobby of Royal Plaza at Scotts:
e asian civilisations museum is open past 7pm (earliest time I can reach town from work) only on fridays, so 270505 evening was e last chance to catch this exhibition, which led to:
[270505] special exhibitions gallery
....always thought that Nyonya kebayas were decorated with floral motifs, but here there were those decorated with birds, bullfighters (!!), mandarin ducks, prawns (!!), papayas, hens with chicks, etc
....learnt that there are white/blue/black/green Nyonya kebayas in sombre tones for mourning & funerals
....silly me never realised that e back of a Nyonya kebaya is also decorated with embroidery=P
China gallery
....Ming dynasty Buddhist scriptures engraved on sheets of gold
....wording on a tapestry in 'four official languages' - Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian & Tibetan
....a quotation entitled 'filial piety' (孝) from e Analects book 2 chapter 4 li ren no. 19 (论语卷二里仁篇第十九) on e wall:
子曰：父母在，不遠游，游必有方。
accompanying translation: 'while parents are alive, one must not travel afar. if one must, one's whereabouts should always be made known.' how many have had their wings thus clipped, & how many have choked on such a stranglehold? ;)
....Gao Xingjian, e China-born (now a French citizen?) Literature Nobel Laureate in a video interview: '文学是个人的声音', with e accompanying translation 'literature is e voice of e people'
....from e same video, a clip showing calligraphy done using water in place of ink & e stone pavement as paper - impermanence, something that I have touched upon many times before
West Asia/Islamic gallery
....plenty of beautiful calligraphy with words that seem to dance across e paper (because of all those 'tail ends' of e strokes of Arabic characters? especially those written in e Dewani style), or huddle together in deep discussion of their collective meaning (calligrams, where several words - an entire verse? - are arranged together to form a picture)
....Koran pages with thick elaborate gold margins filled with colourful intricate floral scrolls, that brought to mind sin tin chok - e decorative piece at e hem of Thai phaa sin skirts
Southeast Asia gallery
....a full set each of Hmong, Mien, U-Lo Akha & Lolo hilltribe costumes, an Akha shoulder bag decorated with iridescent green scarab beetles, a Hmong baby carrier
museum gift shop
....Lahu basket labelled as 'Mooser basket' - brought to mind Jamu's (Lahu Nyi/Red Lahu) reaction when I mentioned to him e word 'Mooser', which Agong's Lomi Akha wife had exclaimed when we saw an image of Lahus on TV during dinner
pleasant surprise: admission after 7pm on fridays is free =) for once we are somewhere closer to those museums overseas that have free admission one day per month (usually sponsored by some large corporation) or half-priced admission during certain hours or even free admission 45 minutes before closing time - offering those who don't qualify for senior citizen/student discounts & would otherwise be unable to afford a visit, a chance to partake in e art & heritage of their own country & beyond. word that comes to mind: egalitarian =) next word that comes to mind: e antonym of egalitarian - elitist =| what kind of society do we want? & what kind of society is being engineered for (by?) us?
outside e museum, Cavenagh bridge:
so this bridge has something in common with me =)
one of e Cavenagh bridge cats:
upriver towards boat quay:
e roof profile of Furama Hotel mirrors e scalloped edges of several of e kebayas seen earlier in e museum =)
downriver towards Marina:
Fullerton end of Cavenagh bridge:
Esplanade bridge:
windless night perfumed by e scent of these flowers:
at e bus stop at e foot of e bridge, two army 5-tonners rumbled by in e direction of e war memorial. somehow it all seemed very surreal....14th October 1973 + 1976 at e democracy monument in Bangkok + 1989 in Tiananmen + Black May 1992 at e same place again in Bangkok....
[ filed under: art1 + nature1 + 9_lives_2005 ]
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