With the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the museum commissioned five local photographers – Bob Lee, Brian Teo, Edwin Koo, How Hwee Young and Zakaria Zainal − and two filmmakers – Adar Ng and Dave Lim – to visually document how it was experienced in Singapore.

The photographs and short film produced from this commissioned project, along with a selection of objects collected from our Documenting COVID-19 in Singapore open call, are showcased in this exhibition, presenting a poignant and resonant portrait of a nation responding to and coping with an unprecedented local and global crisis.

As part of Picturing the Pandemic, our curators sat down for a chat with the photographers, filmmakers and some individuals who were photographed for the project.

In this series of candid conversations, they discuss a selection of stories featured in the exhibition, in addition to their challenges, experience of and responses to the pandemic, as well as their inspirations and hopes for the future.

Click here to watch Conversations with Our Curators!

Enjoy the exhibition with our latest audio trail, available on our Domebot!

Featuring extracts from Checkpoint Theatre’s newest podcast, Vulnerable, as part of National Museum of Singapore’s collaborative effort with the local theatre company, this audio experience adds a personal lens to the works on display. Written and performed by Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips, the podcast chronicles her experience weathering the pandemic as a young freelance creative with congenital heart disease, which sheds light on some of the unseen struggles faced by Singaporeans.

To begin the experience, click into the Picturing the Pandemic section and select ‘Vulnerable’.

Click here to start the audio trail!

Join us for a series of the Picturing The Pandemic programmes in complementary to your visit around the exhibition.

Click here for our programmes!

Take a closer look at the exhibition with our Family Guide that is designed for younger audiences and families, or our Student Guide that puts students in the shoes of curators who have been tasked to collect the contemporary.

Download the Family Guide here! 

Download the Student Guide here!

 

We are extending our public call for objects and creative responses relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore till 30 June 2021.

Be it innovative responses as well as beautiful creative works devised or adapted to help face the unique circumstances and challenges of the pandemic, share with us your thoughts and creations and be a part of history.

Click here to contribute!