THE EVERYDAY MUSEUM x SG HERITAGEFEST 2025: ‘SPEAKING OF WHICH’ POP-uP EXHIBITION
Creative Direction, Exhibition and Spatial Design, Interaction Design, Branding and Graphic Design, Fabrication and Build
What we did:
Temporary Exhibition at Tanjong Pagar and Harbourfront Centre
What is it:
Singapore Art Museum
National Library Board
Editorial
Alvin Pang
Hong Xinyi
Melizarani T. Selva
Mohamed Shaker
Theophilus Kwek
Edited by PR&TA (www.pratajournal.com)
Our Collaborators
Encounter mediums of culture through art and living archives with two pop-up exhibitions in Tanjong Pagar and HabourFront that explore 1950s and 1960s Singapore.
As part of SG HeritageFest 2025, The Everyday Museum – a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum – presents an engaging pop-up exhibition across two venues in Tanjong Pagar and Harbourfront.
Exploring the cultural pastimes of 1950s and 1960s Singapore, the exhibition offers an alternative look into the lesser-known or often-overlooked social practices and oral traditions, reflecting on art’s longstanding role in examining and shaping everyday life.
Our key role was to design and construct the physical spaces that would seamlessly integrate archival materials with the original written works of the talented PR&TA writers. The result is an immersive environment that invites the public to actively discover the past while engaging with contemporary literary responses.
The Merry Men Works collaborated with SAM (Singapore Art Museum), NLB (National Library Board), and writing collective PR&TA to realize this exhibition.
POP-UP #1:
GUOCO TOWER
Go through time and space through Gay Yau Studio, Metropole Cinema, the Open-Air Cinema of Tanjong Pagar, and a street-side food stall.
EXAMINING THE GOLDEN AGE OF CINEMA AT TANJONG PAGAR
Revisit Singapore’s vibrant narratives of film culture embedded within Tanjong Pagar at the peak of our golden age of cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.
From entirely hand-painted movie billboards to catching the next popular visual entertainment, to the local stories that inspired the filmic greats, take a seat and explore the reel highlights of everyday cultural pastimes.
Uncover lesser-known or often-overlooked social practices and oral traditions through art’s longstanding role in examining our living archives and shaping everyday life.
POP-UP #2:
HABOURFRONT CENTRE
Go through time and space via the Tanjong Pagar Port, the Tanjong Pagar Train Station, a five-foot way, a Teh Sarabat stall, and a 1980s HDB corridor.
EXPLORING THE CULTURAL PASTIMES OF THE PAST
From the port of arrival came the burgeoning of new hopes, dreams and beginnings. Along the streets, all walks of life come together to encounter art and shape culture. Tucked in third spaces, defining moments of history are created every day.
Explore the cultural pastimes embedded in the scenography of 1950s and 1960s Tanjong Pagar.
A SPACE FOR LITERARY ENCOUNTERS
