Exhibitions devoted to quirk

Hardcore fans of local music |will geek out over the collection at the Museum of Independent Music.

On display are cassette tapes from the 1990s featuring the music of Singapore indie bands The Oddfellows and The Stoned Revivals and a guitar belonging to veteran guitarist Suhaimi Subandie, of the pioneering local hardcore band Stompin’ Ground.

These items are admittedly of niche appeal, but specialisation has become the calling card of a growing number of boutique museums in the city-state.

They are dedicated to narrow – sometimes quirky – interests. For example, there is a new museum for bicycles at Shimano Cycling World at the Singapore Sports Hub.

Over at the Chinese Garden in Jurong, there is a long-standing museum on turtles and tortoises. At Tanjong Pagar, the Gan Heritage Centre focuses on the history of how Chinese people with the surname Gan migrated to Singapore. The downtown Mint Museum of Toys showcases the collection of an avid toy collector.

Because of their specialised content, these museums tend to be small spaces, sometimes occupying one to two floors in a shophouse. Their owners, unsurprisingly, tend to be passionate enthusiasts on the topic.

In the case of the Museum of Independent Music, the founders are local music devotees Tarmizee Taksen and Anvea Chieu. Since setting up the Lithe Paralogue Studio in 2009 – a space for artists and musicians to record music, rehearse or jam together, the duo harboured dreams to start a museum that would document the past and present of the local indie music scene.

“We have all these amazing home-grown bands in Singapore since the 1960s, such as hardcore band Stompin’ Ground and rock group the Quests, but we don’t have a place to showcase these groups and their significance,” says Tarmizee, 29. So last year, they forked out a five-figure sum to expand their Kampong Glam studio to incorporate a 70sqm museum.

The admission fee is S$4 (Bt95) and the owners are not too worried about the operating costs.

“It’s about reaching out to the youth of today and educating them about Singapore’s alternative subculture,” says Chieu, 28, adding that the museum aims to archive music history during a time of vinyl and cassette and to document current happenings.

Meanwhile, the Gan Clan Singapore set up a museum to woo young people with the family name Gan as well as non-Gans to join the association. According to Dr Gan See Khem, the clan’s president, there are an estimated 25,000 Gans in Singapore, of which close to 800 are members of the association. 

“We need to change that and get the younger generation interested,” she says. The clan spent more than S$500,000 to set up the museum on the third level of its 80-year-old building at Bukit Pasoh Road in late 2013. It also has a Facebook page and an e-book on the information available in the museum.

It attracted 10 new younger members aged between their 20s and 30s in the past year and has an agreement with the Ministry of Education to be a stop on school excursions this year.

The 230sqm centre also participated in the Singapore Heritage Fest last year and will do so again this year, with a tour of the space, cultural performances and calligraphy workshops.

Managing a small museum has its challenges, reveals operators.

“Small museums need to work that much harder to stand out and attract interest from visitors,” says Sharon Wong, the marketing manager for Images of Singapore Live. The attraction on Sentosa showcases Singapore’s history from 1819. “They need to offer something that is a bit different and special.”

That is why Images of Singapore Live recently underwent a multimillion-dollar rebranding to provide a more engaging visitor experience. Now, actors guide visitors on interactive tours and there are special effects that include talking portraits and heads.

Small museums, unfortunately, see a limited number of visitors. The Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum will have to vacate its premises in Chinese Garden next year when its lease expires. The area will undergo a makeover and be redeveloped into a larger Jurong Lake Gardens. Owner Connie Tan, 44, says that she does not have the finances to set up a new museum.

The museum, which opened in 2001, is currently home to more than 500 turtles, tortoises and terrapins from 49 species, many of them endangered. “We have asked the government for help to find a new space, but there have been no favourable results so far,” Tan adds.

Patrick Neo, 58, the owner of Children Little Museum, is all too aware of the realities of the business.

Opened in 2010, the small museum at Kampong Glam showcases vintage toys and paraphernalia from the 1950s to 1970s. 

Artefacts include plastic soldiers, a drink cart with soft drinks in glass bottles and kampung games such as chapteh and marbles.

Neo says that these items primarily appeal to older people who are nostalgic about the past.

“As the baby boomers become elderly, it’s only a matter of time before I might have to close the museum,” he says. 

Rents are also rising. His rent has more than doubled since he first opened a retail store selling vintage items on the first floor of the shophouse 10 years ago.

Hopefully, enough visitors will continue to see the charm of such small museums to keep these places going.

Teacher and avid museum-goer Aashajeet Kaur, 27, says small museums offer a more intimate and cosy environment compared with the bigger ones.

Besides frequenting the more well-known museums such as the National Museum of Singapore, she has also visited Children Little Museum and Singapore Sports Museum in Kallang.

“It’s a different experience where the focus is mainly on one subject versus a whole barrage of information being showcased,” she says.