Museums in Singapore

Home to a myriad of historical artefacts and exhibits, the National Museum of Singapore is country’s oldest museum. There are 11 permanent galleries housing displays exhibiting the history of Singapore, its culture, the history and transformation of its landscape. The Singapore History Gallery is the chief attraction here.

The Singapore Art Museum, popularly known as SAM, is a striking white building with Singaporean and Southeast Asian Art as its forte. Housed in a restored Catholic school, this museum was formerly named the Fine-Art Museum. This ancient museum in Singapore is home to brilliant artworks which transport the visitors into a world where they can imagine, think, and experience.

Among the most popular museums in Singapore is The National Gallery Singapore, located in the Downtown region, showcasing the world's largest collection of colonial and post-colonial Asian and Southeast Asian art. Housed in former Supreme Court Buildings and the City Hall, it has a 8000-plus collection of art forms from the 19th-century to the present.

The ArtScience museum at Marina Bay is a premier exhibition space featuring touring exhibitions, colliding the world of art and science. One of the quirkiest museumss in Singapore, Moshe Safdie designed the building to look like a giant white lotus, making it a major attraction for its architecture and for the exhibitions in art, science, design, media and technology.

Ranked as one of the top museums in Asia, the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore takes one through the journey of the cultures and civilisations of Asia. Covering an area of 14,000 square metres, there are over 2000 artefacts spread across seven galleries on three levels, more than 5000 years of history of the various Asian civilisations that currently inhabit Singapore.

Trace the history of life on earth at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, a museum of natural history housed at the Kent Ridge Park campus of the prestigious National University of Singapore. Amongst the most fascinating museums in Singapore, this comprehensive institution possesses a catalogue of over 560,000 specimens, including the Raffles Natural History Collection.

Peranakan Museum explores the Pernankan cultures in Singapore, the former Straits Settlements in Malacca and Penang. Housed in the Old Tao Nan School Building, this classic museum in Singapore once acted as an extended wing of the famous Asian Civilisations Museum and is currently a sister museum, specialising in tracing the origins and development of Peranakan culture.

The Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI) is a renowned international space for artistic experimentation in contemporary art through print and paper mediums. It pairs a working workshop with a gallery, so you often see work in progress rather than only finished pieces. It sits on Robertson Quay along the Singapore River, an easy add-on to a riverside walk.

The Red Dot Design Museum, located along Waterfront Promenade at Marina Bay, is a branch of the Red Dot Design Museum in Germany and is among the popular museums in Singapore. It showcases over 200 contemporary designs - all of which are winners of the International Red Dot Design Award, considered to be one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world.

From traditional paintings to modern art, from splendid sculptures to charming ceramics, the NUS Museum in Singapore is a treasure trove of significant artefacts. While the artwork in this glorious museum ranges from the Lee Kong Chian Collection to the Straits Chinese Collection, the number of artefacts exceeds eight thousand.

Fort Siloso is Singapore's only preserved coastal fort converted into a military museum containing World War II memorabilia like guns, remains of fortified military structures and tunnels. The main attraction of Fort Siloso is the Skywalk. Eleven storeys high, it provides visitors with a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape.

Among the important historical museums in Singapore, the Changi Chapel and Museum explores Singapore under the attack of Japanese soldiers during WWII. The museum houses the photographs, personal objects, and letters that are now proof of the incarceration of more than 50,000 civilians and soldiers in Changi Prison.

Singapore Philatelic Museum portrays the history of Singapore's postals and stamps. The museum features an assortment of stamps along with the heritage and history of various philatelic items spread across many galleries. The interactive exhibitions offer a window into the Lion City and other parts of the world through the postage stamps.

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown keeps a museum on its third floor, where the Buddhist Cultural Museum sets out relics, manuscripts and statuary from across Asia, with the tooth relic itself held in a stupa above and a large prayer wheel in the roof garden. It is the only museum on this list inside a working temple, so it is busy with worshippers and visitors are asked to dress modestly.

Situated in Little India, the Indian Heritage Centre is a cultural centre and museum showcasing the culture, heritage and history of Singapore's Indian community. Modelled like a traditional Indian stepwell or Baoli, this four-storey building is home to five permanent galleries.

The Malay Heritage Center exhibits the culture, history and heritage of the Malay Singaporeans. Located at the Sultan Gate in Kampong Glam, it is made up of several bungalows, set in a landscaped garden. The main two-storey building was the Sultan's Palace, Istana Kampong Glam, and six galleries across two levels trace the Malay community's part in Singapore's history.

The Chinese Heritage Centre is an autonomous institute of the prestigious Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. The centre includes a library, research centre and a museum with the building being a landmark reputed to be the only university created by the Chinese people living outside China.

Science Centre Singapore, located in Jurong East, is a scientific institution having around a thousand exhibits spread over fourteen exhibition galleries. Formerly known as the Singapore Science Centre, this geeky science museum houses the largest collection of educational material related to science in the Lion City.

Among the most interesting museums in Singapore, The Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys, or MINT Museum of Toys showcases a private collection of vintage toys. Located near City Hall at Seah Street, it has over 50,000 toys from around the world, some of them more than hundred and fifty years old. It is considered the largest toy collection in all of Southeast Asia.

SAM at 8Q - which stands for Singapore Art Museum - is the extension of the Museum’s main building, named so because of its location on 8 Queen Street. The youngest annexe of the Art Museum, SAM at 8Q housescontemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs, performance art, sound art, and other new media interactive exhibits.

Singapore City Gallery is a three-storey visitor centre located between the historic Chinatown and the Centre Business District, famed for housing an enormous model replica of the city of Singapore. Formerly known as the URA Gallery, it traces the evolution of Singapore's physical transformation spread across 10 thematic areas and 50 audiovisual interactive exhibitions.

An important historical site among the museums in Singapore, The Battlebox was a war bunker dating back to World War IILocated at Fort Canning Hill, this former bomb-proof command centre/shelter is one of the prime touristic spots in Singapore, also known as Fort Canning Bunker.

The Trick Eye Museum is a museum of optical illusions and 4D entertainment at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore. The Garden City’s first 4D and AR-enabled gallery, this museum hosts six themed attractions that leave visitors gaping in amazement and wonder. The special effects and experiences are perfect for families with children and couples looking for excitement and fun!

Reflections at Bukit Chandu is a small, interactive museum and heritage centre recounting the fierce 1942 Battle of Pasir Panjang (against the Japanese in Singapore during World War II). It occupies a British-era black and white bungalow a short walk from the battleground itself, and its two levels of galleries pay tribute to the 42 soldiers of the Malay Regiment.

Positioned adjacent to Thian Hock Keng Temple, Singapore Musical Box Museum is the first musical box museum to have ever been opened in Singapore. The museum attracts visitors that come here to gain knowledge regarding the rise of musical boxes in Singapore during the 19th century.

Madame Tussauds Singapore is the Singapore branch of the popular Madame Tussauds wax museum based out of London. The museum in Singapore has life-like wax statues of notable personalities and global icons in the fields of art, music, movies, sports, and politics.