Exhibition | Archaeology Library

[Gallery impression, Archaeology Library, 2015]

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Exhibition period: 6 January 2015-ongoing
Venue: Archaeology Library

The Archaeology Library is a project which brings together finds from past and newer excavations in Singapore and Asia. The objects are on loan from institutional and private collections. A significant proportion are artefacts excavated or gathered by archaeologist Dr John N. Miksic since 1977, and includes a vast range of pottery discovered at archaeological sites from Fort Canning (Singapore) to Changsha (China). As finds from the pre-colonial and colonial periods, they sample the materials produced and used in Singapore and beyond. Further, as part of an evolving body of artefacts, they provide a glimpse into the dynamics between material culture and history, and its making.

The display is organised along three broad themes. Active Sites in Ancient Singapore looks at parts of the island that were inhabited between the 14th to 15th centuries. The diverse range of artefacts reveals the use of these sites for habitation, worship, production and trade. The sites continued to be occupied into the 19th century, even as new areas on the island became active.  

Regional Networks draws attention to the shifting hubs of activity as political and economic centres emerged and declined over the centuries. It locates Singapore within the context of the networks to which it owed its earliest success and those which profited when its influence waned.

Shipwrecks showcases items retrieved from marine excavations in Southeast Asian waters. It introduces the potential that artefacts from underwater sites offer in elucidating historical events and data.