Diary of an NUS Museum Intern: Maria Tang
Note: Diary of an NUS Museum Intern is a series of blog posts written by our interns about their experiences during the course of their internships. Working alongside their mentors, our interns have waded through tons of historical research, assisted in curatorial work, pitched in during exhibition installations and organised outreach events! If you would like to become our next intern, visit our internship page for more information!
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Maria Tang is a year 3 Sociology student at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. As our Museum Outreach Intern, Maria has assisted the outreach team in both research and execution of various programmes.
One For the longest time I would stare at the museum e-flyer of open internship places during the respective summer and winter breaks. Fast-forward to the first day of my internship, I begun to realise the depth of what the museum had always done and continues to do.
Learning about the prep-room as a concept, I was tasked to dig through the museum’s archives on a previous project – In search of Raffles Light for an ongoing prep-room project Sites, Stories and Subsequence. For me, I begun to think about myself as a Singaporean and what I meant to be on “mainland Singap
ore”. The blog we continue to share insights from archives and journals only uncovers more of the mysteries of the Southern Islands. Visit it here! https://sitesstoriessubsequence.tumblr.com/
Visits from other institutions to the NUS museum always piqued my curiosity – what were they here to learn? Concurrently, the internship allowed us to be on guided tours to significant institutions – the Esplanade, National Archives and even explore the functions of the Asian Film Archive. Together with some colleagues, I paid a visit to Elias Park Primary School and attended the Dear Future Symposium organised by the Singapore Art Museum. These visits and discussions amounted to deep interrogations about the necessities of conservation and providing accessible platforms for the arts, even heritage.
Other more day to day activities were meetings and being fascinated by the cleaning of large sculptures outside the University Cultural Centre. When the Museum welcomed guests for our exhibition openings, or even for tours, I would be stationed as a warden to watch for itchy hands touching our artworks. Furthermore, I had the pleasure of working alongside many hardworking souls on this internship.
Through the weeks, consults with Michelle, Mary Ann and Wardah grew to only be more frequent as we grew closer to the dates for Kent Ridge Alumni Family Day and HERE Arts Festival, both on campus. Multiple emails, being thick skin and constant refinements of ideas stretched me to learn new skills and attitudes towards my work. I spent multiple days searching for logistics in our very own celadon room – colouring sheets, scissors and more.
Days seem dull, but most days I felt excited to learn something new. Research on Ken Cheong’s Objectum or even on Gilles Massot’s practice allowed me to better grasp the ideas for upcoming events. However, the most exciting moment was when we shopped for our events. Washi tape, choosing paper and pipe cleaners – I am grateful for these simple joys. Although the stressful weeks of these events have come and gone, I know that the weeks prior of being accountable to my supervisors were slowly preparing me to be ready for the actual days.
KRAFD and Here Arts Festival occurred about a week apart from each other. Starting my final year in uni, I felt the weight of saying yes to this internship in the first two weeks of school. With all that we could prepare the calm and wisdom of my supervisors only comforted me. The connection each visitor had with the templates or zines also amazed me as the contemplation of what the museum could offer on campus was more than I imagined.
When I was in the museum, one of my favourite things to do was to bask in the presence of the artworks created in a different time period from today (apart from saying hi to all the lovely staff). In particular, the Nanyang art which captured scenes of the country and region in a time foreign to me.
As I process these weeks of grace, it occurs to me that the opportunity at the museum is one coming to fruition beyond the internship itself. Not only have I learnt more about the intangibles of being enabled and encouraged through my supervisors who have challenged me with their questions, I have also grown a desire for the museum to be a place for others to encounter and discuss critically the purpose of the site itself and what it holds.
One For the longest time I would stare at the museum e-flyer of open internship places during the respective summer and winter breaks. Fast-forward to the first day of my internship, I begun to realise the depth of what the museum had always done and continues to do.
Learning about the prep-room as a concept, I was tasked to dig through the museum’s archives on a previous project – In search of Raffles Light for an ongoing prep-room project Sites, Stories and Subsequence. For me, I begun to think about myself as a Singaporean and what I meant to be on “mainland Singap
Visits from other institutions to the NUS museum always piqued my curiosity – what were they here to learn? Concurrently, the internship allowed us to be on guided tours to significant institutions – the Esplanade, National Archives and even explore the functions of the Asian Film Archive. Together with some colleagues, I paid a visit to Elias Park Primary School and attended the Dear Future Symposium organised by the Singapore Art Museum. These visits and discussions amounted to deep interrogations about the necessities of conservation and providing accessible platforms for the arts, even heritage.
1/visits
2/company
Through the weeks, consults with Michelle, Mary Ann and Wardah grew to only be more frequent as we grew closer to the dates for Kent Ridge Alumni Family Day and HERE Arts Festival, both on campus. Multiple emails, being thick skin and constant refinements of ideas stretched me to learn new skills and attitudes towards my work. I spent multiple days searching for logistics in our very own celadon room – colouring sheets, scissors and more.
3/resources
Days seem dull, but most days I felt excited to learn something new. Research on Ken Cheong’s Objectum or even on Gilles Massot’s practice allowed me to better grasp the ideas for upcoming events. However, the most exciting moment was when we shopped for our events. Washi tape, choosing paper and pipe cleaners – I am grateful for these simple joys. Although the stressful weeks of these events have come and gone, I know that the weeks prior of being accountable to my supervisors were slowly preparing me to be ready for the actual days.
4/joy
KRAFD and Here Arts Festival occurred about a week apart from each other. Starting my final year in uni, I felt the weight of saying yes to this internship in the first two weeks of school. With all that we could prepare the calm and wisdom of my supervisors only comforted me. The connection each visitor had with the templates or zines also amazed me as the contemplation of what the museum could offer on campus was more than I imagined.
5/action
When I was in the museum, one of my favourite things to do was to bask in the presence of the artworks created in a different time period from today (apart from saying hi to all the lovely staff). In particular, the Nanyang art which captured scenes of the country and region in a time foreign to me.
6/museum
As I process these weeks of grace, it occurs to me that the opportunity at the museum is one coming to fruition beyond the internship itself. Not only have I learnt more about the intangibles of being enabled and encouraged through my supervisors who have challenged me with their questions, I have also grown a desire for the museum to be a place for others to encounter and discuss critically the purpose of the site itself and what it holds.
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