President Halimah Yacob to launch "Our Istana: A Living Museum" Roving Exhibition to commemorate Istana 150

To commemorate the Istana 150th anniversary, President Halimah Yacob will be launching a multi-sensory roving exhibition titled “Our Istana: A Living Museum” on Saturday, 1 June 2019. 

Launch of “Our Istana: A Living Museum”

The launch of the “Our Istana: A Living Museum” roving exhibition will be held at Tampines Regional Library at the Tampines Hub on Saturday, 1 June 2019 at 2.00pm. A collaboration between the President’s Office, the National Heritage Board, the National Library Board, NParks and Singapore Pools, the exhibition aims to make the history and heritage of the Istana more accessible to the public through stories, images, objects, videos and hands-on exhibits.

Highlights of the launch

At the launch, President Halimah will tour the exhibition and interact with the collaborators of the exhibition. She will also host a reading session for children from the Hougang Sheng Hong Society Day Care Centre, who have been invited to the launch.

Highlights of exhibition

At the “Our Istana: A Living Museum” exhibition, visitors will be introduced to the history of the Istana over the past 150 years. Members of public can now catch a glimpse of some rooms whose access are typically restricted in the Istana. Visitors can also go behind-the-scenes and learn more about the people who work within the grounds, as well as the inner workings of State events: for example, watch a video of the Istana Chief Butler demonstrating napkin folding in 10 different styles, have a peek at the Istana chef’s recipe on the Gula Melaka Pudding served to foreign dignitaries at State banquets, view the different uniforms worn by the Aides-de-Camp to the President, and find out about the significance of the President’s car plate number.

At the Floral and Fauna booth of the exhibition, children can smell the flowers grown in the Istana gardens, hear the chirping of birds found in the grounds and peek into an interactive hedge to see stamps of birds and insects at the Istana. On some days, visitors will also be treated to activities such as postcard writing, craft, storytelling and quizzes.

The exhibition will travel to different public libraries in Singapore over the next six months. Refer to Annex A for the schedule of the roving exhibition.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

27 May 2019

ANNEX A

SCHEDULE OF “OUR ISTANA: A LIVING MUSEUM” EXHIBITION

*e.g. postcard writing, craft, storytelling, fun quiz.  More details will be provided at a later date via NLB’s platforms.