Singapore National Gallery

While out here I have chanced on a TV program about amazing engineering.  There are lots of 'branches' of engineering and the program only focuses on  the engineering that enables fantastical architectural adaptation to be made of existing buildings.  I have seen episodes on the Danish Maritime Museum, the Coal Drops Yard in London's Kings Cross, Antwerp Port Authority building and the Elphi among the many that I have watched, and this building came up but so late at night I had to call it quits.... The Singapore National Gallery.

It is on the Singapore Formula One circuit and huge temporary grandstands are built in grounds of the Singapore Recreation grounds opposite it.  The building itself is a conjunction of two older buildings - the former Supreme Court of Singapore (the one with the cupola) and the former City Hall.

Former Supreme Court

Former City Hall

I made a Sunday morning whirlwind visit - started at the top and worked my way down.  The gallery of South East Asian art (level 4 Supreme Court wing) had some mind bending stuff but I particularly enjoyed a video interview with a Cambodian artist.

There are lots of interactive spaces devoted to young visitors, with themes in natural environment, recycling and repair; installations with lights and sounds and moving parts.

 I particularly enjoyed the gallery of Singapore art (some amazing woodcuts, mostly in black with clever use of minimal colour) - no inside photos though as I'm not sure what the protocol is.  I expect no flash permitted and those galleries are so very dim.

These two are in entrance ways...

I put this in small even though it was about 10metres wide.  It wasn't until I was looking at the thumbnail that it looked like reflections on water. Up to that point it looked like it was - sqillions of strands of coloured yarn soaked in pva glue