Explore the NUS Museum through three Student-Led Tours authored and guided by our student interns. From reflections on the roles and expectations of women, the human body as a site of divinity, and the evolving meanings of knowledge, the tours connect the Museum’s various exhibitions and collections through the perspectives of three interns.

Sign up and receive exclusive NUS Museum merchandise! This is your last chance to catch the three tours before the end of the semester!

Divine Bodies: The Divine and its Embodied Sites
Guided by Muhammad Hariz B Emran

Divine Bodies invites you to consider the human body as a site of and for divinity. The tour showcases a variety of artefacts from the Museum’s collections and permanent exhibitions, covering different time periods and civilisations. Each object features the human body in unique forms, using distinct motifs and materials. These artefacts not only represent recurring themes and differences related to the body and divinity, but also spark discussions about how they were acquired by the Museum. The tour aims to provide new perspectives on divinity, the body, and their evolving meanings. The tour aims to simultaneously question and reaffirm personal beliefs about divinity based on one’s personal experiences.

Mother: Femininity, Companionship, and Kin-keeping
Guided by Kyla Teo

Mother!: Femininity, Companionship, and Kin-keeping reflect on the responsibilities and expectations women face in different stages of their lives. Loosely following a woman’s traditional life path, the tour begins with symbols of marriage and is followed by motherhood, feminine friendships, labour, and ageing. While portrayals of women are often separated into the roles of the wife, the mother, the friend, and the individual, this tour encourages the perception of the feminine as a dynamic concept. As women take up traditional roles, they labour and age, inevitably straying from the ‘perfect woman’ yet still being expected to fulfill their duties perfectly. In ruminating on the relationships women form with others, this tour aims to celebrate the ugly and the beautiful, as well as the strength and softness of femininity.

Mediums: Histories to Forms
Guided by Ang Alexandra Cobankiat

This tour will guide you through the galleries of the NUS Museum, showcasing how artists use various mediums to explore different ideas and push the boundaries of what knowledge can encompass. The tour also features objects without clear artist attributions, emphasising the idea that objects themselves can hold and convey history. By defining what knowledge entails, we also set the boundaries for what we consider to be true. Museums, as places where knowledge is created, play a significant role in how the histories of artists and institutions intertwine when their works are displayed. Covering diverse subjects such as the human body, gossip, and economic development, the tour aims to demonstrate how the way objects are represented can lead us to develop our individual paths of understanding.

Student-Led Tours are supported by the Cultural Matching Fund.

*Attendees of Student-Led Tours will receive an exclusive NUS Museum merchandise after the programme.