We went to Art Garden at Singapore Art Museum on Monday with Selena, her two boys and Vonnie and had such a blast! We have been going to Art Garden every year since it started and I think this year’s is a lot more interactive and hands-on, which is great for the kids.
Anya got very excited when we passed Walter sitting in front of SAM while we were on the bus and as we were walking towards SAM at 8Q, she was happy to recognise the cheerful Dancing Solar Flowers which were also on display last year.
SAM at 8Q
staring at the dancing flowers
The first installation we explored was Echoes-Infinity-The Forest, a carpet of flowers created with special pigments that fade as visitors walk over them. Anya was quite taken with the idea that she had the ability to change the artwork and went dancing around the room trying to make as much of an impact on the flowers as she could.
the original appearance as seen on the video
wild child dancing around the room
After removing the booties we had to wear to enter the room, we made our way up to the 3rd floor. There was a long mural called Kakhé spanning the 4 storeys of the stairs. I thought it was rather strange-looking and somewhat disturbing because the figures didn’t have eyeballs but Anya liked it and asked to take photos with the mural.
she calls this the man who doesn’t wear clothes
Adrian standing in a strategic location
We spent quite a bit of time at Dress Me Up, another repeat from the previous Art Garden. It was Anya’s favourite from last year and she had a good time dressing the characters up. Adam also had fun sticking pieces on the cake and trying to chomp on them. I wish they would position everything lower though! It’s still quite difficult for the smaller kids to reach all the pieces.
In the next room was The Art of Imagination by the same artist and the kids were quite eager to add their own drawings to the boxes. Adam was kept occupied by a young lady who was very charmed by him and she made him a box to play with and took photos of and with him.
Adam busy with his cake
Anya playing dress-up
us sitting under a tree
Adam ‘helping’ to make a box
the older kids hard at work
adding to the artwork
The kids loved the Reactive Wall and Let’s Dance which allowed them to express themselves through sound and movement. Anya was a bit self-conscious about speaking into the microphone even though she was quite fascinated by how the sounds made the pictures on the wall change and move. But we all enjoyed dancing and being silly and then watching our own performance. The dancing made us very tired! After that, we headed to the 4th floor to fold origami flowers for Grow the Garden in the Dark and to make friends with a giant 5QU1D!
Asher making the wall react
watching various people dancing
boogie wonderland!
the growing glowing garden
the giant squid is pleased to see us
We made our way back down to level 2 to design our own clay flower magnets with everyday ordinary objects as inspired by Everyday Wonders. It’s a pity the kids couldn’t touch the clay shapes in the installation though! We then did some colouring and stamping at the Activity Room. Finally, we had a few exhausting mad games at Ping Pong Go-Round, the donut-shaped ping pong table!
creating our own unique flower
Everyday Wonders
in the activity room
my extremely artistic drawing
two against three
very happy kids
We have to go back again another one or two times because we didn’t manage to watch the short films and animations. I think the little kiddos had so much fun and really want to make another trip too!
Check out Art Garden at SAM at 8Q from now until 12 August. Admission is free for children below 6 years old and students. Adults pay $10. There is free admission every Friday from 6-9pm.