BE READY to spot art house pieces nestled around campus.
Officially launched on October 20th, the NTU Art and Heritage Museum opened with the inaugural exhibition of new ink works by award-winning artist Mr Lim Tze Peng at the galleries of the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM).
However, ADM will only be home to some of the artefacts the museum owns, as the museum will feature exhibits in galleries and other prominent public spaces in the campus.
Museum head Mr Roeland Stulemeijer said the museum will function not only as a place to exhibit works, but also “aims to become a regional leader in the study of conservation of artefacts and all its facets.”
He added that the museum intends to focus on research work in the long term.
Professor Kwok Kian-Woon, Chair of the NTU Museum committee, said: “The whole campus atmosphere will change because wherever you turn there could be an art work which makes you look at things differently.”
ADM lecturer Professor Oh Soon Hwa welcomed the museum. “(We can have our) own space for dialogue and exchange between our staff, students and artists all over the world,” he said.
For third-year ADM student Rachel Lim Shi En, 23, the museum is an encouragement to art students to work harder.
“(The museum) gives a push factor for students to produce better works equivalent or in competitive manner to what they see in the galleries,” she said.
But some students like Elson Lee Guo Chuan, 22, a first-year School of Physical and Mathematical Science student, preferred to have the art works in a shared space.
“I feel that people with common interests won’t have a common place to share their ideas,” he said.
Museum head Mr Roeland Stulemeijer addressed this issue, saying that a proposal to construct a museum for the university will be made when a campus master planning team is formed next year.
For now, a round-the-clock virtual museum is in the works and “exhibitions will be organised with and mostly at the ADM galleries”.
