12
July
2016
|
20:28
Asia/Singapore

NUS Museum's 'prep-room' lauded

NUS Museum has garnered the inaugural University Museums and Collections (UMAC) Award from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) for its pioneering work on the "prep-room". Head of NUS Museum Mr Ahmad Mashadi received the award, which is presented to the most significant innovation or successful practice in a university museum or collection, at ICOM’s triennial general conference in Milan on 6 July.

The "prep-room" is an open gallery where curators can present content, curatorial experiments and design ideas, allowing visitors to observe the exhibition-making process and engage with content. The set-up also encourages audience participation in the lead-up to projects such as exhibitions and programmes as well as a long-term interest in projects. A total of 10 projects have been incubated using this approach.

At the award presentation, UMAC Chairman Professor Hugues Dreyssé said, “We salute NUS Museum's understanding of the basic principle of creating a contact between the audience and the museum, the creative approach to discussion between researchers, interns, artists and the public and the ease of adapting the idea to other museums.”

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Head of NUS Museum Mr Mashadi (centre) with the award, flanked by UMAC Chairman Prof Dreyssé (left) and Selection Committee Chairman Dr Panu Nykänen

The museum’s foray into the "prep-room" concept began in 2011 with an interest in Raffles Lighthouse on Singapore’s southernmost island Pulau Satumu. For eight months, curators and collaborators worked on materials ranging from 15th century cartographic maps to 19th century governmental declarations, revealing its rich and artistic content, and great educational and exhibition potential.

“In the ‘prep-room’, internships, mentorships and encounters bridge knowledge, disciplines, experiences and even sensibilities in the hope of producing something surprising,” shared Mr Ahmad. He added that it creates diverse sites of learning and means of accessing exhibition-making processes, further dispelling traditional understandings and practices of museum engagement.

See press release.

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The team clustered and visually mapped the materials into seven broad categories of interest