Colors and Gold

What a surprise to realize that it was Open House at the National Museum. It meant free entry to the galleries. Woot. It wasn't too crowded either, making moving through the galleries and viewing the exhibits quite a pleasure. We didn't even have to elbow anybody to get a prime spot to read the information tags.

Managed to catch 'In The Mood For Cheongsam: Modernity and Singapore Women' before it ended. Can't imagine myself in a cheongsam. Luckily I don't live in that era. Already, I live in shorts and jeans most of the time, and am not fond of dresses. Each time I don a cheongsam, it feels as though I morph into a persona, something fake...in order to fulfil an obligation, like a costume. On display are cheongsams on loan, and those owned by the museum. There was a section of cheongsams that were worn by wives of past and present political leaders of Singapore. I didn't really care who wore or owned the cheongsams. I was interested in the cut, fabric and design reflecting the era and purpose of the clothes.

There were individual stunning pieces housed within glass walls and mesh separators, for example, a 2009 McQueen, a girlish pleated 2006 number by Shiatzy Chen (Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia), and the usual horrifying OTT others. The exhibition was more than a discussion of the history of the cheongsam. The fabrics and cut were so subjective and tailored to the wearer, that these cheongsams on display were revealing more than individual expressions of taste. They conveyed a message of the times. More impressive, were the brochures in full color and the activity corner that didn't just fascinate children, but also the adults.

We wandered to the next gallery that held 'Gold Rush: Treasures of the Ukraine'. I might have to return to view it. By the time we got around to this gallery, it was almost closing time. So we whooshed through the exhibits. Not ideal. After a while, I forgot what identifying traits the exhibits reflected of the nomadic Scythians and Kievan Rus of Ukraine from the 8th century BCE to the 19th century CE. It melted into a blur, and everything simply became...Eastern European history of around the Byzantine period.

1st Century CE (Sarmartians). Gold, garnet, quartz- forging, stamping, filigree, grinding. From Mykolaiv region, 1974.

The exhibits comprised of weapons, daggers, household items, jewelry and more on loan from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, and Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine. At the final corner of the gallery, the curators also threw in some gold pieces and goldsmithing apparatus from Southeast Asia and Singapore. Something to do with goldsmithing history. Something I was completely uninterested in. Those pieces of gold were just not very well-thought-out compared to the antiquated Ukrainian pieces.

What I did notice, were that the vessels used for wine and alcohol during the period, were rather large, in either vertical or horizontal format. Each could hold at least 800ml of liquid. Certainly not a volume I'd like to down in a gulp. Not even if it's a long gulp. Drinking in those days must be a rather hazardous affair. Nomadic Scythians drank blood too; people of the Kievan state drank a lot of wine, mead, kvass, and pretty much everything else that could be fermented.