Event: The Image of Our Landscape, 19^th Century Singapore through Paintings, Prints and Photographs

a. What is the objective of this event? Give a brief background to this event.

The objective of this event is to show people about 19^th Century Singapore. This exhibition shows images documented in the form of photographs, prints or paintings by people who came to seek a fortune in Singapore. The Image of Our Landscape, are images documented in the form of photographs, prints or paintings. Well, a picture speaks a thousand words. The whole exhibition uses of pictures and not words to tell a story; from here we can learn about events that happened in the 19^th Century Singapore as depicted in the images presented in the exhibition.

This National Museum of Singapore originated exhibition will look at the various depictions of 19th century Singapore, examining their meanings and representations. The various works will reveal the topography of the Singapore landscape in the 19th century with views of places such as the harbour, Singapore River, Fort Canning Hill, Raffles Place as well as depictions of the cosmopolitan trade town and Singapore’s rural scenes. Taking an approach that is both chronological and thematic, the exhibition will feature over 130 original paintings, prints and photographs, albums and illustrated books from the museum’s collection, of which a significant number were acquired in recent years and never before shown.

The exhibition is divided into 2 parts, one at the Balcony (level 2) and the other at the Canyon (basement level). The first part of the exhibition located at the Canyon (basement level) of the National Museum, is structured according to the common sites that travelers came across during their stay in Singapore during the 19^th Century. These images document Singapore’s natural and man-made features of the places or region from early settlement to the turn of the 20^th Century.

The second part of the exhibition is located at the Balcony (Level 2) of the National Museum. It explores the industry of print making and photography, showing how these images were produced for and circulated in the tourist market.

b. Who is the target audience?

Their target audience should be focused on children. The reason why I think so is because the exhibition decided to use photos to tell their stories. If their target audience was not children then I think they would use words to tell the story.

Another target audience are tourists, who have dropped by Singapore.

When I was at the exhibition, I noticed that there weren’t many teenagers there. The majority of the people there were adults and they brought their children along.

c. How is the event publicized? (In other words, how does the target audience get to know about the event?)

When we were asking around, many parents said that they found out through the word of mouth and a few of them said they saw the event in the newspaper. When tourists were asked how they knew bout the event, they just answered saying that they just followed the tour group.

d. Is the event reported in the media? If yes, how widely is it reported? (Do a quick analysis of the reports, in terms of the angles that the media takes, the importance of the coverage, and your opinion of the impact of the coverage). If no, why do you think the media did not cover the event? What do you think could be done to attract media coverage?

The event was only reported through The Straits Time Life Section. There wasn’t much advertisement on the television. I think the media did not cover the event because it was a free event and usually only paid events would be more widely publicized.

e. Assume you are the manager overseeing this project. Evaluate the success / failure of this event. How would you do it differently for greater success?

I would assume the event was a failure, as there weren’t much people viewing the exhibition especially the basement level. (Canyon)

To make the project a greater success, I would definitely publicize the project more by doing tv advertisement, putting it on New Paper and publicizing it in schools since the target audience are towards the younger generation.

However, I am sure that even though there weren’t much people viewing the exhibition, those who had gone to the exhibition have definitely benefited a lot. So if we are talking in terms of whether the people were educated I am sure the event would be considered a success.

A visit to this exhibition had definitely taught me a lot about 19^th Century Singapore.