06 August 2009

"I Polunin": an exhibition of Malaya’s social and natural history

What was everyday life in Singapore like in the 1950s and 1970s? What was our biodiversity and natural surroundings like then?
Pulau Sudong, 1951, Ivan Polunin Collection

Dr Ivan Polunin, known among others for his work on natural history in our region, shares from his personal archives at an upcoming exhibition.

8 Aug-22 Nov: Exhibition "I Polunin" at the NUS Museum

Approached as a survey of everyday life in Singapore and Malaya in the 1950s and 1970s, I, Polunin presents rarely seen photographs, slides and film footage selected from the personal archives of Dr. Ivan Polunin.

Conceptualized as an ‘archival site’, the exhibition also brings together Dr. Polunin’s personal objects which sit alongside the photographic displays.

Encouraging its audiences to connect intuitively but also set against the different legacies of colonial knowledge production and of what constitutes a sense of the Singapore Self - I, Polunin -strives to challenge take-for-granted notions of memory and melancholy in the postcolonial era.

Arriving in Singapore from England in 1948, Dr. Polunin taught Social Medicine and Public Health at the then University of Malaya. In an adventurous career that began with the filmic documentation of tropical diseases, Dr. Polunin’s ethnographies grew to encompass hundreds of hours of film footage on Malaya’s eclectic sociocultural practices and its rich biodiversity.

Free admission.

More details on the NUS museums website. Thanks to Otterman speaks for the alert.

Guided Tours
Tuesdays to Fridays: By appointment
Saturdays: 2pm- 3pm (Selected exhibition only. Please call the Museum for details)

Venue: NUS Museum, University Cultural Centre, 50 Kent Ridge Crescent more details
Opening Hours: 10am to 7.30pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 10am to 6pm Sundays, Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays
Website: http://www.nus.edu.sg/museum
Contact: museum@nus.edu.sg or call 6516 8817

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