Singapore Art Museum’s exhibition focuses on the wonders of daily life through student artworks

The little wonders in our daily lives are presented at Singapore Art Museum’s (SAM) Finding Wonders exhibition, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of SAM’s museum-based school program Think! Contemporary.

Available both physically and online for the first time, Finding Wonders features more than 30 artworks by 2,078 primary school students over the past two years.

SAM integrates school curriculum with museum visits with the Think! Contemporary programme, using artwork from its exhibitions as educational resources for subjects such as English, Art, Science and Social Studies.

Over 11,000 students are part of the Think! Contemporary programme, in partnership with schools like CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace, Geylang Methodist Primary School, Haig Girls’ School, Mayflower Primary School and St Anthony’s Primary School.

The exhibition showcases several artworks created by students who were inspired by the works of local artists.

For instance, Mushroom Mania comprises a collection of various colourful mushrooms, such as Portobello, Button mushrooms and Lingzhi. The installation was created by Primary 4 students from CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace, who were inspired by SAM’s REFUSE exhibition by The Observatory, a Singaporean avant-rock band.

Another piece featured in the exhibition is a three-dimensional wire sculpture created by Mayflower Primary School students in response to artist Jing Quek’s Singapore Idols.

Jing Quek’s Singapore Idols is a series of photographs featuring National Servicemen, domestic workers and groups of senior citizens, and aims to feature the diverse communities in Singapore who are commonly overlooked.

Named MFPS Idols – The Construction Workers, the students similarly decided to shed light on oft-forgotten groups of people who have contributed to society, using construction workers as their inspiration.

Visitors can find the physical Finding Wonders exhibition from Nov 4 to Dec 31 at levels seven and eight of the National Library Building, or access it online on SAM’s website from Nov 4 to Mar 31, 2023.