Natural History Museum
The Museum will be closed on Tuesday, 29 October 2024. Normal operations will resume on Wednesday, 30 October 2024. The Museum will remain open on Deepavali, Thursday, 31 October 2024.
News //
On 27 March 2024, Wednesday, the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) and the National University of Singapore Libraries (NUS Libraries) had the pleasure of hosting an exciting event—the launch of the Museum’s newly published book, ‘8½ Hours in Singapore: Late 19th-Century Perspectives of the Island through Kubota Beisen’s Woodblock Prints’! The book reproduces 12 woodblock prints of Singapore from ‘The Album of Beisen’s Travels’, courtesy of NUS Libraries’ Special Collections.
About ‘8½ Hours in Singapore’
Kubota Beisen, a renowned Japanese artist from the Meiji period, only had a fleeting eight-and-a-half hours in Singapore. With such a short time in Singapore, Kubota had to travel and sketch quickly. Despite the brevity of his visit—and as a testament to the artist’s abilities and keen observation—Kubota would produce 12 woodblock prints that deftly capture the unique scenes of the wildlife and people of Singapore. Beyond their artistic allure, these 12 prints contain some of the earliest depictions of a tiger and a sawfish in Singapore. They also provide a refreshing glimpse at the island’s cultural, historical and environmental landscapes at the turn of the century, a time marked by significant changes and transitions in the port city. The book is written by the Museum’s Biodiversity Histories team—Kathy Poh, Jeslynn Teo and Maimon Hussin.
Launch of ‘8½ Hours in Singapore’
The book launch took place at NUS Central Library, where attendees gathered to witness the unveiling of the book. We were honoured to have our Guest-of-Honour, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, Professor Aaron Thean, and distinguished guest, Ambassador of Japan to Singapore, His Excellency Mr Hiroshi Ishikawa, grace the event.
An interdisciplinary approach towards Singapore’s historical biodiversity
In his opening speech, Guest-of-Honour Prof Thean drew on two of Kubota’s Singapore prints—one of which features a caught sawfish and another is of a tiger hunt, highlighting their significance as potentially being some of the earliest visual records of these two animals in Singapore.
“This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to discussing Singapore’s environmental changes over time and invites us to reflect upon what our co-existence with nature can look like,” shared Prof Thean. “Today’s celebration reminds us that this project, inherently an interdisciplinary collaboration within the university, also opens the door to a much wider audience than before.”
Following his speech, Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian of NUS Libraries, and Associate Professor Darren Yeo, Head of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, further elaborated on the importance of historical records and specimens in better understanding our natural heritage.
“It is the recognition that the data from specimens and books—many more than a century old—that have been cared for by LKCNHM and NUS Libraries remain relevant and benefit from being studied together,” expressed Assoc Prof Yeo. “This interdisciplinary understanding of our past biodiversity… will surely help us in our journey to becoming better stewards of our present, and future, biodiversity.”
To give a better understanding of the historical context of ‘8½ Hours in Singapore’, Associate Professor Timothy Barnard, from the History Department, College of Humanities and Science, NUS, gave the audience a presentation which touched particularly on Singapore in the 19th century and how other naturalists had documented the island’s biodiversity in the past.
Finally, the launch concluded with HE Mr Ishikawa being presented with a copy of the book by Prof Thean.
An exhibition of rare materials and specimens
After the launch, guests were treated to an exhibition of rare materials from NUS Libraries which included photographic albums and books from the late-1800s and early-1900s, including the physical copy of ‘The Album of Beisen’s Travels’. Specimens from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum were also on display. Participants were excited to see the curated documents, and their relevance and significance in regard to the book.
The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and NUS Libraries would like to thank our Guest-of-Honour, Prof Thean, and distinguished guest, HE Mr Ishikawa, for gracing the event. In addition, we would like to thank the National Museum of Singapore, the National Library Board and National Archives of Singapore, the Meiji Shinbun Zasshi Bunko of Tokyo University, Dr Noriko Iwaki and Dr Timothy David Amos for their support and assistance with this book project.
Our book ‘8½ Hours in Singapore’ and merchandise (such as postcards and tote bags which reproduce Kubota’s drawings), are now available for sale at NUS Co-op and the Museum shop.
