ARTS AND HEALTH SINGAPORE REPOSITORY
An Online Database Charting Arts and Health Development in Singapore.
Cultural and Art Venues, Access and Wellbeing.
National Museum of Singapore
Senior Friendly Programmes at Reunion Social Space
Reunion and its programmes are designed to be inclusive of seniors from all walks of life, including those living with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Seniors can look forward to reconnecting with the past and sharing experiences with each other through senior-friendly and senior-centred programmes organised by the museum.
All Reunion programmes consider additional needs and language preferences – be sure to indicate at registration! Programme highlights include monthly senior-friendly tours and monthly senior-friendly workshops, as well as other collaborative programmes co-run by partners, such as the Makan with Seniors programme, Knowledge Café, and Tea Dance.
While pre-registration is required for programmes, seniors and other visitors are welcome to walk in and enjoy the space before resuming their museum visit, especially on days when there are no programmes being held. Visitors can also look forward to enjoying wholesome meals and conversations in the adjacent Café Brera.
Learn more and register for Reunion programmes here:
Mindfulness at the Museum
Join us at the National Museum of Singapore for a range of specially curated relaxing activities on selected Saturdays in 2025!
We invite you to slow down, be in the present moment, and enjoy the mindfulness programmes inspired by our artefacts and stories.
Find out more at:
Special Education Needs Programmes
The National Museum of Singapore organises regular inclusive for children with additional needs, whether they come with families or with their schools. Our programmes are co-developed with facilitators experienced in engaging a wide range of special needs. Pre-registration is required.
Parents and educators can also plan for self-facilitated visits to the museum. Activity booklets and craft templates based on our galleries are available for online download (or in hard copy upon request for group visits) free of charge.
Quiet Mornings and other accessibility initiatives at NMS
At the National Museum, we hope that all visitors can access and enjoy our exhibitions. Visitors may find useful:
-
Our services such as exhibition captions and/or audio guides in various languages, and sensory bags available for loan free of charge;
-
Our Quiet Mornings on 3 designated days a month, when the museum opens an hour earlier and declines regular group visits, to allow visitors with additional needs a quieter environment in which to explore our museum; and
-
Our two dedicated Quiet Rooms, which provides safe spaces for visitors who might experience sensory overload. We have a dedicated Quiet Room (Level 2) suited for children with autism, who needs a private space to calm down before resuming their museum visit, as well as a Quiet Room suited for seniors, including those living with dementia and cognitive impairments located within Reunion Social Space (Level 1).
For more information on Quiet Mornings and other NMS accessibility initiatives:
National Gallery Singapore
Silent Tour | Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.
This programme provides a platform for a reflective and introspective experience while interacting with the displayed artworks in the exhibition. The tour focused on encouraging its participants to engage in mindfulness as they slow down and pay close attention to artworks and the environment in relation to them.
Dialect Tour
By offering tours in various Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien, the dialect tour aims to increase accessibility and encourage museum-going amongst the older generation in Singapore. This gallery-tour is catered to multi-generation families and meaningfully engage them in lively conversations about art in everyday lives and foster togetherness through interactive activities designed to be enjoyed by all ages.
Singapore Art Museum
SAM Touch Collection
This is an initiative by the Singapore Art Museum to extend contemporary art experience to audiences of all backgrounds and abilities. The collection is a series of artwork adaptations that are specifically developed to be portable and engaging for the visually impaired community. The collection is based on artworks by Singapore artists that are related to the historical, cultural and social aspects of Singapore. Each adaptation is also accompanied by supplementary resources and materials such as audio guides and reproduction of finer artwork details to enhance interaction and understanding.
Kopi, Teh, Contemporary Art
The programme started out as an experimental project with students from Nanyang Girls High School as guides to help seniors from Admiralty and Sembawang relate to the artworks in the exhibition. It aims to be the intermediary between seniors and artworks as a means to help change perspectives of contemporary arts and museums. Currently, SAM is in partnership with RSVP, an organisation for senior volunteers to provide training programmes for senior volunteers to become peer guides for senior participants. This programme is delivered in seven languages, including dialects, so as to cater to participants from diverse backgrounds.
Project Happiness
Making use of the narrative quality of contemporary art, Project Happiness aims to encourage sharing of experiences by students in Secondary Schools in Singapore. This project is done in collaboration with the Singapore Association for Mental Health to reach out to students through the arts and promote mental wellbeing.
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Sing Out Loud
This programme promotes the use of arts for active ageing among seniors. Each session is facilitated by artists, therapists and social workers and tailored to suit the needs of seniors with different levels of physical mobility. Seniors would undergo eight vocal training sessions over a period of two to four months in which they would learn about voice projection and essential techniques for singing. The programme is designed through continuous cross-sharing with organisations in the United Kingdom and Alzheimer’s Disease Association in Singapore before adapting it suit the cultural context of Singapore.
Songwriting For Hope
Using songwriting as a form of artistic expression, the project reaches out to vulnerable youth and enables them to share personal stories, while learning how to make music. Through a partnership with Singapore General Hospital, the project hopes to empower youths and allow them to discover the value in the life experiences which would turn into their hope for the future.
Theatre for Dreams
Theatre for Dreams is a drama and movement programme which engages youths in residential care, Singapore Boys’ Home. Facilitated by a drama educator and applied drama practitioner, Oniatta Effendi, the use of drama empowers participants to reflect and share about their difficult feelings and thoughts within the safe space. At the end of the programme, a private showcase was performed for the families and it provided an opportunity for parents and youths to establish a more positive relationship.
This is My Song
This is a programme that is facilitated by an applied theatre practitioner for individuals affected by cancer. Participants reminisce through songs and select those that resonated to certain points in their life. In 2019, the pilot programme was completed in a hospice with a small group of participants. At the end-of-programme showcase, the shared stories and songs were played for the family members which promoted emotional connections with participants and their loved ones. Going ahead, the Esplanade is also working with the Singapore Cancer Society to carry out this programme.
Dance for Joy
Conceptualised as a family programme, Dance for Joy is a creative movement programme for young people with autism. The programme is centred on encouraging family members such as siblings, caregivers and parents to participate together with their loved ones with special needs.
Intergenerational Footwork
Intergenerational Footwork is a programme aimed to reach out to troubled youths and seniors in the community. Through dance, it hopes to provide them with an opportunity for deeper engagement and keep active while the two generations participate in the activity together. Initially, the programme was created only for the youths and over the years was brought to the senior groups because of the known benefit that dance is able to enhance their physical and psychological well-being. Currently, the Esplanade had already made two runs of intergenerational footwork, bringing together students from Bowen and Kent Ridge Secondary Schools and seniors from Lions Befrienders Senior Activity Centre (Ghim Moh) and Thong Keng Seniors Activity Centre (Queenstown), to encourage intergenerational bonding within the community through the fun of Hip Hop.
Peranakan Museum
Culture, Kopi and Kueh
In partnership with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), the Peranakan Museum ran two cycles of this six-week pilot programme to engage 30 residents and five staff members from Ling Kwang Home for Senior Citizens. The residents and staff members were involved in facilitated conversations inspired by artefacts in the Peranakan Museum and participated in various art-making activities while sharing their personal stories with each other. The pilot programme had provided many learning points that provide a guide for future designing of programmes for seniors visiting the museums and heritage institutions.
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Be My Robo-Date
This programme is part of the National Heritage Board’s initiative to provide access for individuals who are unable to physically visit the heritage institutions. The remote-controlled mobile monitor is paired with a tour guide to provide an interactive experience as the tour guide helps to answer questions the visitor may have about the exhibits. This initiative helps to reach out to the under-served communities, giving them an opportunity to visit places in which they previously did not have the chance to.