Exceptional/Everyday: New Acquisitions, New Perspectives

Admission to Permanent Galleries and Special Exhibition Residents of port cities for generations, Peranakans have long commissioned and acquired a wide range of global goods. On occasion, they also made what they needed. Ranging from conspicuous luxuries to everyday items, the diversity of these objects reflects the complexities of port-city life, where objects were often combined in unconventional ways and adapted for new uses.

Recent acquisitions by the Peranakan Museum offer fresh perspectives on the rich ambiguity of Peranakan culture. While some objects might be quintessentially Peranakan, others are not. Spanning the public and private, bespoke and mass-produced, the objects invite close study, shedding light on shifting tastes and the creative ways Peranakan communities responded to a rapidly changing world.