Come experience the annual Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Festival online to celebrate the rich heritage of the Gardens.
From 24 October to 1 November 2020, the Gardens will bring you through a fun-filled journey with activities such as demos, museum tours and concert virtually!
Heritage Tour
- 24 October, 9am
- 31 October, 9am
160 years ago, the Singapore Botanic Gardens was the birthplace of Southeast Asia’s rubber and orchid industries. A walk through the re-developed Tanglin Core (also known as the Heritage Core) Tanglin / Heritage Core of the Gardens will evoke memories of the bygone days, when ladies strolled through the Gardens with parasols and long skirts. Highlights of the tour include the Bandstand, sculptures in the Gardens, Heritage Trees, the Main Gate and the Saraca Stream Walk.
Learning Forest Tour
- 24 October, 9am
- 31 October, 9am
The Learning Forest features a network of boardwalks and elevated walkways that allow visitors to explore habitats ranging from a freshwater forest wetland to a lowland rainforest. Visitors can learn about freshwater forest wetland ecosystems at the Keppel Discovery Wetlands and walk amongst a collection of some of the tallest tree species in Southeast Asia at the SPH Walk of Giants.
Race Against Time Tour
- 24 October, 10am
This session introduces the research facilities at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, such as the Library of Botany & Horticulture, Orchid & Micro-propagation laboratory and the Herbarium. One of the highlights of this tour is a visit to the Herbarium which stores physical records of reference plant materials, some dating as far back as 1790. In addition, learn about our hybridisation programme for orchids, a process introduced back in 1930s by the then Director, R.E Holttum.
Seed Bank Tour
- 25 October, 9am & 10.30am
- 1 November, 9am & 10.30am
Join us for a tour of the Singapore Botanic Gardens Seed Bank, as we bring you through the interpretive gallery and seed dispersal garden. You will learn about the process of seed banking, seed ecology and the role of seed banks in conserving plant species for the future through the preservation of seeds.
Click here to register your interest for the tour!
Selected participants will be notified by email confirmation.
Gardening with Tassle Ferns
- NParksSG Youtube / SBG Facebook
- 24 October onwards
Tassle Ferns –What are they? Can they be grown in high rise conditions? Why are they usually planted through the bottom of their pots? How do I repot my tassle fern? Join Jerome Koh from Singapore Botanic Gardens as we learn more about growing and using these wonderful draping plants in your home garden.
Arts@SBG presents NAC-ExxonMobil Concert in the Gardens
- NParksSG Youtube NParksBuzz FB
- 31 October
- 7pm – 8pm onwards
Join us as we celebrate Singapore Botanic Gardens’ Heritage Festival with a groove! Singapore’s Glamour Songbird, Miss Lou, a classic vintage vocalist and songwriter will sway you through a soulful evening with her old-school vocal stylings with modern sensibilities. Then get ready to be on your feet, for a toe-tapping swing with The Lost Tribe of Pulau Gypsy as you embark on an unexpected musical twist! Grab your family and be entertained with our online edition of the NAC-ExxonMobil Concert in the Gardens series!
Heritage Orchid Display
- National Orchid Garden
- 24 October – 1 November
- 8.30am – 7pm (last entry at 6pm)
Immerse yourselves in colourful and vibrant orchids as the National Orchid Garden, in conjunction with the Orchid Society of South East Asia puts together a mesmerizing display of Heritage Orchids. In addition, there will also be a mini orchid competition, where flowering orchid specimens will be on display.
Connecting People and Plants: A Century of Gardening Contributions in Singapore
- Botany Centre, CDL Green Gallery
- 24 October- 14 March 2021
- 9am – 6pm
Go on a journey through Singapore’s gardening history.
For over a century, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, among others, has contributed to nurturing a gardening nation. Key among the Gardens’ initiatives is its association with the early gardening and horticulture movement in Singapore that continues today. In this exhibition, discover how people and plants of past and present come together through a love for gardening, and find out how you, too, can be a part of this movement.
*Participate in our activity - snap, upload and hashtag us (#sbgheritagefestival2020) on your social media to redeem a seed pack when you visit the CDL Green Gallery or Heritage Museum*
In conjunction with the exhibition, just outside the CDL Green Gallery:
Living sustainably requires us to be conscious of our basic needs and the footprint we leave on this world. Inspired by the diverse range of plants and objects that we use in everyday life, we've re-created a garden of edibles using repurposed and recycled rubber tires, discarded wheelbarrows and old gardening tools! Come and experience the "new-old" edible plots amidst bright colours, ornamental blooms and foliage!
Plants That Heal Exhibition
- Centre for Ethnobotany
- Now till 28 Feb 2021
- 9am – 6pm
There is an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 species of land plants in the world and much of this diversity resides in the tropical rain forest. This exhibition features some medicinal plants from Singapore’s rain forest. In addition, contributions made by the gardens to early ethnomedicinal research in the region and current work on the ethnobotany of the jackfruit tree family are featured. Information is also presented on the science behind drug discovery.
Scenic Perceptions - Reflecting the Elements
- Botany Centre, Green Pavilion
- 24 October – 1 November
- 8am – 5.30pm
Scenic Perceptions - Reflecting the Elements is a joint collaboration between the Singapore Botanic Gardens and NYP’s Diploma in Visual Communication students from the School of Design.
The project is an installation with video clips to depict three elements from nature: water, fire and earth. With the assistance from members of three co-curricular activities (CCAs), the Visual Communication students directed, filmed and edited the clips to reflect their vision.
This installation includes a 3x3 grid of nine tiles that will trigger the elements and their corresponding images to appear on the screen when visitors follow instructions on how to activate them just by tapping their feet! Visitors will then be treated to an array of performances - by NYP’s Live Audio, Dance Company and the Malay Cultural Group.
Lighted Timbers
- Botany Centre, Green Pavilion
- 24 October – 1 November
- 8am – 5.30pm
An art installation – known as Lighted Timbers by Adrian Chua and Daryl Goh, lecturers from NYP’s School of Interactive & Digital Media – is installed at the Botany Centre, Green Pavilion.
Drawing inspiration from urbanised woods, Lighted Timbers is an encounter with trees in their basic forms. These nine two-metre high installations represent urban trees. They are made of aluminium and have lighted tubes with LED lights to represent the urban environments they are placed in.
The trees have “individual personalities”, as depicted by the unique LED light patterns each tree has. When humans go near the trees, the LED lights will go off, and the lights re-appear when you are a distance away. The NYP staff who created this AI programming wanted to simulate a “mimosa” effect, similar to mimosa plants which curl up their leaves in defence when touched. The effect is to portray how the trees are sensitive to their environment, and remind us about striving to co-exist with them against the backdrop of sustainability issues.
In addition, the trees also “communicate” with one another, as their reactions to human proximity affects how they behave as a collective whole, in terms of whether their LED lights are lit up or dimmed.
Surprise the Senses Art Exhibition
- People’s Gallery
- 24 October – 29 November
- 5am - midnight
Spectrum is an annual arts festival organised by Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). It showcases art installations, performances and workshops, and is an expression of artistic creativity.
Once again, they are collaborating with Singapore Botanic Gardens for Spectrum 2020. The theme this year is Imagine: Surprise the Senses!
An art competition using the theme was launched in July as a bonding platform to encourage creative expressions from the NYP family.
As a number of art pieces submitted for the competition was related on the theme of nature, they were ideal to be exhibited at the SBG. Selected art pieces will be showcased at all the Garden’s entrances from October.
A section of the exhibition has been reserved to display the works from young children, as they reflect the beauty of nature through their eyes.
Cēb bah hēp by Elders of Our Forest
- Ethnobotany Garden
- 24 Oct – 1 Nov
- 9am – 6pm
Cēb bah hēp, meaning to enter the forest, is an outdoor installation of 9 photographs documenting the culture and identity of the Orang Asli Batek tribe in Taman Negara, Malaysia. First exhibited in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the exhibition is now traveling in a bid to spark a larger conversation on indigenous peoples and their relationship with the rainforest across Southeast Asia.
Explore the Story of Plants and People
- Centre for Ethnobotany
- Everyday
- 9am – 6pm
The Centre for Ethnobotany explores the relationship between plants and people. Through interactive displays spanning over two levels, visitors can learn how plants shaped our cultures and the world history.
*Participate in our activity - snap, upload and hashtag (#sbgheritagefestival2020) on your social media to redeem a seed pack when you visit the Centre for Ethnobotany*
Seed Bank Interpretive Gallery
- Seed Bank
- Everyday
- 9am – 6pm
The Singapore Botanic Gardens Seed Bank is a conservation, research and education facility in the Singapore Botanic Gardens that focuses on conserving plant species by preserving the seeds and germplasm of plants in Southeast Asia. The Seed Bank has an interpretive gallery that introduces the Seed Bank and explains its importance to plant conservation and research in Singapore and the region, as well as a seed dispersal garden with seed sculptures showing the different seed dispersal mechanisms.
*Participate in our activity - snap, upload and hashtag us (#sbgheritagefestival2020) on your social media to redeem a seed pack when you visit the Seed Bank*
Image Credit: National Parks
Age
0+
Price
Free
