New heritage gallery opens

SINGAPORE - They may be familiar sights on our landscape today, but Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall (VTVCH) are more than just iconic buildings in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District.

It not only was a home for arts performances - not least concerts by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and more recently, the pantomime Monkey Goes West by W!ld Rice - but was also a community space, functioned as a makeshift hospital during World War II and served as the inaugural meeting venue for the People’s Action Party in 1954. It was also the venue for the launch of Singapore’s pilot television broadcasting service, Television Singapura.

The history of the buildings is now showcased in a new heritage gallery. Named A Monument To Our History, the gallery is located on Level 3 of the VTVCH and features paraphenalia such as posters, booklets, photos and oral history recordings, as well as footage of past performances contributed by arts groups, schools and members of the public. The Stage Club, for example, shared several posters and programme booklets of its performances at the Victoria Theatre, while Professor Bernard Tan contributed a programme featuring the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s debut performance at the Victoria Concert Hall in 1980.

“The orchestra’s first performance was actually at the Singapore Conference Hall,” he recalled, adding that the SSO soon made its home at the VTVCH.

“It’s better to have these on display than locked up in a cupboard,” said David Hickman about the memorabilia. He and his wife Eileen, joined The Stage Club in 1977. He would end up being the president of the club, while his wife became treasurer and business manager.

Some of Singapore’s early pioneers of the arts were at the gallery to share their stories. Jean Chan, who used to dance with the Singapore Ballet Academy, said she hoped this gallery would give a sense of what it was like being a performer.

“We were all teens back then,” she said of her days as a ballerina. “And the shows would all be sold out.”

Curated by the National Heritage Board (NHB), the gallery was launched as part of the Arts & Heritage Pioneer Generation Tribute 2015 event by the the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).