Last week’s post posed an experience with the Cheongsam, a traditional costume with Chinese origin. This week feature come from the other end of the continent – Ukraine.
This exhibition covered the various nomads and tribes that lived along that area from the 8th century BCE to 19th century CE. There were 10 tribes in total, including the Scythians, Mongols, Huns, and all that.
Gold then was more valuable than it was today – with cultural significance and symbolism rich within the various communities.
The last gallery of this exhibition was tied in with Singapore’s goldsmith industry and its development over the years.
It’s educational, I’d give them that. However, I felt that it was still rather scattered, despite the activity book they have for the kids. We were looking at how gold and metals were used for different functions but not really how each nomad lived – in short, it seemed very cramped. Also, you had to want to see the relevance of placing “Ukraine” in the title, there was a lot of promotion of the nomadic tribes than the place they were in.
We could relate better to the Singapore section of the exhibition though, especially with the video of the jewellery maker, which gave us a new appreciation of how the goldsmiths and jewellery shops had their goods made.
Gold Rush: The Treasures of Ukraine will be at the National Museum of Singapore until 26 August 2012. For more information, click here.