Curating Progress: Coloniality and the State-Crafted Transition Narrative in Singapore’s National Museums

Abstract

This paper examines how Singapore’s national museums function as political assemblages through their curation of a state-crafted transition narrative, which positions colonialism and contemporary authoritarian governance as foundations of progress. I argue that exhibitions at the National Museum of Singapore construct a linear developmentalist storyline in which precolonial Singapore is rendered fragmented or insignificant. British colonial rule and technocratic state leadership, however, appear as civilizing and modernizing forces. Through the analysis of permanent and temporary exhibitions, including Singapore Odyssea and Once Upon a Tide, this paper shows how exhibition design, selective inclusion, and narrative silences reproduce colonial temporalities and legitimize strong-state developmentalism. Even when precolonial histories are acknowledged, they remain subordinate to narratives of national cohesion, economic achievement, and global-city branding. Thus, these markers reflect how museums actively shape historical consciousness, reinforce colonial epistemologies, and constrain alternative understandings of Singapore’s past and present-day political possibilities.