The City Palace, from Lake Pichola. To the far right is the Shiv Niwas Palace and in the middle of the photo, with the trio of turrets, is the Fateh Prakash Palace. Both Palaces are heritage hotels managed by the HRH Group.

This is a city of lakes and a city of palaces.

The palaces here are all, in their own way, epic and awe-inspiring.

Take the City Palace, which sprawls on the East Bank of Lake Pichola. Construction of the palace was initiated in the mid 1550s by the Maharana Udai Singh II, soon after shifting his capital here to the city that would be named after him.

In the course of 400 years, his descendants would continue adding to the Palace, resulting in its distinctive and complex Mughal + Rajasthani “layer-cake” look – at least for the visitor staring from upon the lake towards it.

The City Palace today consists of a publicly accessible monument, a museum of treasures, and two heritage hotels – the Shiv Niwas Palace and the Fatehprakash Palace, managed by the HRH Group of Hotels, in turn owned and managed by the current ruling Maharana of Mewar (Udaipur is the capital city of Mewar).

And then there is the Monsoon Palace, or Sajjangarh Palace, built by Maharana Sajjan Singh (therefore the name Sajjangarh) in 1884.  It perches, impossibly – a dream in white marble – high in the Aravalli Hills, some 5 kilometres away from downtown Udaipur.

It is said that the Palace had been built to provide a view of the monsoon clouds during monsoon season. And certainly the palace affords an epic, panoramic view of the entire city of Udaipur and its lakes.

Accessing the palace is a rather hair-raising affair, however, since the way up to it is a single-laned, two-way winding road up through the hills of the Sajjan Sanctuary.  It is not for the faint-hearted.

From Udaipur, one can also make a daytrip out to the village of Ranakpur to view a “palace” of another variety.  I refer to the magnificent Jain Temple, established in the 1400s.

The temple affords the perfect location for contemplating the eternal interconnectedness of all things in the universe; and mankind’s smallness in the face of such immensity.

The City Palace

Close-up of the Shiv Niwas Palace.

External facade of the Palace, viewed from Manek Chowk.

The Tripoliya Gate, built in the early 1700s is one of the entrances to the Manek Chowk and the palace complex.

Toran Pol.

Mural of a Mewari princess

Goddess with elephants in attendance.

Latticed windows

Carrier pigeon cages.

View of the City from the City Palace. 

Kanch ki Burj, built in the early 1600s.

Window…

Detail…Ganesh.

Dutch tiles in the palace.

Chini chitrashala

The Moti Mahal, or “Pearl Palace”.

Interior of the Zenana Mahal, or Queen’s Palace.

Mor Chowk, or Peacock Courtyard.

Close-up of Peacock.

Interior…

And finally…a portrait of the present ruling Maharana Arvind Singh Mewar.

The Monsoon Palace

Sajjangarh Palace, perched impossibly at the edge of a cliff.

Entrance to the Palace, with its viewing balconies.

Palace interior.

Palace interior, with peacock arches.

Palace courtyard.

From the battlements.

Photo-taking.

Close-up of the Palace facade

Goodbye Monsoon Palace.

Ranakpur Jain Temple

Facade of the Ranakpur Jain Temple.

The door to within.

The walls of the Temple.

Temple in the hills.

Backward glance at the City Palace.

The Lake Palace, viewed from the Fatehprakash Palace (part of the City Palace complex).

The Taj Lake Palace is known for being the “most  romantic hotel in the world”. I can’t possibly agree more.

It is perhaps the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever been to – a vision in white marble, floating on the waters of Lake Pichola. Certainly it boasts the most beautiful and evocative location.

From everywhere in the Palace, there is a sweeping, cinematic view of the city and the lake. And to the northeast, the burnished gold facade of the city palace…

It was hard to tear myself away from the palace, and though I did occasionally emerge to take in the sights of the city and to explore the lake on a speedboat, I have to admit I spent the bulk of my time in those endless white courtyards and corridors .

First built in the mid 1700s as a pleasure palace by the Maharana Jagat Singh II, it fell into disrepair by the end of the 1800s.

In the 1960s, the ruling Maharana Bhagwant Singh decided to convert the palace into the city’s first luxury hotel. The property was handed over to the Taj Hotels and Resorts Group, and it remains under the management of the Group today.

Its primary claim to international fame remains the James Bond film Octopussy in 1983, part of which was shot on location in the palace.

I’m too young to have ever known that movie, however. The one movie I know and remember well – a more recent work of art – is the exquisite, surreal and completely under-rated Tarsem Singh-helmed The Fall, part of which was also shot on location here.

And so it was with that scene of the lovers (re-)playing itself in my head that I wandered the grounds of the palace, looking out to the city with a sense of longing and a slight pang of loneliness in this most beautiful (but just then… infinitely desolate) of locations.

Perhaps seven years of Grand-Touring on my own has finally begun to take its toll.

Approaching the Lake Palace.

The entrance lobby, with its Peacock arches.

Lounge area near the entrance lobby.

The main courtyard.

The stunning view of the City Palace, from the rooftop patio area just outside my room.

I had the good fortune to have a very quiet and secluded room at the topmost corner of the Palace.

Lunch at the hotel’s all-day restaurant, Jharoka, overlooking Lake Pichola and the city.

View through chhatris to the city.

The absolutely exquisite swimming pool, with a view unto the lake.

…and so I sat here for hours and hours, just contemplating (the view), and my own loneliness.

A glass of champagne before dinner.

Sunset tour of the Lake.

The rooftop patio at sunset – the (lilac) door to my quaint little room is just past the attendant in blue.

Night at the Lake Palace.

Night at the Lake Palace, part two.

Dinner at the Hotel’s European restaurant, Bhairo, on the roof of the Palace, and with one of the most romantic views in the world.  Pity I was my own.

Detail of the mural in my room.

Corner of the Lake Palace, sunset.

Goodbye Lake Palace! And goodbye Udaipur!

A quiet alleyway in Venice…  Music, lyrics and arrangement by Kennie Ting. Photography by Joe Zandstra, with artwork design by Kennie Ting.

Up until very recently, I thought my lot in life was to be a singer-songwriter and a musical theatre composer (more about this maybe later…)

And so I wrote songs and song cycles, about love and longing, lust and loathing; and set in the many cities I had travelled to.

Some of these I “released” online, others, I never managed to finish.

In 2009, I wrote, composed and arranged a dozen or so songs that would become my second album, of sorts. I never had the chance to seriously record them. Instead, I produced and recorded (in my home studio) a demo of songs that would’ve been part of this album.

And then I moved to London and New York, and I stopped writing and composing.

Except for one occasion: in 2011, when my brother got married, I wrote, composed, arranged, recorded and performed a Chinese song at his wedding – the first Chinese song I had ever written, composed and recorded, but the very last song I would write, even till now.

I haven’t written / composed anything else since then. =(

It’s been more than 7 years.

I don’t know why.

In the spirit of new-old beginnings, I’ve decided I will revisit these songs that I wrote in the course of 2009, for an album I knew I would call THE FACTS OF LIFE.  [While the Chinese song I wrote for my brother’s wedding was never part of this album, I will throw it in too.]

This was meant to be an electro-pop/jazz album; something I had never attempted before, but which I thought would be fun to experiment with. And I was serious enough to even design single covers for each and everyone of these songs, and a cover for the album, that would never be “released”.

In the course of the next 12 months (including this one), I shall revisit and re-arrange / re-master these tracks I had composed, arranged and recorded as a demo in my own makeshift home-studio. And I shall “release” the re-arranged demos of each of these songs, once every month, on this blog.

WHICH, interestingly enough, post-dates the album; since in the course of completing the “album”, I realised that what I really loved was cities. And so I started this blog, Dream Of A City, as an expression of my love for cities and what takes place within them.

This love for cities would take a rather more visual and literary turn, as opposed to the musical…

In hubristic fashion, the blog, Dream Of A City, was named after my first embarrassingly self-indulgent, world-music-inspired “album”, which you might still just about be able to find on Spotify (sigh…).

I’ve always wanted to get back into music.

It’s my first love.

So this is a way back into it, I suppose.  Perhaps by the end of the next 11 months, I would have composed a new track.

Who knows?

In the meantime, here’s the first track of the demo album; a track entitled MAGIC.

It’s unabashedly romantic. Because, if you have been following this blog, you would know that I’m unabashedly, unfashionably and unapologetically romantic.

The Grand Tour of the East! I mean, seriously?

Hahaha…

I’m still searching for that other person who will join me in this unapologetically romantic approach to life and living.

This demo track is best listened to with headphones, with the volume turned up loud.

Enjoy.

But remember that this is just a DEMO.  It’s not perfect.

Someday I will perfect it.

LYRICS:

I believe in magic / Magical experiences / Like dinners in the desert / With only stars above. / I can hear you laughing / ‘Cos I’m so impressionable / Don’t you underrate it / The power of romance. 

Let’s go on a romantic weekend / To Fez or Marrakech / Talk all night in an old riad / With the walls and mirrors crumbling. / Let’s go to Venice, my darling / And find the perfect place / Right by the Grand Canal / We will watch the city passing.

Let’s go see the Taj Mahal / Take walks around its gardens / Who could believe such beauty was created by one man. / Let’s hike the Wall of China / And find the highest tower / We’ll stand in awe up there / For hours and hours and hours and hours. 

I believe in magic / Love a fairy tale come true / Like princes in their castles / Riding snow-white steeds. / I can hear you laughing / ‘Cos I’m just so literal / I say don’t you poke fun at it / The power of romance. 

Let’s go to Cuzco, my darling / We’ll take the Inca Trail / And up on Machu Picchu / We will see the sun rising. 

I believe in magic / It’s not the same as make-believe / There’s nothing too fantastic / About a cabin in the woods. / I can hear you laughing / ‘Cos I’m so impossible / ‘Cos I’m so unfashionably addicted to romance. 

Let’s believe in magic / ‘Cos there’s magic in this world / Like dinners in the desert / With only stars above. / I can hear you laughing / ‘Cos I’m so impressionable / Don’t you underrate it / The power of romance. 

© 2010 / 2018 Kennie Ting. All Rights Reserved.

Guerrilla marketing campaign for the exhibition. #acmsg #UnderstandEverything

Today, Asian Civilisations Museum’s first special exhibition of the year – RAFFLES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: REVISITING THE SCHOLAR AND STATESMAN opens. In typical risk-taking fashion, the exhibition tackles Southeast Asian colonial history head-on, and reveals how this history is complex and rarely a simple matter of Europeans exploiting Southeast Asians.  Local rulers in Southeast Asia also, simultaneously exploited the Europeans for their own gain.  I reproduce here my foreword for our excellent (and beautiful) exhibition catalogue.  

*  *  *

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of modern Singapore. The Asian Civilisations Museum commemorates the landing of Sir Stamford Raffles 
in Singapore by presenting, as its first major special exhibition of the year, a critical take on the theme of Raffles as collector, scholar, and statesman in Southeast Asia.

The exhibition takes in the ten years before the founding of modern Singapore in 1819, exploring Raffles’ career as Lieutenant-Governor of Java (1811–16), and then Bencoolen (Bengkulu), in south-western Sumatra (1818– 24), and events in the immediate lead-up to 1819 itself.

We are pleased to be co-curating this exhibition with the British Museum, and to feature, at the very core of the exhibition, the Raffles Collection – an important group of mainly Javanese ethnographic material that Raffles personally amassed during his time in Java, and then brought back to Britain – most of which today resides in the halls of the British Museum.

Around this Javanese core, we have borrowed a selection of Malay and Indonesian material from the Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands, the National Museum of Indonesia, and other museum partners in Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. These objects contribute to painting a fuller picture of Raffles’ life and career.

The exhibition has three aims. The first is to demystify Raffles – to present him in a different light from how he is usually portrayed, which is as a mythical founder figure frequently relegated to a single paragraph at the beginning of school history texts on Singapore. Raffles features strongly in the popular consciousness here, but most Singaporeans don’t know much about him beyond his name and the two Raffles statues at Empress Place along the Singapore River. We hope the exhibition provides a broader, more balanced view of his achievements and interests, as well as an insight into his personal life and activities before and after his brief, but important, time in Singapore.

The second aim of the exhibition is to tackle the question of how to re-present, for a contemporary audience, colonial collections of Southeast Asian material that continue to sit at the heart of many major museums today. This is a topical interest in the field of museology, as an increasingly connected world confronts its colonial pasts. Alongside the British Museum’s Raffles Collection, another important collection featured in the exhibition
– and one closer to home – is the former Raffles Library and Museum Collection, amassed by the British during the colonial period. It became the core of the Singapore National Collection, and today it is split between the Asian Civilisations Museum (the ethnographic and archaeological collections), the National Museum of Singapore (the paintings), and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (the natural history collection).

Long regarded as little more than an afterthought, objects from the Raffles Library and Museum have recently become a core building block and research impetus at the Asian Civilisations Museum and at
 the recently opened Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Our museum, in particular, continues to build upon the foundations laid by the Raffles Museum’s collections in our presentation of and research on the art, archaeology, and ethnography of Southeast Asia.

The third aim of the exhibition is to provide a history and art history of Java and its neighbours before
 the arrival of the British, including Singapore’s own roots in the Malay world. The exhibition takes the visitor on a virtual tour of the great empires and royal courts of Java – from the terrestrial Sailendras to the maritime Majapahit; from the sultanate of Mataram to today’s central Javanese royal courts of Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Mangkunegaran, and Pakualaman.

I wish to thank Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, and the curators at the British Museum and the Asian Civilisations Museum who have worked closely together to co-curate this exhibition. I wish also to thank the many other partner museums, archives, and institutions that have generously lent objects to the exhibition to complete the narrative of Raffles’ life and career.

Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesman concludes the Year of Southeast Asia here 
at the Asian Civilisations Museum. This exploration 
of the region’s art, history, heritage, and cultural diversity also included a major exhibition on the European encounter with Angkor, and the launch of new permanent galleries at the museum spotlighting Southeast Asia. In our museum’s typical fashion, we eschew traditional approaches to presenting Southeast Asia and instead focus on the cross-cultural encounters between Europeans and Southeast Asians. We do not shy away from the colonial gaze, but also explore the extent to which colonial methods of representation continue to impact how we, Southeast Asians,
consider and conceive of our own region today.

I hope this exhibition opens the eyes of visitors to 
an aspect of Singapore’s history and heritage that appears familiar, but on closer examination, is revealed
 to be a surprisingly complex chapter of our past.

What better time than now, in this bicentennial year, to re-open this chapter.

The (subversively beautiful) cover of the RAFFLES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA – REVISITING THE SCHOLAR AND THE STATESMAN Exhibition Catalogue. #acmsg #UnderstandEverything

View of the Blue City (otherwise known as the Old City of Jodhpur), from Mehrangarh Fort.

Jodhpur is the penultimate city on my Grand Tour of the Port and Princely Cities of the Subcontinent. It is the capital of the Kingdom of Marwar, an ancient territory ruled by Maharajas with an ancient lineage dating back at least till the 13th century, if not further.

Jodhpur itself was founded in the mid 1400s by Rajput chief, Rao Jodha (hence the name Jodh-pur) of the Rathore Clan. The old city of Jodhpur is known as the blue city, on account of many of the city’s facades being painted blue.  It is probably the best known fact of the city, and certainly one of its oft-photographed views.

One has a magnificent view of the blue city from the stupendous Mehrangarh Fort, built in 1459 by Rao Jodha. The fortified palace perches impossibly and imposingly at the top of a hill, and is visible from everywhere in Jodhpur. It is the archetypical Indian Fort Palace, and is the most iconic landmark of the city.

Mehrangarh Fort (right), Jaswant Thada grounds (left), and the Old City of Jodhpur (Centre).

It was once the residence of the Kings of Jodhpur, though today the royal family resides in yet another monumental, fairytale-like palace – the Umaid Bhawan Palace, built between 1928 and 1943 in a style that combined ancient Hindu principles with Art Deco.

Some say it resembles the Taj Mahal in form and scale. Though with its emphasis on Hindu cosmology in its design, it probably best takes after the ancient Temple of Angkor (Angkor Wat). Certainly, upon approaching it from a distance, that is the impression it gives the visitor.

Though still a private royal residence, part of the Palace is today opened up as a heritage hotel, and a stay in this hotel is perhaps one of the most magical experiences a Grand Tourist could have.  I would have to say that in my entire Grand Tour of the East (all 40-odd cities I’ve been to and hotels I’ve stayed at), the Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace was hands-down, the Grandest of all the Grand Hotels I had the chance to stay at.

And then there is the Jaswant Thada, the royal cenotaph and crematorium built in 1899 by the Maharaja Sardar Singh in memory of his father Jaswant Singh II. Built entirely out of white marble, it gleams atop its hilltop location and can be taken in en route to the Mehrangarh Fort.

The architecture is purely Indian-Rajput, with the main memorial built in the shape of a Hindu Temple, and the grounds surrounded by exquisitely carved marble pavilions with peacock arches.  These grounds provide yet another epic vantage point from which to admire the Mehrangarh Fort and the Old City.

Close-up of Mehrangarh Fort.

The Main Memorial of the Jaswant Thada.

Approaching the Main Memorial, designed in exquisite Rajput style.

Interior of the Main Memorial.

View of Mehrangarh Fort from Jaswant Thada.

At the Mehrangarh Fort itself…

Marble and sandstone.

The Kings of Jodhpur/Marwar.

Royal Palanquin in the excellent Mehrangarh Fort Museum.

View of the Blue City from the Mehrangarh Fort.

Impressions of the Old City…the Blue City…

Impressions of the Blue City…

Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Under the dome of the Umaid Bhawan Palace.

The patio, Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Portrait of Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur, who is the present head of the Jodhpur royal family.

…and once again, a view of the Blue City.

Mehrangarh Fort, perched 400 feet above old Jodhpur.

Perched 400 feet above the old city of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort is unmissable; a seemingly indomitable fortress-palace that strikes awe in all who behold it from afar.

“Mehrangarh” means “Fort of the Sun”, and certainly, from way up high, one gets the impression of being closer to the sky and to the fiery orb of the sun; from which, incidentally, the ruling Rathore clan asserts descent.

First built in 1459 by Rao Jodha and successively enhanced in the course of 500 years, the Fort was a former residence of the Jodhpur royal family. Today it is managed as a Monument and a Museum.

And what a wonderful museum, with a wide-ranging collection of miniature paintings, royal palanquins, arms and armour, fashion and textiles and many other genres of decorative arts.

But the crowning glory of the visit to the Fort has to be the architecture of the Fort itself, and the few period rooms, immaculately restored, that provide a glimpse into the life of the Royals in this fragile, sequestered paradise.

From the ramparts and turrets too, one gets a fabulous panoramic view of Old Jodhpur, and understands immediately why it is so popularly referred to as the Blue City.

Fort and sky.

Approaching the entrance…

Jai Pol, the main entrance to the Fort.

Murals adorning Jai Pol.

Close-up of mural…

Along the ramparts of the Fort-Palace-City.

The Srinagar Chowk

Close-up of the Jali screens adorning the Srinagar Chowk.

The Daulat Khanah, to the left.

The Howdah Room in the Museum houses a collection of amazing elephant howdahs. This one was a gift from Emperor Shah Jahan to Maharaja Jaswant Singh I.

Royal palanquins abound…

…as do jeweled boxes and other exquisite forms of decorative art.

And there was an excellent exhibition on the Goddess in Marwari painting when I visited.

Ornamental detail – note the European figures on the blue and white vase.

Peacock arches.

The Phul Mahal, or Flower Palace.

Detail of the Phul Mahal.

The Takhat Niwas.

The Sheesh Mahal, or Hall of Mirrors.

The Jhanki Mahal were the royal womens’ quarters, and today hold a collection of historic cradles.

Close-up, jali screen, courtyard

The Chokelao Mehran Terrace – where one gets the view of the entire city.

A backward glance…

The old city…

The old city of Jodhpur makes for a delightful afternoon stroll.  It’s much less congested than that of Jaipur, and man of the facades in the city are painted in my favorite colour of all – blue.

It is unclear why Jodhpur is known as the “Blue City”, and why so many facades in the city are painted blue. Some say it’s the colour most associated with the Brahmins, and so blueness denotes a kind of holiness. Some say its to keep the heat out.

In any case, a quick stroll through the city will reveal that blue isn’t the only colour here, and that the city is a riot of colours under the clear blue sky.  To the west, watching over it, is the imposing form of the Mehrangarh Fort.

Entrance gate to Sardar Market, named after Maharaja Sardar Singh.

The Ghanta Ghar (or Clocktower), built by Maharaja Sardar Singh. 

Ghanta Ghar and the Mehrangarh Fort.

Haveli in the Old City.

Old City facades…

Havelis in the Old City.

Peacock-arched gateway to a quiet courtyard.

Colour in the Old City.

Havelis in the Old City.

Old City facades.

Turning a corner.

Old City facades.

Arches and doorways.

City in blue.

Havelis in the Old City.

Pigeons in the old town

Sardar Government Museum, in the colonial quarter.

The Jodhpur High Court, in an Indo-Saracenic style.

Old City…Blue City…

Umaid Bhawan Palace, viewed form the extensive lawns.

Nothing prepares the Grand Tourist for his or her arrival at the Umaid Bhawan Palace. It is quite simply the most fairytale of fairytale palaces, and the most GRAND of Grand Hotels I have had the chance to stay at in these past 7 years of Grand Tour-ing.

The Palace was named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, and it was built between 1928 and 1943, in an exuberant and self-conscious Art Deco style.  It is so big, and so beautiful and stupendous, that it rivals the Taj Mahal itself, and recalls the ancient temple-mountain of Angkor.

The architects were British – Henry Vaughan Lanchester – and Indian – Budhmal Raj.  The entire building blends elements of European (Neo-classical, Art Deco and Indo-Saracenic) as well as Hindu architecture, and is a work of art in its own right.

Speaking of art, the Umaid Bhawan Palace is also known for another, unique collection of murals. I refer to the work of Polish artist, Stefan Norblin, who painted the splendiferous murals of scenes from the Mahabharata in the Umaid Bhawan Palace’s thoroughly modern Throne Room.

But I’m gushing.

The Palace continues to be the Royal Residence today, though part of it is managed by the Taj Group as a luxury heritage hotel.  It was, without any overstatement whatsoever, the most wonderful dream of an experience I’ve had. =)

Front view of Umaid Bhawan Palace.

The almost-Gothic ante-lobby of the Hotel.

The gorgeous Rotunda.

The underside of the Dome.

Corridors en route to the Suite.

Again… an almost-creepy hint of Gothic.

The luxuriously appointed Historical Suite.

View from the balcony of the Suite to the Palace Gardens, and Mehrangarh Fort in the distance.

Marble baradari on the grounds.

View of the Palace from the grounds…

The palace from the pool…

Close-up of the central core of the palace, with its stupa-like dome.

The Rotunda aisle, where High Tea is served every afternoon…

…accompanied by a performance.

The Royal Throne Room, with murals by Stefan Norblin.

The Triumphant Return of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanoman to Ayodhya from Lanka. Stefan Norblin. Royal Throne Room.

Lord Shiva. Stefan Norblin. Royal Throne Room.

The Gentleman’s Lounge.

Umaid Bhawan Palace and its baradari.

The dome…

Pagoda-topped towers.

The side towers

Window and balcony…

Animal motifs at Umaid Bhawan – a peacock.

The kite is the symbol of the Marwar’s guardian spirit.

Peacock

Lion

Boar

Winged lions.

The sweeping view up the stairs to the ground floor patio restaurant, Pillars, where breakfast and dinner are served.

Dinner at Pillars is one of the most romantic experiences in the world. Pity I was alone.

Gates to the Grounds.

Goodbye Umaid Bhawan Palace! Goodbye Jodhpur! Goodbye Rajasthan! Goodbye India!

REFERENCE: Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan – The Maharaja of Palaces.  By Aman Nath, Fred R Holmes and Newton Holmes. 

Asian Civilisations Museum’s 5 Mar 2019 Media Conference with Guo Pei, on ACM’s SEASON OF CHINESE ART 中华风 2019/2020，and the upcoming exibition GUO PEI – CHINESE ART AND COUTURE 《郭培：中国艺术与高级定制服装》

Last Tuesday (5 March), I did my first-ever Media Conference in Mandarin in the Chinese capital, Beijing, with China’s foremost couturière, Guo Pei, or 郭培老师，as I call her.

Yes indeed, the news is out that Asian Civilisations Museum is partnering Guo Pei to present an exhibition GUO PEI – CHINESE ART AND COUTURE in Singapore this June.

The exhibition juxtaposes the best of Guo Pei’s couture with masterpieces from ACM’s collection of Chinese Art, and in so doing, provides the visitor with a sweeping overview of Chinese Art History: Imperial Art, Export Art, Folk Art (by way of wedding dresses).

Our Press Conference focused on the Guo Pei exhibition in June, which kicks off a year-long SEASON OF CHINESE ART 中华风2019/2020 at the ACM.  This Season consists of 4 Blockbuster Exhibitions:

1. GUO PEI – CHINESE ART & COUTURE (15 Jun 2019)；
2. THE XIANG XUE ZHUANG COLLECTION 香雪庄 – an exhibition of major Chinese late 19^th c/early 20^th c painters, Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi, Pu Ru, etc – which forms a very important donation to the Asian Civilisations Museum from the family of a major pioneer Singapore collector of Chinese Art,the late Dr Tan Tsze Chor (Nov 2019)；
3. TREASURES OF THE MING – A collaboration with Palace Museum Beijing on the art of the Ming Dynasty, in commemoration of the 600^th Anniversary of the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing (Apr 2020)；
4. THE TANG SHIPWRECK – A collaboration with Shanghai Museum which will see ACM’s Tang Shipwreck Collection 唐代黑石号沉船珍藏  travel to Shanghai (and China) for the very first time (May 2020).

I attach here, the script of my speech, in Chinese, at the Media Conference.

“大家早上好！

非常高兴能在北京，特别是在郭培老师的玫瑰坊做这次的媒体发布会。也非常感谢众位参加这次的发布会。

亚洲文明博物馆是新加坡的国家级博物馆，我们专注于呈现全亚洲顶尖极的文物。

这就是我们的博物馆，这个古老的建筑是新加坡殖民地时代的英国殖民地中央政府办事处。 它处在富有历史性的新加坡河畔，而从博物馆的河滨露台访客们能欣赏新加坡的现代城市景观。

Asian Civilisations Museum Singapore

新加坡作为一个在古代与现代的海上丝绸之路路线上的一个重要港口城市，我们博物馆的宗旨跟新加坡作为一个拥有多元文化与宗教的国际贸易港口及大都会有着密切的关系。换句话说，我们是通过新加坡的视角来展示亚洲历史与艺术史，从中也希望促进大众对新加坡和亚洲的多元文化性有跟深的了解。

我们致力于探寻亚洲各文化之间以及亚洲文化与世界其他文化的联系。我们的展厅按主题，而非地理区域划分，其目的是在于强调《连接》与《交流》，而不是《界限》与《分割》。在收藏这方面，我们非常喜欢并注重跨文化性的文物，就是说东学为体西学为用的文物。这是因为我们新加坡人的身份都是跨文化性的 – 混了不同东方与西方元素。

我们在收藏，研究，策展方面注重三大主题：海上贸易，宗教信仰，材质与设计。馆内的藏品包括亚洲历代外销文物与装饰品 – Asian Export Art，亚洲历代神圣文物 – Sacred Art from Asia，全亚洲服装，纺织品，首饰 – Fashion，Textiles，Jewellery。

The Asian Civilisations Museum drastically shifted its curatorial mission from a geographical to a thematic approach from 2015. It’s permanent galleries have been dramatically renovated to reflect this new three-pronged, global, pan-Asian, cross-cultural focus.

In line with the new focus, we have also built collections in these three specialised area.

基本上, 我们算是个东方艺术博物馆 – we are an Asian Art Museum at the core – 但是因为我们的特别收藏专注，与策展视角，亚洲文明博物馆与世界上其他的亚洲艺术博物馆非常的不同。

在展览方面呢，我们也力求将每一件文物的美和艺术感以最好的方式充分的呈现出来，好让我们的访客在博物馆里有不凡的体会。我自己本身除了对策展研究注重外，对展览设计也非常的讲究。每一项展览也必须是一个精致的，有它独特风格的珠宝盒 – every exhibition is beautiful jewel box，each with its own unique character and personality。

主办特展方面，我们是以亚洲不同地区为主题来策划长达一年的展览季节。2018年我们刚办完我们的Season of Southeast Asia 东南亚主题年。这是一系列的有关东南亚艺术文化的大型特展。

紧接着，我们将在今年6月到明年7月举办我们的《中华风》中华艺术文物主题年，希望通过展示中国和新加坡的中华艺术，遗产，文化，时尚杰作，将中华传统呈现给国际观众。

随着亚洲，尤其是中国的成长和在世界上的崛起，更深入了解我们的东方文化艺术愈加重要。而中国传统拥有丰富的内涵，由始至今都有特大的国际影响力，其影响力渗透到今天的流行文化，时尚和日常生活中。通过展出新加坡国家收藏中的中华杰作和来自中国领先博物馆和创作家的作品，我们希望鼓动来到亚博的访客们重新审视中华传统，文化遗产。

Asian Civilisations Museum’s SEASON OF CHINESE ART 中华风 2019/2020

The SEASON OF CHINESE ART focuses on Beauty, Innovation and Education.

主办这次《中华风》主题年的宗旨有三个。首先我们想让当代的国际观众体会到中华艺术之美，让他们了解古代中国人独特的审美观；而这个审美观如何的延续至今天。

第二个宗旨是凸显历代中华文化中对于创新的重视与实践。从此提醒世界，中国从千古以来，代代都有创新，都有它在思想，艺术，设计，材质运用方面的独特新发现。我们现代的中国人与海外华侨应当为我们共同的灿烂艺术历史感到骄傲。

第三个宗旨是为探索和发表对中华艺术的新研究，并将中华文化传统与艺术的基本性质与精华传承予新一代的年轻访客。这是因为好多的年轻人对中华艺术不大认识或不大喜欢。而我们希望能够以非常有创意性的策展方式改变年轻一代对传统的态度。

我今天想分享《中华风》主题年的四项大型特别展览项目。

Ren Yi 任頤 (1840 – 1895). Eight Immortals, dated 1880. H150 W81.5 cm each. Set of four hanging scrolls, Chinese ink and colour on paper. Xiang Xue Zhuang Collection, gift of the family of the late Dr Tan Tzse Chor. Collection of Asian Civilisations Museum.

第一项是我们今年 11月开幕的特展 《雅韵芬芳 － 香雪庄之藏品精粹》。其特展所呈现的是新加坡早期著名商人与收藏家陈之初博士的香雪庄艺术珍藏。香雪庄收藏跨越上世纪30年代到90年代，是东南亚最早，最大，最精美的中国艺术收藏之一。

其中包括不少国画收藏。展出的画家都是20世纪初的重要中国画家比如说齐白石，溥儒，任伯年，徐悲鸿，等等的杰作。展览也探索在上世纪50 到 80 年代，新加坡与中国在贸易上的积极往来，还有东南亚海外华侨对于中国艺术与文化的欣赏，收藏，与推崇 。

The Forbidden City, Beijing. 紫禁城，北京。Photography by the author.

2020年4月，我们将于北京故宫博物院合作，在亚洲文明博物馆展现出一次中国明代时期辉煌的宝藏。明代是中国商业活动繁盛，文化活动十足的时代。这个时代也是在海上丝绸之路上重要的时代，因为在那时候，郑和下了西洋。2020年也是紫禁城建成的600周年 – 这是在永乐皇帝的命令下进行的大型项目。我们非常荣幸能够与故宫博物院合作。这一项目也是中国与新加坡国与国之间在文化交流方面的重大合作项目。

Treasures from the Tang Shipwreck. 唐代黑石号沉船珍宝。Collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum.

与故宫博物院合作的同时，2020 年4月本馆也将于上海博物馆合作，将我们的唐代沉船黑石号馆藏一部分的文物带到上海做专题展览，这将也是黑石号沉船藏品首次在中国国内的特展 。

黑石号沉船是亚洲文明博物馆最重要的馆藏之一，也是个有国际重要性的珍藏。沉船藏品系列包括50000件中国外销瓷器和金银奢侈品。他证明早在9世纪已经存在的远距离海上贸易路线，也奠定了中国悠久而丰富的贸易外销历史。

很侥幸的，2017年习近平主席在北京的“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛的主旨演讲中的前几段就提到了黑石号。他说“古丝绸之路打开了各国友好交往的新窗口，书写了人类发展进步的新篇章。中国陕西历史博物馆珍藏的千年鎏金铜蚕，在印度尼西亚发现的千年沉船黑石号等，见证了这段历史。”

习主席所提到的“在印度尼西亚发现的千年沉船《黑石号》” 正是新加坡亚洲文明博物馆的唐代沉船黑石号。而在习主席提到了黑石号珍藏过后，我们非常荣幸的迎接了从中国到访的特别访客，包括中国的韩正副总理。他在去年九月到访了亚洲文明博物馆而也参观了我们的黑石号收藏。

我希望这次上海与新加坡的黑石号特展合作项目能够让坊客们体会到中国与东南亚和新加坡的悠久贸易交往历史，也希望特展会显示出今天中国与新加坡国与国之间的合作与交往是多么的多方面性。

《郭培：中国艺术与高级定制服装》

With three of Guo Pei’s pieces of couture. The piece in the middle is a wedding dress previously worn by Chinese celebrity, ANGELABABY. This dress was inspired by a piece in ACM’s Peranakan Collection and was the piece that inspired this collaboration between ACM and Guo Pei.

但我们今天想特别介绍的，与我刚刚介绍的三项项目较早开幕的特别展览是我们与郭培老师的合作项目。我非常高兴能够宣布亚洲文明博物馆以《郭培：中国艺术与高级定制服装》大型特展作为开启我们《中华风》主题年的首个项目。我们经天早上也将更详细的分享有关这项特展的要点。

2015年我们巧合地发现了艺人Angela baby和黄晓明的“年度中国婚礼”，并且认出她的礼服与博物馆藏品中的土生华人娘惹衫非常相似。后来我们了解到郭培老师去过巴黎的一次亚博所举办的娘惹文化巡回展，被当时呈现的这件娘惹衫还有其他的文物触动。

2016年郭培老师来到新加坡参与新加坡时尚周 – Singapore Fashion Week – 在接受访问时也说了他非常喜欢新加坡的土生文化博物馆，这个博物馆也是由亚博管理的。所以说这一切就成为了我们这次合作的机缘。我觉得我们博物馆与郭培老师非常的有缘分。

我们这次展览的核心信息是借用现代时尚与传统文物的对衬与对话来为新一代的访客们做一次中国艺术史 – Chinese Art History – 的空前介绍。我们将会以亚洲文明博物馆的20件中国艺术珍品与郭培老师的29件精美刺绣艺术并置，由此而激发中华历史和艺术与现代设计之间的视觉对话。其中重点展示是两件在设计过程中直接接受亚洲文明博物馆藏品启发的两件郭培作品。包括了Angela baby 的嫁衣。

我们这次也用远古与崭新的对衬与对话来探索悠久的中国艺术，工艺和设计传统如何在面对今天的当代观众时仍然保有活力与相关性。How Chinese traditions of art, craft and design are still alive and relevant today for a contemporary audience.

最后，文物与服装的对衬也是为了指出其实，郭培老师的每一件刺绣高定服装都是一件非常珍贵而美丽的艺术品。今天的高定服装是明天的传家之宝。我自己本身也非常尊重郭培老师在创作中对于文化纵向的注重。It’s very inspiring for me。这非常的鼓动人心。

And this strong emphasis on roots and Chinese heritage, and how to re-interpret this heritage for the contemporary day is why I felt very strongly that I had to come here and find an opportunity to work with Guo Pei.

郭培老师她对根源和中国传统纵向的强调，以及如何在当代重新诠释和表现传统和纵向，这就是为什么我非常强烈地感到我必须来到这里并找到与郭培老师合作的机会。非常非常荣幸并且特高兴郭培老师接受了我们，答应与我们合作。

本次展览分为三个部分，分别对应三种中国艺术类型。首先是宫廷艺术 – Chinese Imperial Art。而在宫廷艺术的范围内最典型的文物是皇家龙袍。

Chinese Imperial Art：a Qing Dynasty Imperial Robe, or Dragon Robe 龙袍 from ACM’s Collection.

这件龙袍来自我们博物馆的藏品。它可以追溯到18世纪或清朝早期。它由织金锦缎缎制成 – it’s made of brocaded silk satin, and gold-wrapped threads 。这种龙袍也叫“吉服” – auspicious dressing，只有皇帝在重大礼仪和重要节日时（比如说春节时候）才能穿着。

龙袍上的刺绣非常精致，袍上的不同图案也富有象征性 – 全都是象征绝对权力 – absolute power – 的标志。比如说袍上锈了9条龙 – 这是皇帝的象征。其中在龙袍前的这条五兆龙是最大最威猛的。它用这一种威武庄严的眼神看着我们，说明它统一支撑天下。而天下是由蓝色祥云，海水江崖所代表。

黄色也代表着大地，生命活力，大自然给予人间的滋养。穿上这种明黄色 – 特别明亮的黄色 – 的袍是皇帝，皇后和皇太后的特权。别人是不能穿这个颜色的。

直边裁剪 – straight hem tailoring – 和松散的服装轮廓 – loose silhouettes – 是清代服饰的特征。锤型衣袖 – tapered sleeves – 与马蹄形状的袖口 – horse-hoof shaped cuffs – 是受到满族骑行服饰骑马用的服饰的影响。这件长袍非常的精美，说明中国纺织与刺绣艺术在明代中期至清代中期达到了巅峰。

本次特展所呈现的第二种中国艺术类型是中国外销艺术 – Chinese Export Art。

Chinese Export Art: Canton-style Export silver, 1880s. Collection of Asian Civilisations Museum. Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee.

顾名思义，外销艺术指的是中国历代为了出口到世界各地而制造的奢侈品和装饰艺术品。因为外销艺术大体上是外国人定制的， 是为了回应外国人品味和审美观而创作的，所以这种艺术类型本质上是跨文化性的。表面上看起来不至于像典型的中国艺术，但在材料，制造，工艺方面都有非常传统中国性格。这就是所谓的东学为体，西学为用。

这个是亚洲文明博物馆的一件中国外销银器 – 简单的可以说是一个高级的啤酒杯。

18 世纪末，中国银匠开始向西方，东南亚和印度等国际市场出口银器，其中包括了这件银杯。这银杯是跨文化性的，融合了西方的器型和中国的装饰。

杯柄是龙型的，而这条龙显得非常霸气，严肃。杯身呈现了几位中国战士在楼台，树丛，山峦中战斗的场景。战士们有的骑马作战，有的挥舞剑矛，场景描绘的非常栩栩如生。

这种有非常活跃装饰样态的外销文物是典型的广式 – 广州式 – 外销银器。这个杯子是从广州出口到新加坡的纪念性文物 – commemorative object。它是新加坡板球俱乐部 – Singapore Cricket Club – 1881年100码短跑优胜者的奖杯。这个文物的故事非常的有民间风味。

本次特展也以中国传统与现代的嫁衣呈现出中国民间艺术 – Chinese Folk Art – 的精华与魅力。特展的最后一个部分是以中国古代的新娘礼服和郭培老师设计的现代中国嫁衣来解释说民间艺术如何也是珍贵的传家之宝。

Chinese Folk Art, as represented by Wedding Dresses. This is a wedding dress used by Peranakan communities in Penang. This is also the dress that directly inspired the Guo Pei piece worn by ANGELABABY. Collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum.

这个新娘外套和短裙属于亚洲文明博物馆的土生文化娘惹文化收藏。他是被我们在马来西亚槟城 – Penang – 收藏的。它是由丝绸做的，金属线刺绣，以兔毛做裙边内衬 – It’s made of silk, with metallic thread embroidery and rabbit fur for the inner lining of the skirt.

据估计，百分之75的海外华侨居住与南洋，现今的东南亚，尤其是东南亚繁忙的港口城市例如新加坡，滨城，马六甲，雅加达等等。在遥远的南洋里，好多华人都选择延续中国家乡的传统，同时也吸进容纳了不少的东南亚地方风格，发展出别具一格的土生华人特色。

这套嫁衣可能出口于中国，是滨城土生华人 （又称巴巴 – 娘惹 Baba-Nyonya) 喜爱的风格。偏襟外套 – Jacket – 搭配两件百褶短裙 – pleated skirts，是20世纪初期中国时尚上流行的搭配。这件套装上面布满了中国吉祥图案，主要是象征着纯洁与平和的荷花，此外还有象征着富裕的金鱼。

有些土生华人认为裙边的兔毛配饰象征着多子多福。醒目的明亮的橙色被槟城土生华人称为“槟郎橙”，这也是土生华人最爱嚼的槟榔果的颜色。一直到1940年代，嚼槟榔还是新加坡和马来西亚土生华人的流行活动和待客之道。

CONCLUSION

Media Conference in Beijing, 5 March 2019.

我希望参观特展系列后的访客们深入的了解中国传统艺术文化是如何的重要，如何的非常有性感有独特性格。把它重新审视，重新包装给现代的观众是一个非常重要也非常好玩的工作。在传统中国文化方面呢，中国与新加坡也有好多的机会切磋交流，而这次的特展和《中华风》主题年正好能够展现出中国与新加坡在文化方面的密切关系 。

关于这次《郭培：中国艺术与搞定服装》特展，我希望说访客们能够感觉到郭培老师的 passion – 对服装对延续中国传统的热情，看出郭培老师对她的服装创作是多么的细心，为创作这些杰作花了超人般的心思，想象力与功夫。郭培老师的确是现代中国的一位非常重要的， 非常有代表性的创造家与艺术家。

亚洲文明博物馆专注于促进对亚洲文化的更深入理解和对话。作为一个国际博物馆圈子的重要成员，我们很荣幸能够与中国领先的博物馆和郭培老师这位非常知名的创作家，艺术家合作。

随着《中华风》主题年的开启，我们希望我们的参观者多接触中华传统与文化，反思中国悠久而辉煌的艺术史。我们更希望能为古老的中华艺术这个主题和话题，注入崭新的 ，惊奇的观点；希望以东南亚眼中的中国，给中国旅客们对中国艺术文化有焕然一新的感觉。这样，我们也能迎起我们在中国与海外中华人的自豪感。

最后，我们热情的邀请中国游客们来到新加坡的时候，借此机会到访亚洲文明博物馆。每年，好多好多的中国人都到新加坡旅行，希望今年中国朋友们能够亲身到访，探索有关中国艺术的新观点，体验中华艺术与传统在东南亚的悠久历史与当代魅力。

谢谢大家！”

See you at Asian Civilisations Museum on 15 June 2019, at the launch of SEASON OF CHINESE ART, and GUO PEI – CHINESE ART & COUTURE.

Gondola… Lagoon… Venice… Written, composed and arranged by Kennie Ting. 词/曲/编曲: 陈威仁. Photography and artwork design by Kennie Ting.

两个人, or “Two People”, is the only Chinese song I’ve ever written and managed to finish arranging. It also happens to be the very last song I wrote – I haven’t written anything after it.

It was specially written for the wedding of my brother and sister-in-law in early 2011. I wrote it while I was still living in New York. And at my brother and sis-in-law’s wedding banquet in Singapore, I performed the song once only, and never again since then.

It was never meant to be part of the album, THE FACTS OF LIFE, even though in style, it appears to be an extension, of sorts, of my forays into electro-pop for that album; and in spirit, it furthers the halcyon-days optimism of MAGIC and E.M.P.T.Y.

As a matter of fact, I began to start writing and composing a number of Mandarin songs for a new Mandarin-pop album titled 两人世界, which translates (rather less efficiently) into “the intimate world two people have between them” in English.

This was to be an album of love songs with an electro-pop tinge to them. I realised, during my period of domesticity in New York, that I had a (rather old-school and incurably romantic) penchant for 委婉的歌曲 – lilting, melodic, intimate numbers.

两个人, in particular, evokes a quiet, intimate night between two people who are about to take the next step; who have decided they will spend the rest of their lives together.

深夜。。。宇宙。。。情侣。。。  Night… Universe… Lovers…

But then… Mum called me in New York from Singapore, and gently / patiently suggested that it was perhaps time for me “to come home, dear”; that two and half years off “searching for yourself is long enough, don’t you think?” – any longer and it’d be self-indulgence. So I dropped everything I was doing and moved home to look for a job.

Around the time, I also discovered my love for travel and photography, and began working in earnest on this blog. During my final months in New York, I had already started working on a few photography projects with all-consuming passion.

And when I moved back to Singapore, my epic Grand Tour of the East project consumed all of my non-work waking hours.  Without much regretting it, or even consciously minding, I stopped composing and abandoned the music.

Perhaps I will write another song in the course of this year, since my Grand Tour is coming to an imminent end.

Who knows?

In any case, 8 years later, here’s 两个人. As it was written for a wedding, it is, of course, unavoidably romantic. I won’t translate it as the lyrics will sound ridiculous in English.

Again, best listened to with earphones.

Lyrics 歌词：

在这大世界里  我只有，只有你 / 没什么，什么牵挂 / 他们说我们俩儿  真的是有一点儿 / 那么的青梅竹马 / 两个人心连着心 / 闯出了天下太平

两个人世界里  我只想陪着你 / 走的那，那么潇洒 / 跨过山跃过海  无穷尽地期待 / 生命中琐碎伟大 / 两个人一次巧合 / 创出了不朽的歌

渴望你永远地，永远地在我身边 / 这是我内心深处的心愿 / 不论乾坤倒转雷雨风霜 / 我们都会珍惜一切

就让我轻轻地，轻轻地再说一遍 / 这是我一生最大的奉献 / 两个人，一片天

两个人世界里  我只想陪着你 / 跨过山，跃过海  无穷尽地期待 / 他们说我们俩儿  真的是有一点儿 / 青梅竹马

© 2011 / 2019 Kennie Ting 陈威仁. All Rights Reserved.

The cover for 两人世界, the Mando-pop album I started writing, but never finished. Photography and artwork design by Kennie Ting.

The Alamgiri Gate is one of the main gates to the Lahore Fort. It was built by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1674, and faces the Badshahi Mosque, which Aurangzeb also built.

And so here we are at Lahore, the final city in my final Grand Tour of the port and princely cities of the East.

And what a city to end this Grand Tour on! All in all, I have been entranced by Lahore…by the beauty of its monuments, by the friendliness of the Lahoris, and by its streets redolent with poetry.

Map of the City of Lahore (Baedeker. 1914) [Public Domain.]

Of the six, the Emperor Jahangir, and his Empress Nur Jahan were most beguiled by this city – and their mausoleums are here, side by side…well almost… in the suburb of Shahdara.

The Emperor Aurangzeb, that most pious of Mughal Emperors, erected his most enduring architectural legacy here in the city, in the form of the Badshahi Mosque – the largest mosque in the world, in its time.

It is still a sight to behold, situated as it is, at the edge of the stupendous Lahore Fort and Old Lahore with its maze-like warren of bazaars and alleyways, studded here and there with exquisite Mughal-era mosques, havelis and even a hammam.

Jahangir’s Tomb (1637), Shahdara.

Badshahi Mosque (1673).

Day-tripping family in the Lahore Fort.

Interior of Wazir Khan Mosque (1641), Old Lahore.

Interior detail, Mosque of Maryam Zamani Begum (1614). This is the earliest Mughal mosque in the city.

Shahi Hammam (1635) is the last remaining Mughal-era hammam in Lahore.

The 17th century Haveli of Asif Khan (also known as Dhyan Singh) houses the Fatimah Jinnah College for Women today. 

Haveli of Nau Nihal Singh (1840), houses the Victoria Girls’ High School today. 

The gold bazaar, Old Lahore.

Like Delhi, Lahore has been continuously inhabited for centuries, and so it has layers upon layers of imperial history. Qutb al-Din Aitbak, founder of the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty and first sultan of the Delhi Sultanate is buried here, his mausoleum erected at the spot where he purportedly died from falling off his horse during a game of polo.

Across the street from the mausoleum stands the denuded pyramid of a gopuram – the sacred tower of a former Hindu Temple, now sadly disused after the mass migration of Hindus in the aftermath of partition.

The Sikhs were also here as rulers. Between 1799 – 1849, Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured the city, and imposed his own specific brand of architecture onto its urban landscape. The most imposing and evident of these stand at the very edge of the Lahore Fort – the former seat of the Mughal Emperors.

Mausoleum of Qutb al-Din Aitbak, Anarkali Bazaar.

Across the street sits the old gopuram of a now defunct Hindu Temple.

The Samadhi of Ranjit Singh (1848) stands at right by the walls of the Lahore Fort.

Chauburji (1646) was built in the Shah Jahan era.

And then the British came, and made Lahore the capital of British Punjab. Their most visible legacy is Mall Road – a road that runs for miles west to East linking the colonial district with Old Lahore. The road, too, is studded with architectural monuments, but from the British Imperial era.

A major highlight on Mall Road is the delightful Lahore Museum, interior-designed, curated and directed by John Lockwood Kipling, father to Rudyard Kipling.  The Museum hosts one of the greatest, and most beautiful collections of Gandharan sculpture, including some pieces of great sensuality.

Lahore Junction Railway Station (1860) was built in the style of a fortified castle.

Colonial, commercial edifices on Mall Road.

The General Post Office (1887), Mall Road.

Tollinton Market, Mall Road.

Lahore Museum, designed by Sir Ganga Ram in an Indo-Saracenic Style.

The interiors of the museum were designed by John Lockwood Kipling.

The Fasting Buddha (2nd C.E.) is one of the masterpieces of Lahore Museum’s collection of Gandharan Art.

An extremely sensuous Gandharan bodhisattva, Lahore Museum.

Statue of Queen Victoria, Lahore Museum.

One of the highlights of the city was the fact that it is not yet easy for foreigners to get to. And so there was hardly a tourist in sight at almost all of the sites and monuments I visited. All I experienced was friendliness and curiosity – and multiple requests from locals of all walks of life for me to take smiling selfies with them.

I gladly acquiesced.  =)

Yes indeed, Lahore is sensual and mesmerising. A dream of a city; and one I would return to again and again, if I had the chance. Enraptured by the city at its zenith, the Empress Nur Jahan once coined this verse:

“Lahore ra ba jan brabar kharidah im / Jan dadah im o jannat i digar kharidah im.” 

“We have bought Lahore by paying the price of our life, / And giving up our soul, have procured a second paradise.” 

Lahore is indeed a “second paradise” on earth.

The Shalimar Gardens (1642) were completed during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and is simply exquisite.

Asif Khan’s Tomb (1645), stands just beside

Food Street, in Old Lahore, was the city’s former red-light district. It has since been transformed into what it’s name suggests, and is one of the best places for traditional Lahori food.

The ginormous Pearl Continental Hotel (colloquially referred to as “PC Hotel”) is the city’s contemporary grand international hotel.

The Minar-e-Pakistan is a national monument completed in 1968 near the Lahore Fort. It was built to commemorate the Lahore Resolution, which eventually led to an independent Pakistan.

The Badshahi Mosque, Lahore.

Essential Reference: LAHORE – History and Architecture of Mughal Monuments, by Anjum Rehmani. Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2016. 

The Badshahi Mosque, built during the reign of the Emperor Aurangzeb and completed in 1673, was the largest mosque in the world until 1986.

The Lahore Fort, also known as the Shahi Qila, or Royal Fort, is the third of the major Mughal Forts in its capitals, the other two being in Delhi and Agra. It is the most important historic site in Lahore.

Like the city itself, the Fort today is an accumulation of different layers of history – the Mughal Emperors have each made their mark on the fabric of the Fort, as did the Sikh and ensuing British Empires, as well as independent Pakistan.

View of the Lahore Fort Complex, showing the multiple layers of architecture. The Fort Ramparts are at the Foreground. Behind them stand the Samadhi of Ranjeet Singh, and further behind, a minaret and the domes of the Badshahi Mosque.

The earlier sections of the Fort still standing were those built during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar – the Akbar Quadrangle is today one of the last segments of the Fort the visitor would experience, before stepping out. Here stands the enigmatic Hall of Red Sandstone, once possibly part of the Palace Akbar built here, which is today in ruins. Here stand also the Lal Burj and West and East dalans, with their red sandstone pillars betraying Hindu ornamentation, and reminiscent of Akbar’s city of Fatehpur Sikri.

The Emperor Jahangir, who, together with his Empress Nur Jahan, loved Lahore the most, built his own quandrangle, centred around the Bari Khwabgah, which was Jahangir’s Sleeping Quarters. This structure has been largely reconstructed during the British era. Jahangir was responsible for the Fort’s greatest achievement – the massive Picture Wall that graces the outer ramparts of the Fort. A vibrant composition made from glazed tiles, faience and frescoes, the Wall has unfortunately not survived well.  Thankfully, when I visited, it was in the midst of being majorly restored by the Aga Khan Foundation.

Shah Jahan gave the Fort its most beautiful and enduring structures – his quadrangle (the Shah Burj Quadrangle) is a dream in white marble and the very first quadrangle the visitor would encounter today. Here sits the Sheesh Mahal, or Palace of Mirrors, with its walls decorated with pietra dura and thousands of small pieces of mirror. Here also sits the Naulakha Pavilion, the personal chambers of the Emperor Shah Jahan. It is said he embellished the ceiling of the Pavilion with glass so when he dined there with his beloved Mumtaz Mahal, the candle-light reflected upon the ceiling would give the impression that they were dining under a night-sky full of stars.

Shah Jahan also gave the Fort the exquisite Moti Masjid (or Pearl Mosque), which at the time of my visit was closed for renovations and inaccessible. What was accessible was the vast and cavernous Summer Palace complex in the basement of the Shah Jahan Quadrangle. This was where the Royal Family would escape in the hot Summer months. The Palace was cooled by an ingeniously-designed ventilation system that brought cool air from the outside into the Palace.  Finally, Shah Jahan also built the Diwan-e-Am, or Hall of Audience in the Persian Chehel Sotun (40-pillar public hall) style.  The Diwan-e-Am is an 1849 reconstruction during the British period as the structure was destroyed by the Sikhs in 1841.

Emperor Aurangzeb, the most pious of the great Mughals, gave the Fort and the city its most important religious edifice – the Badshahi Mosque. When completed in 1673, it was the largest mosque not just in Mughal India, but in the entire world. That title was only overtaken in 1986 (and there are quite a few mosques today larger than it). Aurangzeb also gave the Lahore Fort its most iconic Gate – the Alamgiri Gate, which stands across from the entrance to the Badshahi Mosque.

The Sikhs, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruled the Punjab and Lahore from 1799 to 1849. They too imposed their presence onto the Fort. In fact, one of the first historic structures the visitor encounters at the Fort is the Samadhi (or Tomb) of Ranjit Singh, which sits in its own small compound, right beside the Badshahi Mosque and near one of the original gates to the Fort.

The Sikh quadrangle is closed off and forbidden to locals. But for a small fee and with a local guide, one who is not Muslim may enter the compounds to view the interior. The compounds also hold a Gurdwara that stands on the spot where the 5th Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev was martyred.  The entire site is thus one of great spiritual importance to the Sikhs, and site of holy pilgrimage. Once a year, Sikhs come here from all over India, Pakistan and the world to make obeisance.

Ranjit Singh also gave the fort his own Quandrangle – the Hazuri Bagh gardens, which link the Badshahi Mosque and the Alamgiri Gate. In the middle of the garden sits the Hazuri Bagh Baradari, built in 1813 in exquisite Mughal style to commemorate Ranjit Singh’s capture of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond.  The Koh-I-Noor was ceded to Queen Victoria upon the British capture of Lahore, and remains today, part of the British Crown Jewels.

Meanwhile, the British, while in Lahore, took over the fort when they defeated the Sikh Empire in 1849. They used parts of it to store ammunition, and reconstructed other structures mentioned above. One of the first things a visitor would see today, is an ammunition store built on the ramparts of the Fort just behind the Alamgiri Gate.

Finally, during the independence period, yet another important monument would be built around the Fort, this time in the compounds of the Hazuri Bagh. This is the tomb and memorial to Allama Iqbal, a major poet of the British Indian period, who is widely regarded to have inspired the Pakistan Movement. He wrote in Persian and Urdu and is read by Pakistani, Indian and Iranian alike. The mausoleum itself is made of red sandstone and designed with Mughal elements. It is simple and dignified, and fits well within the larger context of the Fort.

The following gallery provides a view of the Fort from the perspective of the route the visitor would take through the Fort today. And thus the structures from various periods are encountered not in the order they were constructed.

Badshahi Mosque

The imposing and monumental entrance gateway to the Badshahi Mosque. The Entrance faces the Hazuri Bagh.

Close-up of the detailed ornamentation on the darwaza, or gateway to the Mosque.

The main building of the Mosque itself represents the pinnacle of Mughal religious architecture. After this mosque, and after the Emperor Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire falls into decline.

The mihrab, or prayer niche of the Badshahi Mosque.

Cross-sectional view down the centre of the mosque.

Hazuri Bagh

Just to the left of the entrance to the Badshahi Mosque sits the simple, dignified and unassuming Mausoleum of Allama Iqbal, guarded by the Pakistan National Guard.

The Hazuri Bagh Baradari was built in 1813 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to commemorate his taking of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond. It sits at the centre of the Hazuri Bagh on an axis that joins the Badshahi Mosque to the Alamgiri Gate. The baradari itself is made of exquisite white marble and in designed in the Mughal tradition.

View of the Alamgiri Gate from the Hazuri Bagh Baradari. The Gate was built by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1674, and is the most iconic structure of the Fort.

Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh sits just beside the Badshahi Mosque and one has to pass it to enter the Fort today. The Samadhi is distinguished by its white marble dome and complex that marries Sikh, Hindu and Mughal architecture. The golden dome marks the Gurdwara Dera Sahib, which stands on the spot where the 5th Sikh guru was martyred. The entire complex dates to the 19th century.

Entrance to the Samadhi and Gurdwara complex. Note the Hindu iconography over the doorway.

The Samadhi was completed in 1848.

The interior of the Samadhi is constructed in white marble

The walls and the underside of the dome are exquisitely ornamented with frescoes and

This is a view within the Gurdwara Dera Sahib, which is presently undergoing a major renovation to expand the complex so it can hold the ever-growing number of pilgrims.

The walls of the gurdwara are also covered with beautiful frescoes, that unfortunately, have not stood the test of time well.

Lahore Fort proper

Today’s main entrance to the Lahore Fort is by its beautiful and historic Picture Wall.

The Picture Wall was built during the reign of the Emperor Jahangir and was built in the course of the 1620s. It is today being extensively restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Here is a section of the wall that had not yet undergone restoration. This demonstrates just how delightfully vibrant the wall would have been in its heyday, and how it has sadly, not withstood the test of time.

Around the wall stand fortifications built during the Sikh Empire.

Entrance to the Fort today is by the Hathi Pol, or Elephant Gate. This was built during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan.

One of the first things the visitor encounters, is a British-era ammunition store, built upon the ramparts of the Fort, just behind the Alamgiri Gate.

The first quadrangle the visitor encounters today is the Shah Burj Quadrangle, which was built during Shah Jahan’s time. This is the Sheesh Mahal, or Palace of Mirrors, completed in 1632.

The walls and ceilings of the Sheesh Mahal are covered with frescoes and pieces of glass. This is most definitely a highlight of the Fort.

Close-up of one of the frescoes depicting the Hindu god, Krishna and his consort, Radha.

The Naulakha Pavilion is constructed of exquisite white marble and completed in 1633 during Shah Jahan’s time.

Detail of the Naulakha pavilion showing the distinctively Mughal, pietra dura technique of inlaying marble with semi-precious stones.

The far-end of the Naulakha Pavilion used to overlook the River Ravi, which has since shifted its course such that it no longer flows just beyond the ramparts of the Fort.

The Summer Palace in the Basement of the Shah Burj Quadrangle. [It was too dark for me to photograph anything so I’m using a creative commons image.] This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Author: Lahore Walled City Authority.  Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Summer_Palace_Lahore_Fort_(WCLA).jpg

The Diwan-i-khas, or Hall of Private Audience was built also during Shah Jahan’s reign.

Jahangir’s Quadrangle, with the Bari Khwabgah, or Jahangir’s Sleeping Quarters at centre. This structure was rebuilt by the British. To the right is the Sikh-era Sehdari Pavilion.

Close-up of the Sikh-era Sehdari Pavilion, which served as an office for a governor during Ranjit Singh’s reign.

Akbar’s Quadrangle – this is one of the dalans. Note the red sandstone pillars with Hindu motifs as ornamentation. Unfortunately, I did not have time to take close-up photographs.

The Hall of Red Sandstone, built during the Emperor Akbar’s reign.

The Diwan-e-Am was built during the reign of Shah Jahan. It was completely rebuilt in 1849 by the British, after being destroyed by the Sikhs in 1841.

And finally…a backward glance at the Alamgiri Gate.

Essential Reference: LAHORE – History and Architecture of Mughal Monuments, by Anjum Rehmani. Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2016.

The Mausoleum of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, completed in 1637.

In the suburb of Shahdara (The Way of the Shahs), some 16 km from Lahore, stand the tombs of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, and his Empress, Nur Jahan.

Of all the Mughal Emperors (and Empresses), they loved Lahore the most; and it was during their reign that Lahore reached its zenith as a Mughal capital and a centre for culture and the arts. Jahangir willed that he be laid to rest forever here, in his beloved city. After she died, Nur Jahan joined her beloved.

Jahangir’s Tomb

Jahangir’s tomb is in the tradition of the great Mausoleums of the Mughal Emperors. Of the tombs of the six Great Mughals, Babur’s tomb is in Kabul, Humayoun in Delhi, and Akbar and Shah Jahan’s in Agra. Aurangzeb is buried in Khuldabad, India, but he had ordered that his tomb be unmarked – the present-day marble structure was built in the British Era by Lord Curzon.

Completed in 1637, the tomb was either designed and commissioned by the Emperor Shah Jahan (Jahangir’s son), or the Empress Nur Jahan (his mother and Jahangir’s wife). It is in the Mughal style with Persian elements, and is strikingly simple and elegant, as compared to the other Royal Mausoleums in India, which tend towards a kind of self-conscious monumentalism.

The interior of the tomb is exquisitely decorated with Mughal frescoes and pietra dura, and in the white marble cenotaph (also decorated with pietra dura), one sees echoes of what is to come later with the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, it was plundered and damaged during the Sikh period, with precious materials and artefacts taken and used in the construction of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. It has been painstakingly restored today, however, and gleams with a kind of stately though self-effacing beauty.

The tomb is surrounded by a Char Bagh, or a Persian Paradise Garden. These gardens once extended to and encompassed the tombs of Nur Jahan and Asif Khan (Nur Jahan’s brother, Jahangir’s brother-in-law). But today, the Empress’ tomb is cut off from the other two by a road.

One enters the Tomb of Jahangir by way of the Akbari Sarai. A “sarai” is a resthouse for travellers, with this particular sarai also built for caretakers of the tomb. The travellers would be housed in chambers seen to the

Other chambers, built into the walls of the Akbari Sarai.

The Darwaza of the Akbari Sarai is exquisitely decorated with pietra dura, and also features a muqarnas. It leads to the Tomb itself.

The Tomb of Jahangir is simpler than that of Humayoun, Akbar, and Shah Jahan, in that it is single-storeyed, and lacks a dome.

The tomb is just beautiful in its simplicity, its four minarets rising stalwart from the central structure.

The facade of the tomb has probably been extensively restored.

Close-up of one of the four exquisitely ornamented gold minarets.

The interior of the tomb is also exquisitely ornamented with Mughal tiles.

Jahangir’s cenotaph, in white marble with flowers in pietra dura, echo those of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal at the Taj Mahal.

The corridors along the sides of the tomb structure.

Each of the chambers along the side corridors are also decorated with frescoes.

Emerging from the back of the Tomb.

Jahangir’s Tomb, seen from the back.

Asif Khan’s Tomb

Right beside Jahangir’s tomb stands the Tomb of Asif Khan, which has not weathered time well. The tomb was heavily damaged during the Sikh Period, plundered successively by the Sikh rulers and stripped of its precious materials such as white marble. Much of this precious material was then used to decorate the Golden Temple at Amritsar.

Proceeding to Asif Khan’s tomb by the Mosque on site.

Families picknicking

Asif Khan’s Tomb, completed in 1641, with its dome, once decorated with precious materials, but stripped of them during the Sikh era.

Entrance to the tomb, with remaining Mughal tiles.

Close-up of the Mughal tiles, betraying how the Tomb might have looked like before.

Nur Jahan’s Tomb

A short walk away lies Nur Jahan’s tomb, which has, similarly, not weathered the years well.The surfaces of the tomb had also, like the others, been stripped of white marble and other precious materials used in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.  In fact, it is said that almost half of the precious material used in the Golden Temple came from Nur Jahan’s tomb.  

The tomb was in the midst of an extensive restoration when I visited. The interior of the tomb, once covered with beautiful frescoes, had faded. But the exterior had been restored so it glowed beneath the afternoon sun. 

It has to be noted that Nur Jahan was perhaps the most powerful Mughal Empress in history. She ruled beside her husband as a de facto advisor, taking a keen interest in affairs of state and actually influencing key decisions in the Empire. She commissioned the creation of her own tomb in her lifetime, as well as her father’s tomb – the exquisite, white marble, Itmad ud-daulah Tomb in Agra, known as the “Little Taj Mahal”.

All in all, she was an accomplished and exceptional woman in an empire and history that was overwhelmingly patriarchal.

Approaching Nur Jahan’s Tomb, completed in the mid-1600s.

The tomb is very similar in style to Jahangir’s tomb, except that it is smaller and lacking in minarets.

The facade of the tomb has been extensively restored.

Entering the Tomb, which was under restoration when I visited.

The cenotaph of Nur Jahan, and her daughter Ladli Begum.

Floral frescoes fading off the walls of the tomb.

Shalimar Gardens

To the northeast of Lahore, lies another important historic site and destination – the Shalimar Gardens. Recognised as the finest example of a Mughal-style pleasure garden, the Gardens were created by the Emperor Shah Jahan, and were completed in 1642.

Inspired by an earlier Shalimar Gardens, built by his father Jahangir in Kashmir, Shah Jahan commissioned work on his own Gardens, determined that they literally be “Paradise on Earth”. The gardens are (naturally) designed in the Persian Char Bagh or “Paradise Garden” style, and are the largest and most elaborate of these in the Mughal Empire.

While the gardens were private and for the exclusive use of the Emperor, his harem and his guests, the lower part of the gardens were open to the public. Like the Mughal tombs, the gardens were also plundered during the Sikh Empire, with marble and other materials used in the Golden Temple.

[It must be clarified, however, that the attacks on the Royal Tombs and the Shalimar Gardens were retaliation for Jahangir’s strict and often violent persecution of the Sikhs during his reign.]

Today, the Gardens continue to be a huge public attraction, with all manner of local families enjoying themselves in its relatively still tranquil and pleasant surroundings. The Shalimar Gardens were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

The entrance to Shalimar Gardens today.

Nigar Khana.

The Upper Gardens, Farah Baksh (“Bestower of Pleasure”) were exclusive to the King’s Harem.

Approaching the Baradari that opens onto the next terrace.

The house of William Moorcroft, an explorer of the East India Company, who stayed here in 1820.

View of the Second Garden, the Faiz Bakhsh (Bestower of Goodness) terrace, was the Emperor’s private garden. It is also the beautiful part of the Shalimar Gardens.

View through the baradaris to the third, lower part of the gardens, Hayat Baksh (Bestower of Life). This part was open to the public now and then.

Side view towards a

Minaret on the walls of the garden.

Child at one of the chinkhanas

The Lower Gardens, or Hayat Baksh.

Like the rest of Lahore, there were relatively little foreign tourists – in fact, none at all at the tombs and Gardens. And so one really gets an authentic sense of local life. The Lahoris themselves, are immensely friendly and welcoming, and greeted me with a mixture of smiles and curious stares, with many a group approaching me for a friendly “we-fie” on their mobile phones.

A backward glance at Jahangir’s Tomb.

Essential Reference: LAHORE – History and Architecture of Mughal Monuments, by Anjum Rehmani. Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2016.

The Wazir Khan Mosque was commissioned by the Emperor Shah Jahan and it is quite simply the most beautiful mosque I’ve ever seen.

The Walled City of Lahore, also known as the Old City, has been continuously inhabited for some 1000 years or more. Though it retains remnants of its Pre-Mughal history, its glory days really began with the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who briefly shifted his capital city from Fatehpur Sikri to Lahore in the 1580s.

Akbar rebuilt the walls of the city and gave it its famous city gates. He also built his palace in the Lahore Fort. From thenceforth, Lahore would be one of the major Mughal cities, after Delhi and Agra.

All of the successive Great Mughal Emperors left architectural legacies in the Lahore Fort and in the Walled City. But it is Shah Jahan who left the most beautiful of these, including the magnificent Wazir Khan Mosque – perhaps the loveliest Mughal-era mosque in the world today; and the Shahi Hammam – the city’s only remaining Mughal-era bathhouse.

The Walled City is a treasure trove of architectural gems: mosques, tombs, shrines and havelis – those quaint private residences that look deceptively small and nondescript on the outside, but often open onto self-contained worlds of courtyard, fresco, balcony and hammam.

A full wander of the Old City would take days. This gallery provides a mere glimpse into the Old City’s wealth of heritage.

Delhi Gate is one of six remaining gates to the Walled city. This gate is a British reconstruction in post-1857. The gate is so-called because it faces the direction of Delhi. In Delhi, there is a similar Lahore Gate, that faces the direction of Lahore. 

The exquisite Shahi Hammam, or Royal Baths, were commissioned by the Emperor Shah Jahan in 1635. They are the only remaining bathhouses from the Mughal world, and have been lovingly restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Walled City Authority.

Approaching Wazir Khan Chowk, with a minaret of the Wazir Khan mosque visible.

The beautiful mihrab of the Wazir Khan Mosque, with its muqarnas features and its Mughal tiles.

The Mosque of Maryam Zamani Begum is Lahore’s oldest Mughal-era mosque, built by the Emperor Jahangir in 1614 in the name of his mother.

While the exterior of the mosque hasn’t weathered the years well, the interior still boasts amazingly intricate fresco and tilework.

The underside of the dome, Maryam Zamani Begum Mosque.

The Haveli of Asif Khan (also known as Dhian Singh) dates to the Jahangir period. It was built by Asif Khan, who was appointed Governor of Lahore. Today it houses a girls’ school.

The grounds of the haveli harbour some magnificent frescoes that blend Persian and Hindu elements

Close-up of a fresco of Krishna.

A class taking place during my visit, which required special permission from the Principal as this school was out of bounds to visitors.

Another treasure in the school’s compound is a remarkably well preserved hammam, with frescoes of angels.

The Dai Anga Mosque was built in 1635 in honour of Shah Jahan’s wetnurse, Dai Anga.

Inside, it retains some remnants of original Mughal floral tilework (in gold).

The Tomb of Dai Anga, built in 1671.

The underside of the dome, Dai Anga Tomb.

The Sunehri Mosque dates from 1753, when the Mughal Empire was on the wane.

Its interior, however, was simply stunning.

The Data Darbar is the largest Sufi Shrine on the Subcontinent. It pre-dates the Mughal era and was built to house the remains of Sufi Saint Abu Hassan Ali Hujwiri. A shrine has probably stood here since the 11th century.

A rousing qawwali performance at the basement of the shrine.

The Haveli Nau Nihal Singh dates from the Sikh Period. Built around 1840, it is the most magnificent example of Sikh Architecture in Lahore.

It has been used as a school since the British period, and so special permission had to be sought to visit.

The highlight of the visit is the exquisite series of frescoes that line the walls of the rooftop chamber of the Haveli.

These frescoes were simply breathtaking – my camera doesn’t capture their full beauty.

The haveli of Ram Gopal

The expansive, multi-floored interior of the haveli, with its central airwell.

The Lahori Gate is one of the oldest gates of the city, and is named after the lohar, or blacksmiths that traded their wares around the gate.

Entrance to a Hindu Temple in the Anarkali district. 

The entrance leads to the disused site of the former Basuli Hanuman Mandir.

The old Hindu Temple stands next to the Forman Memorial Chapel.

…and right across of the Tomb of Qutb al-Din Aibak, the founder of the Mamluk Dynasty and the first sultan of the Delhi Sultanate.

Anarkali’s Tomb dates possibly to the turn of the 15th century and is supposed to have been built by Jehangir for a slavegirl he loved, called Anarkali. This is disputed. The tomb is one of the earliest Mughal-era tombs. It holds the Punjab Archives today and sits in the complex of the Punjab Civil Secretariat, so access is restricted.

Not far away stands Chauburji, built by Shah Jahan in 1646 as a monumental gteway to a vast garden complex, long since gone.

And finally, a backward glance at Old Lahore… this is the door to the Haveli of Nau Nihal Singh.

Essential Reference: LAHORE – History and Architecture of Mughal Monuments, by Anjum Rehmani. Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2016.

The GPO (General Post Office) was built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

The British ruled Lahore for just under a hundred years from 1849 to 1947. Capitalising on a crisis of succession following the death of Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire, the British would oust the Sikhs and annex the Punjab. Lahore was made the capital of British Punjab.

Like in the other major cities of the British Raj, the colonial occupiers would leave their legacy on the urban landscape by way of monumental civic and commercial buildings that still continue to stand today.

While British colonial period architecture exists all over Lahore, the greatest concentration of these buildings occurs along Mall Road, which links the Old City to the Cantonment, and – then as now – was / is the most important thoroughfare in the city.

On and around Mall Road stand most of the major cultural, civic and educational institutions – including the Governor’s House, the General Post Office (GPO), the High Court, the Lahore Museum, the Town Hall, and a few major Government High Schools, Colleges and Universities. Many of these buildings were built in the Gothic or Indo-Saracenic style. Some of these buildings – especially the colleges, look as though they came straight out of Cambridge or Oxford.

Just off Mall Road also stand some of the city’s most important churches, looking again, like they were plucked straight out of the English countryside and placed here.

No visit to Lahore can be without a drive down (or up) Mall Road. With its broad boulevards and wide pavement, it is also entirely possible to walk along Mall Road. Unfortunately, many of the buildings are enclosed within large grounds and are not visible from the Road itself – this includes the Governor’s House and some of the schools on the Eastern end of the Road.  

The best walk, therefore, would be to go from the Quaid-e-Azam Library (the former Lawrence and Montgomery Halls) at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Park (formerly Lawrence Gardens) to Government College University of Punjab – a walk that would take some 2 hours to complete, but which boasts most of the architectural highlights on the Road. 

This gallery presents some of the buildings along this walk.

The Quaid-e-Azam Library was built in 1886 as the Lawrence and Montgomery Halls. In 1906, it became the Lahore Gymkhana. It was re-opened as a public library in 1986. The building sits in the former Lawrence Gardens (1885) – today’s Bagh-e-Jinnah – which houses the zoo, botanical gardens, cricket grounds, amongst other amenities.

The Al-Hamra Arts Centre was completed in 1992.

The ginormous Pearl Continental Hotel (Lahore’s main international hotel) sits on Mall Road.

The Charing Cross Pavilion (which once housed a statue of Queen Victoria), and the Islamic Summit Minar (1974), on Charing Cross (a.k.a. Faisal Square), which is a major intersection on Mall Road.

The Punjab Assembly Building (1935).

Shaahdin Manzil, 1914.

Colonial era commercial buildings around Charing Cross.

Ghulam Rasool Building (1916), housed the iconic Ferozsons Books up until 2017.

Bawa Dinga Singh Building (1927).

MHC Building.

The Art Deco-ish Zaman Plaza.

Former Chemists building.

Art Deco Mall Mansions.

Lahore High Court.

Art Deco E. Plomer & Co Chemists and Druggists.

The GPO, designed by Sir Ganga Ram in an Indo-Saracenic Style.

Supreme Court of Pakistan Branch (left) and

Sacred Heart Cathedral (1907).

Church of Pakistan Diocese, Holy Trinity Church (1881).

Pak Teahouse (1940) – favourite gathering spot of intellectuals.

Cathedral Church of the Resurrection (1887) is the city’s Anglican cathedral.

Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue Lahore.

YMCA

GM Chowdri & Sons Building.

Alfred Building.

Residential building with lovely balconies.

Tollinton Market

The Lahore Museum, designed by Pakistani architect, Sir Ganga Ram, in an Indo-Saracenic Style and completed in 1894.

The interior of the museum, including this door, was also partly designed by John Lockwood Kipling, the father of Rudyard Kipling.

Across from the Museum sits the University College of Art and Design, also designed in an Indo-Saracenic Style.

The Punjab University College of Pharmacy sits beside the University College of Art and Design and is similarly

Town Hall, Lahore – Indo-Saracenic.

Government College University – in Gothic Revival style.

And finally… a backward glance at the Lahore GPO.

References: Colonial Lahore – A History of the City and Beyond, by Ian Talbot. 

The facade of Faletti’s Hotel today.

Faletti’s Hotel is one of the oldest hotels on this Grand Tour; one that has remained more or less in its original form, and with its original name since its inception, and more than 100 years.

The hotel was established in 1880 by an Italian gentleman, Andrea Faletti, who also ran 3 other major hotels – Dean’s Hotel Peshawar, Flashman’s Hotel Rawalpindi and Cecil Hotel Murree.  It was the oldest hotel in Lahore, and up until the 1970s, the most prestigious, playing host to politicians, celebrities and heads of state.  It was and continues to be situated on Egerton Road, just off Mall Road.

Faletti’s was also known for being the initial training grounds for one Mohan Singh (or M.S.) Oberoi, who was clerk at Faletti’s. He would go on to establish the Oberoi chain of hotels – today one of the most important chains of historic luxury hotels in India and the world.

In 1942, M.S. Oberoi’s Oberoi Group took over the management of Faletti’s and its three other sister hotels. This period also saw one of the hotel’s most famous guests – Ava Gardner, who came and stayed in a suite here for 3 months. The suite she stayed in continues to be named after her.

The Oberoi Group would go on to manage Faletti’s post-Partition, and in the aftermath of the independence of India and Pakistan. However, in 1865, in the midst of the Indo-Pakistan War, Faletti’s and its sister hotels were seized by the Pakistani Government as “enemy property” and nationalised.

Most recently in 2006, after successive efforts at privatising the hotel, Faletti’s was put up for sale and bought by an Abu Dhabi-based company. Following a major restoration, it was re-opened in 2013. Though the condition of the suites is passable, they are far from what would be considered five-star quality today.

In fact, the title of Lahore’s Grand Hotel would have to go to the gargantuan Pearl Continental Hotel on Mall Road, not so far from Faletti’s. During my time in Lahore, I actually stayed in both Faletti’s and the “PC Hotel” (so-called by Lahoris), just to get a taste of historic and contemporary luxury in the city.

That said, Faletti’s retains its reputation as one of the most prestigious hotels in the city, and continues to be popular for weddings and other major events. It is able to accommodate these weddings and events through the construction of large event halls just behind the main building.

What is most important, however, is that in the course of 140 years of its history, and through all the changes to Faletti’s management structure and façade, the hotel has managed to retain its original name.

With this post, my multi-year Grand Tour of not only the Port and Princely Cities of the Subcontinent, but of the whole of the East, comes to an end, finally.

Covered windows on the facade.

Entrance to the Ballroom.

Faces of Faletti’s – the historic personalities who were guests here.

The Ava Gardner Suite.

The Restaurant at Faletti’s.

The endless corridors at Faletti’s.

View of one of the suites.

Entrance to the gardens.

View of the Gardens at Faletti’s.

Corridors of Faletti’s.

Corridors at Faletti’s.

The Crystal Hall is one of the huge event spaces used for weddings.

Faletti’s Hotel, c 1880.

Window at Faletti’s.

Detour at Pearl Continental Hotel.

View of the Central Atrium, PC Hotel.

The historic 1939 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood, used by the Nawab of the former princely state of Bahawalpur. Bahawalpur was one of the few princely states that chose to join Pakistan during Partition.

Coffee at the Executive Lounge, PC Hotel.

The Bar at the PC Hotel is one of the few places in Lahore where alcohol may be served – to foreigner’s only. Ironically, Pakistan boasts its own brand of beer, Murree’s, brewed in Rawalpindi since 1860; and it is actually a very good beer.

External view of Faletti’s Hotel.

Kennie in bed, Venice… Music, lyrics, musical arrangement and vocal arrangement by Kennie Ting. Photography by Joe Zandstra. Artwork design by Kennie Ting.

THE FACTS OF LIFE was initially conceived as a concept album, like my other concept album, DREAM OF A CITY, after which this blog was named.

The idea was to write songs about life, love, the universe and everyday life, with an epic narrative that ran from morning till night. It was established very quickly that the morning till night meta-narrative wasn’t going to work, and so I randomly wrote a whole bunch of songs, some set in the day, and others set at night; including a song titled MORNING, and a song titled NIGHT.

From around two dozen songs, I narrowed the list down to about 13 that I then arranged and recorded multiple versions of. As in, each song had at least two versions with different keys and arrangements (musical and vocal).  Such is the obsessive-compulsive nature of the creative endeavour.

I managed, in the process of cutting down and prioritising the list of songs – to retain the songs MORNING and NIGHT as a reminder of the initial concept for the album. And because I really liked both of the songs.  =)

In this post, I release MORNING.

NIGHT will come later this year… possibly maybe…

MORNING was conceived to be a breezy, bouncy, bossa-funk number that was contemporary but with a retro-throwback feel to it. The song itself would be about being in love and not being to get out of bed in the morning. The lyrics veer on the slightly naughty, but always in a fun, frothy way that I hoped would bring a smile on the listeners’ face.

It is a HAPPY song – I realised I liked writing happy songs as it made me happy at a time when I actually wasn’t particularly so.

I wanted the song to feel sort-of “played live”, with a live big band accompanying, and reminiscent of old-school Hollywood movies. So there’s a grand piano, there’s a harp, there’s strings and percussion… The brass section from MAGIC also returns here.

In the spirit of old-school Hollywood, this version of MORNING further features a chorus of ME, with vocal arrangements done in a self-consciously classic style. Oh and I also try my hand at rapping, heehee.

Here are the lyrics. And once again – this is ONLY A DEMO – so it is best enjoyed with earphones.

LYRICS:  

1… 2… 3… 4…

Sunlight strikes the edge of the bed / Our feet are softly touching / Pigeon coos outside the window / Mmmm…no, not yet. / Kitty clambers over my body / Touches nose to my nose / Cradled between you and kitty / Mmmm… no, not yet.

Stupid alarm clock rings and I hit snooze / Can’t I just have this simple indulgence?

CHORUS: Dreaming… Lost in space / Your breathing into my ear / Such sweetly delicious closeness, my dear / No turning. It’s not time yet / Just hold me and don’t let go / The universe is here in your arms, you know.

4… 3… 2… 1…

Morning steals through Venetian blinds / Your fingers reach for candy / Breath turns into gentle giggles / Mmmm… no, not yet. / Kitty burrows into the blanket / Hand caresses candy / Giggles morph into a sigh……

Stupid alarm clock rings and I hit snooze / [Need 5 more minutes playing…] / Can’t I just have this moment forever??? / [Tick…tock…tick…tock]

CHORUS

RAP: Now that I got you, I ain’t letting you go / What’s the matter, don’t you recall last night’s show? / You and I, we blew the entire solar system, you know / So believe it when I say you can’t just walk out the door. / See, the universe was born right here where we lie / Planets appear and explode, people are born and they die / You make me so happy that I just want to cry / These supernovae in the words “You & I”

CHORUS x 2

RAP: So come on, baby, let’s get lost in space / It’s the perfect picture, it’s the perfect place / Don’t want to think about the earth, about the human race / Let’s just be together all of our days.

© 2010 / 2019 Kennie Ting. All Rights Reserved.

The Victoria Memorial in Calcutta completed in 1921, was designed and built to echo the Taj Mahal in Agra.

So this is it.  Two and a half years later, I’m finally here posting my Epilogue to THE GRAND TOUR III – PORT AND PRINCELY CITIES OF THE SUBCONTINENT.

Unlike the first two Grand Tours, which took a year and a year and half respectively to complete, this one has taken me much longer because just before I began the journey, I also embarked on a journey of another kind (as a museum director).

But in any case, here we are. And here’s where we’ve been:

Calcutta (Kolkata), Benares (Varanasi), Madras (Chennai), Pondicherry (Puducherry), Tranquebar (Tharangambadi), Colombo in Sri Lanka, Cochin (Kochi), Goa, Bombay (Mumbai), Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Lahore in Pakistan.

15 cities later, I can only say that I am older in mind and spirit, and perhaps just a little more worldly (or should I say, world-weary), having, quite literally walked through the streets of India, and occasionally Sri Lanka and Pakistan, on my own for miles and miles and days and days, and seen more than I ever expected to see.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, completed in 1643 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, is the greatest monument to love and the greatest monument in India.

The great pageant of birth, life and death on the banks of the River Ganges, at the Holy City of Benares (Varanasi). This is the always-busy Dashashmewadh Ghat.

The Qutb Minar in Delhi was built in 1192 under the auspices of the Sultan Qutb al-Din Aibak, the first Sultan of the Mamluk Dynasty. His tomb sits in Lahore, Pakistan.

What have I learnt on this journey?

I have learnt that the Subcontinent has a rich colonial heritage that isn’t only British – there was also a Portuguese, French, Dutch and even Danish heritage. And, if one considers that the Mughals came from Central Asia – also a kind of much older, Persian colonial heritage that has become thoroughly Indian (or Pakistani), thoroughly part of local identity.

And this colonial legacy lingers on in the contemporary day, not just in terms of the physical buildings, but also in terms of things more intangible like language and the way of life.  This makes the heritage of the Subcontinent so much richer, and – like Mughal heritage – European colonial heritage has to be seen as unavoidably and inevitably part of Subcontinental identity.

Queen Victoria’s legacy literally still looms large.

Victoria, Empress of India, on the grounds of the Memorial named in her memory – Calcutta.

The Basilica of Bom Jesu, Old Goa, consecrated in 1604.

Cercle de Pondicherry, 1899, in former French Pondicherry.

David Hall (1670s) is one of best examples of Dutch architecture in Cochin.

Fort Dansborg (1620) – literally Hamlet’s castle on the shores of the former Danish settlement of Tranquebar.

The Tomb of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in Lahore, completed in 1637.

I have learnt that all the port cities (at least) were cosmopolitan, multi-cultural, multi-faith melting pots.  And in this regard, they prefigure Singapore.

Like Singapore, the cities played (and continue to play) host to places of worship from all the great world religions, and their respective communities, still more or less worshipping where they have worshipped for centuries: Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrian Parsis, Christians, Jews – and even the occasional Taoist.

From left to right: Sri Mallikeswarar Temple Chennai (1652); Sri Sambuddhaloka Vihara Temple, Colombo; Jain Temple at Rannakpur (1400s).

Left to right: Samadhi of Ranjit Singh (1848) and Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore Fort; Jami Mosque, Delhi (1656), Maneckji Nowroji Parsi Agiary Bombay.

Left to right: Interior of the Church of St Francis of Assisi (1661) in Velha Goa; Paradesi Synagogue Cochin (1568); Sea Ip Church in Calcutta’s Chinatown.

I have learnt that the Subcontinent has an amazing architectural heritage – wandering in the old “white”, “black” and “grey” towns, I have chanced upon a dizzying array of architectural styles from Mughal to Neoclassical to Indo-Saracenic to Art Deco; from Palace Architecture, to Religious, to Civic/Commercial to Fort.

The Neoclassical General Post Office, or G.P.O. in Calcutta was built in 1868.

Victoria Terminus in Bombay was built in 1888 in a Victorian Gothic Revival style with Byzantine elements.

Madras Law College, built in 1899 in an Indo-Saracenic Style.

Marine Drive in Bombay has the largest concentration of Art Deco residential buildings outside of Miami.

The Lake Palace (mid-1700s), floats impossibly on Lake Pichola in Udaipur. It was first built as a pleasure palace by the Maharana Jagat Singh II of Mewar.

The Mehrangarh Fort perches 400 feet above the city of Jodhpur. It was built in 1459 by Rao Jodha of the Rathore Clan, Marwar.

Former Viceroy’s House, today’s Rashtrapati Bhawan, was built in 1929 in a self-consciously Indian Imperial style.

There are also great museums here, with my favorites being the Indian Museum in Calcutta, the former Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay, the Government Museum in Egmore, Madras and the Lahore Museum in its namesake city.

Of course, there were also the Grand Hotels and Palaces, almost all of whom were quite simply a dream to stay in, and an out-of-this-world experience. If I had to pick my favorites, I would have to say these were the Grand Hotel in Calcutta, the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, the Taj Mahal Palace in Bombay and, naturally, the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

The Indian Museum Calcutta (1875).

Chola bronze Shiva Nataraja at the Government Museum Complex, Madras (Chennai).

The Indo-Saracenic former Prince of Wales Museum Bombay (today’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya), was completed in 1915.

Gandharan boddhisattva at the Lahore Museum.

The Oberoi Grand Hotel Calcutta was built in the early 1900s in a Neo-Classical style.

The Galle Face Hotel Colombo (1864) is believed to be the oldest grand hotel East of Suez.

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Bombay (1903), in an Indo-Saracenic Style.

The spectacular, stupendous Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur was completed in 1943 and built in an Art Deco style that fused Hindu elements.

And the food! Oh the food! How can I even begin to describe all I’ve had the chance to savour!  It will require a whole other blog!!

My favourite gourmet cities were Calcutta, Colombo, Cochin and Goa.

And my favourite dishes?  The Bengali thali at the Grand Hotel Calcutta, steak-frites anywhere in Pondicherry, hoppers at the Galle Face Hotel Colombo, lampreis at the Dutch Burgher Union Cafe Colombo, and the Parsi Bhonu (the Parsi equivalent of a thali) at SodaBottleWaterOpener Wallah, Khan Market, New Delhi.

As it turns out, I LOVE fish curry.  And so there was the Keralan Fish Curry in Cochin, the Goan Fish Curry in Goa (and Bombay), and my favorite fish curry of all was the Tamil Fish Curry at the Bungalow by the Beach Tranquebar, which reminded me of Muthu’s Fish Head Curry in Singapore.

Clockwise from top left: Bengali Thali at the Oberoi Grand Hotel Calcutta, Steak-frites in Pondicherry, Lampreis at the Dutch Burgher Union Colombo, Hoppers at the Galle Face Hotel Colombo.

Clockwise from top left: Tamil Fish Curry at Bungalow on the Beach Tranquebar, Goan Fish Curry in Panjim Goa, Kerala Fish Curry in Cochin, Parsi Bhonu at SodaBottleOpenerWallah, Khan Market, New Delhi.

This Epilogue is also THE Epilogue to my Grand Tour of the East in general – the tour of Asian Port and Imperial Cities I began in May 2012, and which has taken me 7 years exactly to complete!

In my initial planning, I had expected the entire journey to finish by end 2016. I told myself that once I finished this entire journey, it would time to leave Singapore again and move to another city to live.

As it turns out, it’s taken me more than 2 years longer than expected because of the job. And because of the job, it’s not very likely that I’m going to move away from Singapore any time soon.

Ah well.

What a whirlwind it’s been!  7 years feels like a lifetime.  I’m literally not the same Kennie Ting I was when I started off this journey.

Even as I feel a great sense of achievement at having actually completed what I started, I’m also feeling a tinge of sadness at this monumental and on-going part of my life coming to an end.

What next?  What could be next? Who knows?

I will continue to travel, of course, though more often because of the day job.  And I will continue to write, naturally.

The good news is that my publisher has asked that I work on my NEXT book; the follow-up to 2015’s ROMANCE OF THE GRAND TOUR.  This next book I hope to title ASIAN PORT CITIES – FROM BOMBAY TO TOKYO, and it will feature the rest of the Asian Port Cities, alongside the first 12 in Romance of the Grand Tour.

So for the time being, I’m still going to be working on the Grand Tour, even if not physically grand touring.

Here’s hoping that I’ll figure out the next epic personal project by journey’s end.

In the meantime, enjoy the photos. And if you’re feeling nostalgic, I welcome you to go through the archives on this very blog, to relive the past, glorious 7 years of THE GRAND TOUR OF THE EAST.

Bon voyage!

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur (1799).

Chet Singh Ghat, Varanasi.

Armenian Church (1772), Armenian Street, George Town, Madras (Chennai).

St John’s Church (1787) is the oldest extant church in Calcutta and was built to resemble the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

Sé Cathedral (1619), Old Goa.

Queen’s Mansion, Park Street, Calcutta. By this point it would be clear to you, dear reader, that my favorite city of all on this Grand Tour was Calcutta. This was primarily because it most resembled Singapore in terms of its urban landscape, and there was a certain cosmopolitan, albeit crumbling charm to it.

Chinese Fishing Nets, Cochin.

And finally… entering the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate), of the 16th century Amber Fort in Jaipur, by elephant. Goodbye to the Grand tour of the Port and Princely Cities of the Subcontinent!!

Sunset in Cape Town.

In April I travelled to Cape Town to spend some time with friends and family. That trip would turn out to be the first real vacation since I took on my job as the Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum.

I eased into a whole week where everything was taken care of by these old friends of mine I stayed with, who are like family.  The museum was in good hands. I had just about completed my epic, 7-year Grand Tour of Asia. So for the first time, in a very, very long while, I had absolutely nothing I needed to achieve.

My sole responsibility each day was to get out of bed – which I duly did, of course, and always on time for breakfast (which was always painstakingly prepared for me).

What a luxury it was to have no museum to direct, no teams to lead, no stakeholders / patrons whose expectations I needed to live up to, no photographs to curate, no blogposts to write.  Nothing at all whatsoever to do except to spend time with people who cared for me and only wanted the best for me; people with whom I felt absolutely safe and with whom I could be just Kennie.

Table Mountain

The Twelve Apostles

Hout Bay

Aside from meeting other friends and family, I spent that week mostly reading books and staring out into a beautiful view of mountain, ocean and setting sun, reflecting on what I had achieved in the last three years and what I ought to pursue next.

Professionally I’d say I’m doing well.  I’ve grown tremendously on the job, and in ways I never expected.

I’ve always been an extremely shy and introverted person, even now. My idea of a perfect evening is one spent listening to music and reading a book at home – or wandering the streets of a city alone with my camera.  But in the last three years the job has forced me into the spotlight, and I spend most of my waking life meeting people, facing crowds, delivering lectures and accepting media interviews as a semi-public-ish personality.

What a change from before!

Me – most recently on Chinese National TV, talking, in Mandarin, about our loans to an exhibition at the National Museum of China, Beijing.

Me – recently on Chinese National Television, speaking about our Museum, and looking like a vampire.

I’m very happy to say that I am now able to confidently speak and lecture in public; to hold my own with some of the most important people on earth in serious conversation; to “work” a room with ease and at ease at museum events (despite a crippling fear of crowds and confined spaces); and to lead with purpose and grounded idealism a team of extremely passionate, ambitious and vocal professionals at the museum. All this while ALWAYS maintaining a child-like authenticity, sincerity and a generally optimistic attitude.

THIS – this professional and personal growth – has been the MOST important reward from taking on this job.

[I shan’t go into how I feel I’ve also reasonably succeeded in turning around the brand, profile, relevance and visibility of the Museum. That can come in the post marking my 3-year anniversary as Director, heehee.]

Launch of (hopefully) game-changing, museum-image-turning first Couture and Art exhibition… with the Master herself.

The Yellow Empress, at Empress Place.

View in the Gallery, of the Exhibition.

On the creative front, however, I am now at a bit of a crossroads. With last month’s final, concluding post on THE GRAND TOUR III – PORT AND PRINCELY CITIES OF THE SUBCONTINENT (and, by extension, my entire GRAND TOUR OF THE EAST), a very important creative project – one that has been an integral part of my life and has occupied most of my waking time outside of work these past 7 years – has come to a resolute end.

I must admit I am at a loss as to what next to do!

These past few months, I’ve been remastering and “releasing” old demos of songs I wrote almost 10 years ago.  The reader would probably realise that these posts are really just for the purpose of “marking time”, as I figure out what next to pursue creatively, outside of work.

Because I believe it is important to have creative pursuits outside of work, to remind myself that there is a KENNIE TING that is not D/ACM-TPM.

The Grand Tour ends…

…and something else begins?  Maybe?

Instinctively, I want to extend the concept of the Grand Tour, and dive deeper… perhaps into the cities of Java (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to take a train across Java and stop at all its fabled cities); or go further…  perhaps on to the Historic Cities and Grand Hotels of the Middle East and Africa. Port Said… Cairo… Alexandria… Damascus… Zanzibar… Dar Es Salaam…

But part of me feels that it’s time to move on completely from photography, cities, grand hotels and historic travel. Therefore the music, because that has always been my first love.  And because before I landed willy-nilly into the world of museums, I always thought that my destiny in life was to write musicals.  =)

So who knows, perhaps by the end of this year, I would have resuscitated a project I had been working on some time back, but which I never seriously pursued – a work of musical theatre. I’ve been listening to the demos and I must say I’m rather pleased with them.

Or maybe you’ll see me next in Port Said, which was the Gateway port city to the Suez Canal and the East.

Who knows?

The creative spills over into the professional, of course. I am acutely aware that come September, I would have spent 3 years on the job at the Asian Civilisations Museum, and that to avoid being bored and stuck in a rut in 3 years time, I would probably need to figure out NOW what comes after that.

Hopefully I stay, but to stay at ACM would require a dramatic change in my situation… something I’m diabolically setting in motion right now… sorta kinda. Who knows if that will play out the way I want it to? =)

[On a side note, my life on the romantic and personal fronts has been in shambles – the job is an all-consuming one and in the course of it, I have lost a relationship, more or less; and I am barely spending time with family and friends. But that’s another story.] 

Vergelegen Vineyard… one of the oldest vineyards in South Africa, established by the Dutch.

Where does the path lead to next?

So I thought anyways…

… as I nursed a pot of Darjeeling tea and snacked on lovely biscuits, perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, staring into the vast expanse of blue-water and cerulean-sky.

500 years ago, Vasco da Gama and his Portuguese conquistadors rounded this cape and made their inexorable way to India. The Portuguese would christen this cape Cabo da Boa Esperança, or “Cape of Good Hope”, because past this point lay the fabled spices and treasure of India and the Far East.

Past this point, was Opportunity and a change of Destiny.

The Castle, Cape Town. Built by the VOC (the Dutch, not the Portuguese), but oh well…

The Cape of Good Hope was a turning point not just geographically (literally in terms of it marking the transition from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean); it was also a turning point in world history. For better or for worse, the world would never be the same again, once the Portuguese rounded the Cape.

And I thought that perhaps this year too, having finally rounded the proverbial “Cape” both on the creative and professional fronts (and also, to be fair, the romantic and personal fronts), the “world”, so to speak, may perhaps, also not ever be the same again for me from hereon.

The exact shape and form of this “world” is yet to manifest itself.

So, in the meantime, 我拭目以待, as the Chinese would say – I wait, post my blog posts on DREAM OF A CITY, experiment with as many things as I can, and see what appears eventually in the horizon. 

Onward ho!

View from Camp’s Bay, Cape Town towards mountains, sea and sky.

View from a friend’s home in London, where I was briefly staying at recently.

A couple of days ago a colleague of mine asked me what had been the happiest day of my life since becoming a Museum Director, and I said that I couldn’t really remember what that was.

I said that perhaps the happiest day of my life THIS YEAR, at least, was when I bumped into my predecessor on the streets of Piccadilly in London – literally by chance – last Monday, and we were able to catch up (at the Ritz, over glasses of champagne heehee) and vent about things that only WE as Museum Directors understood.

THAT was the happiest day of my life because for the first time in a very loooooong time, I was actually confiding my deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings to someone who understood what I was talking about. The happiness came because I felt connected with somebody in a way I hadn’t felt in a very long time; in a way that was very real, very satisfying and very cathartic.

Wow, what a relief, I thought to myself, to get all the pent-up experience – painful and awesome in turn – off my chest!!  What a relief to talk to someone who REALLY REALLY TRULY understood. There are so few people who understand the very specific circumstance of running this very specific museum (ACM) in this very specific place (SINGAPORE) with its very specific network of patrons, stakeholders, staff, etc.

But I’m just rambling now.

GUO PEI – CHINESE ART AND COUTURE at the Asian Civilisations Museum, 15 June – 15 September 2019. This is the Yellow Queen, most famously worn by Rihanna on the steps of The Metropolitan Museum New York in 2015.

Guo Pei’s latest runway show at Paris Couture Week, which I had the chance to catch last week (on my own dime!!).

My colleague (in the present moment) then asked, brows furrowed, if I had not been even the very least bit happy about all that we had achieved at the museum – all I had ostensibly achieved at the museum.  In particular, had I not been even the very least bit happy at the wildly successful launch of our Guo Pei – Chinese Art and Couture exhibition? An exhibition that, against all odds and opposition, we managed to pull off at ACM?

I considered the question very carefully and replied that of course, I had felt awesome at all that we/I had achieved. But this sense of awesomeness was due not so much to happiness, but to a sense of FULFILLMENT.

The job (as the Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and Peranakan Museum) has, as a matter of fact and a matter of course, offered me a tremendous amount of Fulfillment. Partly because the museum and its collection is quite literally THE BEST in the region (and one of the best anywhere in the world). And partly because I’m extremely driven, completely insane and will do just about ANYTHING to achieve what I feel the museum needs to achieve.

But Happiness and Fulfillment are two different things altogether. They look and feel somewhat alike on the surface, but at the core, their motivations aren’t the same. They are cousins, not twins.

One feels fulfilled when one has achieved one’s goals, particularly if these goals are seemingly unattainable; or in MBA parlance: involve stretch targets. This Cocktail called Fulfillment is liberally laced with PRIDE and SATISFACTION. Positive emotions – but definitely not the same as what laces Happiness – the Cocktail.

William Dyce, Francesca da infini, 1837, Edinburgh National Gallery of Scotland. Featured in the exhibition La Lune, at the Grand Palais, Paris.

And then my intrepid colleague made reference to how I have publicly and liberally spoken about one of the privileges of the job being that I’m constantly surrounded by beauty and by beautiful things.  So the question, naturally, from her, was, “Doesn’t all this beauty make you happy?”

And once again, I considered the question carefully, and replied that it wasn’t so much happiness that I felt, really. Being surrounded by so much beauty afforded me an inordinate amount of PLEASURE. I am pleased by the fact that I’m surrounded by Beauty; I take pleasure and not a small amount of solace in this beauty.

But again, PLEASURE and SOLACE are not exactly Happiness.  And the fact that I need to frequently seek pleasure and solace amidst beauty suggests, perhaps, that I am often not very happy at all in the course of the job.

I guess what I’m saying, very frankly, is that the job has, thus far, offered me very little in the way of Happiness.  And that what I have drawn happiness from, are the rare opportunities I’ve had to REALLY connect with people as MYSELF; to engage and connect as KENNIE, and not as the high-end geisha / hotel concierge I’ve trained myself to become in the course of growing into this job as D/ACM-TPM.

[And might I add that I am a CONSUMMATE High-End Geisha cum Hotel Concierge. ]

Paris and la Tour Eiffel, view from the rooftop restaurant at Au Printemps Boulevard Hausmann.

I love the job and the museum. Don’t get me wrong.

But I’m now realising that the job is one of those things that isn’t at all what it seemed to be at the beginning.  The obligations of the job keep me at the museum 24/7; take me away from old friends and from family; and has, to a major extent, caused my long-term relationship – one of 16 years – to crumble and finally breath its last, heart-breaking, breath.

The job has given me the opportunity to not only be surrounded by beauty, but to CREATE beauty – gasp-inducing, pause-provoking, heart-breaking beauty – all around me.  But in order to create this, I am required to give up so much; to give up not just a little bit, but a WHOLE LOT, of myself.

I am constantly surrounded by people, but I often feel crushingly alone as I PERFORM my role as Director, and as the new social circles I find myself in increasingly regard me as DIRECTOR ACM-TPM, rather than just Kennie, pure and simple.

So yes – I told my colleague that I, in fact, can’t remember when I was last happy since I took on the job; except, of course, for that chance meeting with my predecessor in London, and for the increasingly rare occasions when I’m hanging out as me with my friends and family.

The emphasis is on the word RARE.

It’s time to do something about this.

So here’s fair warning that in the year to come, I’m going to be more Kennie, and less D/ACM-TPM.  That I’m going de-prioritise attending all these events and openings and dinners and soirees (and there are many, many, many of these), in order that I may spend quiet evenings with those whom I love and whom I love spending time with.

Here’s the tally so far.

FULFILLMENT:  ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

PLEASURE: ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

HAPPINESS: Still working on it.

Gotta focus on what’s most important, folks.

Just lazing around by the pool at home today…