ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is currently running the largest dinosaur exhibition in Southeast Asia – Dinosaurs: Dawn to Exhibition. The exhibition will be on till 27 July 2014.
Occupying over 3,700 square meters of floor space, the exhibition features more than 400 fossils and models, as well as over 50 original artworks. This exhibition is the first time four exhibitions form the renowned American Museum of Natural History, San Juan National Science Museum, SCI! Expo at Monash University and artist Peter Trusler‘s works are all jointly presented together.
Museum entrance
The exhibition is curated by paleontologist, Dr. Patricia Vickers-Rich and offers a refreshing and in-depth journey into the pre-existence, existence, rise and extinction of dinosaurs. The exhibition transports visitors more than 600 million years back in time, cover the Precambrian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods:
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Two dinosaurs side-by-side ![]()
Roar! ![]()
A small dinosaur ![]()
Face-to-face ![]()
Look at the details on the reconstructed skin ![]()
You can tell a dinosaur’s eating preference from it’s teeth shape ![]()
Fossil ![]()
Bones ![]()
Bones ![]()
Mammoth-like creature ![]()
With the young ones ![]()
Bones ![]()
Bones ![]()
Dinosaur in motion ![]()
Brontosaurus ![]()
Bones ![]()
Guided tour ![]()
Dinosaur heads ![]()
Reconstruction ![]()
Late Jurassic ![]()
Distinct head shape ![]()
Ribs ![]()
Reconstruction ![]()
Fossil ![]()
Reconstruction ![]()
Fossil ![]()
The mighty T-Rex ![]()
Feet ![]()
Various head shapes ![]()
Various head shapes ![]()
Fossils
source=”http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2062/13182891364_ce8d8264d8_o.jpg”] Surviving dinosaurs [/image_slider]
There is a gallery near the end which features a reconstruction of what dinosaurs may look like in their natural habitat. This was my favourite part of the exhibition:
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Hunting ![]()
How dinosaurs may have lived ![]()
Swarm ![]()
Bird-like dinosaur
Key fossils on display include a 18m long Apatosaurus, a 17.6m long Lessemsaurus sauropod specimen, a 2-billion year old rock (Banded Iron Formation), a new fossil of Adeopapposaurs discovered in Argentina late last year:
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Real fossil ![]()
Real fossil ![]()
Prehistoric rocks ![]()
Rocks
I know the large dinosaur models are going to get most of the attention, but don’t missed out on the paintings and illustrations on the wall by Peter Trusler. The Australian artist known for his work on wildlife art, as well as for his scientifically rigorous reconstructions of prehistoric fauna. This is as close as it gets to visualising what dinosaurs and their natural habitats really look like:
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Reconstructed drawing of a dinosaur carcass ![]()
Research sketch based on the discovered bones ![]()
Research sketch ![]()
Research drawing ![]()
Prehistoric moment reconstructed in painting ![]()
What a scene in prehistoric time would have looked like ![]()
Research drawings
A series of engaging workshops and performances is also organized for visitors:
A workshop session in progress
- ‘Stop Motion Dinosaur Wipe-out!’ – Film and dinosaur enthusiasts can create their own stop motion animation based on one of the main theories of mass dinosaur extinction: asteroid impact, climate change or volcanic eruptions.
- ‘Dinosaur Tale”- Presented by local puppet theatre company, Paper Monkey Theatre, visitors will be taken on a journey of how animal life adapted over 600 million years, presented through magical puppetry.
- ‘Sketch-a-fossil’- A drawing workshop conducted by Isabelle Desjeux, a scientist turned artist, who brings fossils to life by having visitors draw them in detail and placing the art piece in a pre-historic landscape.
- ‘Sculpture Fun’ – Visitors can try their hands at carving their own sculpted fossil, be it a shell or bone, out of soap to bring home.
To further personalise the overall dinosaur experience, visitors can download a free mobile app, “ArtScience Museum: Dinosaurs Dawn to Extinction”, where interactive and educational features are specially rendered for different segments of the exhibition. Incorporated in the mobile application is also a game component – Rex Race, which allows visitors to race their virtual dinosaurs to the museum in the shortest possible time:
Rex Race
Dinosaur colouring
Panoramic view of prehistoric time at the Rain Oculus area
“Dawn2Extinction” is available for free download on iPhone 4 and 5, iPod touch, and Android phones.
Rachel and I brought Asher to the exhibition to learn about dinosaurs. He had a lot of fun. The exhibition has many interactive installations catered for children, keeping them entertained while learning about science at the same time:
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Asher having fun ![]()
Checking out one of the interactive exhibits ![]()
Learning from the signboard ![]()
Making a new friend ![]()
Dancing at the mirror exhibits ![]()
Checking out how a dinosaur walks ![]()
Making a free paper dinosaur to take home ![]()
Completed paper dinosaurs ![]()
Running away from a light projected dinosaur image ![]()
The free paper dinosaurs were sponsored by Canon
If you are interested to head down to the ArtScience Museum for this exhibition, do your booking online or get the family package for greater savings:
Just for the March school holidays, the museum will be hosting a sleepover on 16 and 21 March 2014 6.30pm to 10am the following day. This is Night at the Museum comes to life.
The admission for sleepover is S$120 per child (only for children aged 6 to 12 years). Free for accompanying adults. Maximum four children per adult. The number of adults must not exceed the number of children per booking. Visit the official website for booking enquiries.