Asian Civilisations Museum

The Asian Civilisations Museum is a national museum located in the Empress Place Building along the Singapore River in Downtown Core's City Hall area. Housed in a restored 19th-century colonial building, it is Singapore's national museum of pan-Asian heritage. The museum presents extensive collections of Chinese, South Asian, Southeast Asian and West Asian decorative arts, textiles, ceramics and religious artefacts illustrating the diverse ancestral cultures of Singapore's population.

Visitors can expect to explore galleries spread across three levels of the historic Empress Place Building overlooking the Singapore River. The museum displays ceramics, textiles, jewellery, sculptures and religious artefacts from China, South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia. Areas include the Tang Shipwreck gallery, Fashion and Textiles gallery, and galleries on religion and trade. The setting combines colonial architecture with modern gallery design, with riverfront views, a museum shop and cafe.

Housed in the Empress Place Building, constructed between 1864 and 1867 as government offices for the colonial administration. The building served as immigration and government offices before being restored as a museum. The Asian Civilisations Museum was established in 1997 and opened at Empress Place in 2003 as Singapore's national museum dedicated to the pan-Asian heritage of its people.

As Singapore's national museum of Asian antiquities and decorative arts, it showcases the ancestral cultures of Singapore's diverse population including Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan heritage, as well as broader Asian trade and religious traditions including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.