What counts as bullying? Can seemingly innocuous words and actions be hurtful to the people around us? What can we do when we witness bullying, and how can we all contribute to a bully-free culture? To answer these questions and raise awareness on this issue, the National Heritage Board (NHB) has collaborated with Singapore Children’s Society to present Scribble Town, an interactive exhibition for children aged between 9 and 12 that invites visitors to embark on a quest alongside characters Sam, Dan and Lydia, to save the fictional world of Scribble Town and bring colour back into their world.
On display at the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (SYSNMH) from now till 31 January 2021, the exhibition features comic artwork across three different stations – The Flying Mariner, Darkwoods Forest, and Bleak Mountain – and 80 comic frames. Visitors will follow the three characters on their journey as they attempt to fix the Colourwheel to save Scribble Town. Through the adventure, visitors will get to observe the interactions between Sam, Dan and Lydia – the ways in which they speak, act and respond to one another – in order to gain a better understanding of the different types of bullying, how and why bullying occurs, and the corresponding impact on the involved parties.
Leveraging the curatorial and exhibition design expertise of NHB and Singapore Children’s Society’s knowledge of issues concerning children, the exhibition prompts visitors to reflect on their own experiences of bullying, whether they have been victims of bullying themselves or have acted in ways that count as bullying through interactive elements at each station. Visitors will find a list of examples of kind versus hurtful words, and they can share what they have experienced within their peer groups. Through dialogue and discussions, Scribble Town hopes to raise awareness of bullying and encourage conversations on ways to deal with this issue.
As part of SYSNMH’s safe management measures to ensure the safety of its visitors and its staff, all visitors will have to check-in using the Safe Entry app and have their temperatures taken. In addition, SYSNMH will step up cleaning of the special exhibition, place hand sanitisers at key points, limit the number of visitors to the exhibition, as well as deploy security guards and gallery sitters to ensure that safe distancing measures are adhered to.
Following its run at SYSNMH, plans are being made for Scribble Town to travel to various locations such as public libraries and schools across Singapore to continue to reach out to new audiences. The exhibition at SYSNMH will be open from 10am to 5pm from Tuesdays to Sundays (and closed on Mondays). Admission is free for Singaporeans and
Permanent Residents.
