GSM in Singapore
14, 790 kilometers away, Singapore is home to GSM's second office. 13 years and going strong, our local team is working to create impactful visitor experiences across the city’s culturally rich museum scene.
Working in Singapore
In the world’s only island city-state, we’ve been designing museum experiences for over a decade. Singapore, a UNESCO Creative City of Design, is multicultural, dynamic and flourishing with a vibrant arts and cultural scene. As Melissa Chan - Senior Graphic Designer at GSM and Singapore-local - would say, Singapore is like Rojak, a local dish and eclectic mix of fruits, vegetables and dough fritters, bringing strong flavours into one harmonious blend. 50 years young, Singapore is the meeting of Malay, Indian, and Chinese heritage with a growing expat community - in other words, a dynamic audience ready for new possibilities in museum-going experiences.
The Year is 1995
Although the Singapore office officially opened in 2003, our story with Singapore dates back to 1995. It was while skimming through a newspaper that President of GSM Yves Mayrand caught wind of the Singaporean government’s plan to invest in culture.
Asian Civilizations Museum.
With a gut feeling that Singapore was the place to be, it was later in 1999 that our thoughts became reality when we were mandated to design and produce an exhibition at the Asian Civilizations Museum. Then came two subsequent projects, the Singapore Living Galleries and the History Gallery at the National Museum of Singapore, that were the real catalysts for setting up shop in town in 2003.
Asian Civilizations Museum, 2003.
Singapore Living Galleries, 2006.
National Museum of Singapore, 2006.
13 Years & 50 Projects Later
Today, we have a team of 8 people working out of our Singapore office. The majority are from the region with 2 members originally from Spain and Italy. And, when it comes to museum content, we often work with specialists locally, remaining true to Singaporean storytelling techniques that reflect the culture in an authentic way.
Our Singapore team today.
National Museum of Singapore, 2006.
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, 2015.
When Montreal & Singapore Get Together
This past June, two team members working out of our Singapore office traveled to Montreal to connect with our growing local team. Melissa Chan, Senior Graphic Designer, has been with us for six years now and Managing Director Fiona Ng, since day one.
Melissa Chan, Senior Graphic Designer at our Singapore office.
Fiona Ng, Managing Director at our Singapore office.
For GSM, these get-togethers are key to building a deeper synergy between the two teams. Moving across cultures in the work that we do, one of the greatest challenges is communication. And that’s what makes our Singapore team so very valuable for the local perspective that they bring to their work. Moving forward, we’ve got our eye on new collaborations so that our Singapore team can also bring fresh perspectives to our projects here in North America. These kinds of cultural exchanges are what make for more insightful exhibitions afterall.
