CANBERRA.- To strengthen existing cultural and heritage collaboration between Singapore and Australia, Singapore’s National Heritage Board today signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Australian museums, National Museum of Australia and Museum Victoria.

These institutional-level agreements followed the signing of a MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Arts and Culture between the Republic of Singapore and Australia on 29 June 2015, which was inked alongside the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The five-year MoUs will be paving the way for more exhibition and loan exchanges between NHB and the Australian museums, as well as capability development opportunities for museum and heritage professionals through staff exchanges and partnership projects between the parties. A wide range of areas, including curation, family and children programming, conservation, collection management, research and publication, will be explored.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) was formed on 1 August 1993. As the custodian of Singapore’s heritage, NHB is responsible for telling the Singapore story, sharing the Singaporean experience and imparting our Singapore spirit. NHB’s mission is to preserve and celebrate the shared heritage of our diverse communities, for the purpose of education, nation-building and cultural understanding. It manages the national museums and heritage institutions, and sets policies relating to heritage sites, monuments and the national collection. Through the national collection, NHB curates heritage programmes and presents exhibitions to connect the past, present and future generations of Singaporeans. NHB is now a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

The National Museum of Australia is the place where Australia’s stories come alive. Located in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, the Museum explores the rich and diverse stories of our country and our people. The Museum’s international reputation is based on exciting and innovative galleries, exhibitions and events. The Museum’s collection includes the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal bark paintings, important historical vehicles and objects related to Australia’s convict, exploration and industrial past. The Museum’s building is an architectural landmark reflecting the diversity of the collection. The natural beauty of the Museum’s location on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin forms an extension to the symbolic landscape of the building.

Museum Victoria is Australia’s largest public museum organization. MV’s origins date back to 1854 with the founding of the National Museum of Victoria. As the State museum for Victoria, Australia’s second most populous State, we are responsible for looking after a collection of nearly 17 million objects, documents, photographs and specimens. Our research, in the fields of science and humanities, is world leading and we have set the benchmark among international museums for collections care and management, interpretive experiences and audience research.