NUS Baba House

A gift from Ms Agnes Tan to the National University of Singapore, the Baba House was officially opened in September 2008. Once the ancestral home of a Straits Chinese family, it is conceived as a heritage house which facilitates appreciation, reflection and research into the Straits Chinese history and culture.

This is articulated primarily through the reconstruction of a domestic space characterised by the architectural conservation of the shophouse, and restoration of interiors including furnishing, household materials and decorative features.

Today, the first and second floors reference the community's material culture during the first half of the 20th century. The third floor of the Baba House hosts temporary exhibitions, encouraging academic researchers and art practitioners to explore fresh perspectivesinto an evolving discourse on the Straits Chinese, and to develop insights into cultural encounters, hybridity and their contemporary implications.