For 3 years, 6 months, and 29 days, the colony of Singapore fell under the dark shadow of Japanese wartime imperialism. Singapore was renamed Syonan-to or "Light of the South" - for those who lived through it, this was a gruelling test of survival, a descent into bleakness and repression, and for some, a labyrinth of impossible moral choices.
Today, the memories of Syonan have faded. The voices have grown far fewer and quieter, their stories forgotten, and many of the original places overwritten by modern skyscrapers. But a few random objects remain as silent reminders and as a testament of this period.
Remembering Syonan reconstructs a fractured mosaic of human experience through 80 carefully curated artefacts - one for every year that has passed since the Occupation's end. Eschewing perhaps a detachment from traditional history education, this compilation speaks through the intimate ephemera of everyday life. These are the ordinary items spawned in extraordinary times.