Photo courtesy of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) Singapore will be the featured nation at this year's Asian art festival, which will open on Oct. 6 at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum (NPM), according to an NPM press release on Wednesday.

The 2018 NPM Asian Art Festival: Month of Singapore will include exhibitions, performances, lectures, film screenings and food samplings, said the museum's southern branch, which is located in Chiayi.

One of the featured displays during the festival will be Baba Nyonya, also known as Peranakan, which highlights the culture of ethnic Chinese residents of port cities in Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the it said.

Peranakan culture is a unique blend of Chinese tradition, local Malay culture and European colonial influences, according to the museum.

Other attractions at the festival will include food markets featuring Peranakan dishes with Chinese, Malay, Indian and Thai influences, the NPM said.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to try on traditional Peranakan clothing during the festival, which will be held Oct. 6 to Nov. 4, the museum said.

During the festival, the Southern Branch of NPM said it will extend its closing time from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will allow free admission between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The 2018 Singapore-themed art festival follows last year's first NPM Asian Art Festival, which was dedicated to Indian culture.

(By Huang Kuo-fang and William Yen)
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