The best virtual art exhibitions to explore from home

Did you know that you can explore the National Gallery Singapore without even getting off your couch? After all, the gallery oversees the world's leading public collection of modern art from Singapore and Southeast Asia, with over 8,000 works from the 19th and 20th centuries. View works by illustrious artists like Lim Cheng Hoe, Thomas Yeo and Ong Kim Seng with a virtual tour of the gallery itself. 

Its physical doors may be temporarily shuttered for now, but Singapore Art Museum brings its art online. Experience SAM's virtual galleries on Google Arts and Culture, discover contemporary Southeast Asian art from the museum's permanent collection, relive SAM's art events through their #MuseumFromHome playlist and more. 

The Chinatown Heritage Centre stands as a proud reminder of Chinatown's storied past. After its revamp in 2016, it is now a replica of a '50s and '60s tailor shop, sundry store and crowded living quarters spread across three storeys of a shophouse – with ambient soundscapes and audio conversations that evoke the buzz of those bygone years. 

However, you can still find the old exhibit thanks to Haroko Studio's 360-degree virtual tour of the heritage centre, pre-revamp. The virtual tour boasts images that were taken in high resolution, so you can examine the detail of each photograph or artefact by zooming in or out. What more, you can even view the exhibition in VR. Simply click on the goggle icon located at the bottom right of the screen, choose the appropriate VR mode for your headset, and there you go. 

While not exactly an art exhibition, this one's pretty interesting. Learn about the origins of your soya sauce with Haroko Studio's 360-degree virtual tour of Kwong Woh Hing Sauce Factory. The tour of the sauce factory will demonstrate the traditional, intricate and laborious fermentation process used to create their artisanal sauces. The virtual tour is complete with embedded photos, magazine articles, supportive texts, and accompanying music. 

Following the cancellation of the initial Art Central Hong Kong due to COVID-19, the team has teamed up with exclusive online partner Artsy to host an online edition of Art Central from March 18 to May 1. Featuring cutting-edge works by emerging artists, the online catalogue will offer a longer opportunity for collectors and participating galleries to interact. Highlights include Ina Jang’s Radiator Theatre the Heat presented by One Four, Peter Yuill’s As Above So Below from Gallery HZ, and Darryl Westly’s Interior-Exterior Flora from Cuturi Gallery. To access the Art Central x Artsy site, click the link here. 

If you're looking for something more, er, serious, the IRAS Gallery won't disappoint. Learn about the beginnings of tax in Singapore, get interesting facts you never knew, and find out how the administration of tax has transformed over the years at the Virtual Gallery. Well, since we've got all the time in the world now, why not?