THE past and the present are often thought to be polar opposites. We typically think that we stand on the side of the present, looking back at the past as something that has concluded. Museums, as institutions that preserve objects of historical significance to specific fields, tend to embody this understanding.

However, what becomes gradually obvious even when observing a historical collection in chronological order is that history is an unbroken thread. Different periods in time lead and bleed into each other, with events influencing one another.

The NUS Museum attempts to break this dichotomous understanding of then and now with its latest exhibition, Always Moving: The Batik Art of Sarkasi Said.