From one island to another, Doraemon warps to Singapore

Does one ever get too old for Doraemon? The answer is no. At the Doraemon Exhibition Singapore 2022 at National Museum of Singapore (held until February 5, 2023) your inner child may jump with joy but it is more likely your adult self that will cherish a deeper appreciation of the out-of-ordinary interpretations of the robotic cat from the 21st century.

Doraemon and his pals are icons that are done to death — they’ve been around since 1970, after all — but there are both old treasures and brand new incarnations to check out. The first Doraemon Exhibition took place in 2002, before it was restaged in 2017 across different cities in Japan.

In this first-ever global showcase outside of the Land of the Rising Sun, 28 Japanese contemporary artists give us their own take on the beloved cat on all sorts of mediums, while another section is solely dedicated to a selection of original drawings and sketches by Fujiko F Fujio. In addition, two Singaporean artists (Leslie Kee and Jahan Loh) also create brand new works that seriously inject a new light on the characters. If you want to know how a Thom Browne fashion set or Taoist hermits have been thrown into the mix with this cuddly manga, don’t hesitate to grab your tickets.

The grand and airy museum is washed with natural light, but the galleries showcasing the exhibition are dimly lit to highlight the artworks. In the first act, 18 Japanese artists and art groups create their own original Doraemon. It feels like walking through a collection of fan art, as you discover Doraemon in offbeat situations: What would he be like as a boyfriend? Or as part of a Rembrandt painting? Or as a wacky projection, embodying The Gates of Hell?
 
However, these “fan art” paintings, sculptures, photography and graphics are created by the most renowned names. They demonstrate a mastery of their craft, all of which magnificently brings the well-executed fantasy of Doraemon into our realities. Masaharu Sato’s 9-minute film does exactly that and gives the most eerie chills. It is like looking at your own childhood imagination come to life — because on screen there is a cityscape, school and house in Japan looking exactly like the one in the cartoons.

The second act gets even more specific as artists were commissioned to interpret a particular Doraemon animation movie. Even for those who have not watched the 10 movies, the stunning artworks themselves outshine the stories they have been inspired by. You’ll stop dead in your tracks looking at how lasers amazingly project familiar shapes onto nylon wiring by Akinori Goto. How these other-worldly feelings and shapes that are so iconic to the animation come to life is breathtaking. Take the time to enjoy the full show of Ryota Kuwakubo’s installation, inspired by Nobita, in the Secret Gadgets Museum. It manages to instill magic into everyday life mundanities, where a light and shadow installation recreates the playground Nobita and his friends hang out at with the mere use of toilet paper rolls.

Fans who want to see the humble beginnings of comic will be thrilled to see the original drawings and sketches on loan from the the Fujiko F Fujio Museum in Japan at the Manga Doraemon section of the exhibition. In a world before Photoshop, the comic samples on display showcase how papers of text were cut and pasted by hand into the speech bubbles that were drawn by the artist. The other highlight is a replica of Fujio’s work table that visitors can take a photo with.

It becomes apparent here that Fujio was very much like the character Nobita. But more importantly, that our greatest passions inform our work. Fujio was deeply interested in dinosaurs, outer space and the cowboy lifestyle — as seen from the stack of books on such subjects on his working desk. It’s no wonder that they became a rich wellspring of ideas for the whimsical adventures that Doraemon and his friends go on.

After all your joyful feats around the museum, fuel up at the Doraemon-themed café with some dorayaki or Memory Bread (sadly, it doesn’t help you remember anything). There’s also a photobooth and huge amount of merchandise available to sate your retail callings. Although many of the futuristic gadgets from the comic have become a reality in our time, there’s still more than enough from this exhibition that will add a wondrous spark to your imagination, no matter your age.

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