Community Voices @ Peranakan Museum

On 28 and 29 August 2026, AN@S was invited to be part of Community Voices at the Peranakan Museum again this year to organise programmes featuring Arab Peranakan culture and heritage. This is the fourth year that we have been invited to collaborate in this annual event which is organised in conjunction with the Singapore Night Festival.

Outdoors at the Armenian Street promenade, we setup a Community Souq which was decorated with Yemeni-inspired decor featuring crafts, food and retail items from the community traders including Hadramawt Kitchen, Tarim Things and henna art by SyraSkins. We also collaborated with The Samrah Club to feature a full Samrah music band and dancers who performed LIVE at the outdoor stage. 

Inside the museum, we had an interesting booth on Level 2 featuring a Mandarinizer software in collaboration with Sino-Gulf Youth Network which could convert images into pixels made of Arabic letters or Mandarin characters. 

Our main indoor events happened inside the Ixora Room which we decorated with a decadent yet homely interiors. The programmes inside the Ixora Room were:

Scents of the Unseen: The Mysteries of Arab Peranakan Fragrances

An an immersive perfumery workshop led by Mr Ali Alhadi of Gifts of Adan. The participants learn about the stories, symbolism, and traditions behind prized fragrance ingredients such as musk, agarwood, benzoin resin, and ambergris, and embark on a sensory journey where heritage, culture, and scent come together.

3 Wishes 

Participants were amazed by local Arab Peranakan magician “Sheikh” Aman Alhamid as he spins tales as old as time, with an array of tricks you must see to believe.

Sufra Nights: A Culinary Experience

Participants explored the rich heritage of Singapore’s Arab Peranakan community through an intimate sufra experience where they learnt about the community’s history, sensory traditions, and personal stories, before gathering over a communal dinner celebrating hospitality and connection. The evening came alive with traditional Arabic music and an interactive dance session, offering a vibrant celebration of heritage, culture, and community.