SKULLPANDA Cage-Uncage Exhibition Opens at National Museum of Singapore

A New Immersive Cultural Exhibition in Singapore

On December 12, 2025, the immersive pop art exhibition “SKULLPANDA Cage-Uncage Showcase” was held at the National Museum of Singapore. This is the first time that SKULLPANDA has held an international museum-level exhibition overseas, and it will last until February 22, 2026.

This exhibition is jointly presented by POP MART, Singapore National Museum and Singapore Tourism Bureau, which helps Singapore to develop experiential cultural tourism and consolidate its position as a regional creative center.

The exhibition integrates contemporary art, design and spatial narrative to create a complete cultural experience.

SKULLPANDA Cage-Uncage Exhibition at National Museum of Singapore

Who Created SKULLPANDA

SKULLPANDA was created by artist Xiong Miao in 2018 and belongs to the category of designer toys. It first appeared in the Asian collection art world and gained recognition with its surreal and emotional visual image.

Under the operation of POP MART, SKULLPANDA has developed from a single doll collection to a mature intellectual property IP, extending to various forms such as handholding, exhibition and immersive installation.

The image is famous for its soft anthropomorphic form, abstraction, fantasy and futuristic aesthetics.

SKULLPANDA artworks and designer Xiong Miao

What the Exhibition Is About

According to National Cultural Heritage Administration, Cage-Uncage takes narrative experience as the core, and creates six theme scenes: Emotion, Fortune, Rules, Exploration, Life and Direction, which respectively correspond to the psychological state related to self-cognition and choice.

The exhibition abandons static exhibition and builds an immersive exhibition space through lighting, sound effects and large sculpture installations.

The audience walks through the symbolic scene, feels the transition from inner bondage to emotional release, and obtains an immersive narrative experience.

immersive interactive installation

Why Singapore Was Chosen

The exhibition in Singapore Station is the result of tripartite cooperation among commercial brands, national museums and government tourism agencies.

Tourism Singapore said that such cooperation is the core strategy of Singapore, and it is to build a global cultural hub by integrating tourism, contemporary art and business creativity in public cultural carriers.

This model also reflects Singapore’s idea of promoting international cultural exchanges and attracting audiences with museums and large-scale exhibitions as platforms.

Local Cultural Integration

Although SKULLPANDA is a global intellectual property IP, Singapore Station incorporates local cultural elements. The Manila Times reported that the design of the exhibition installation added the inspiration elements of Singapore’s traditional birdsong culture.

This localization not only enriches the cultural connotation, but also retains the global attribute of IP.

Singapore’s traditional birdsong culture

Exhibition Design: Spatial Storytelling and Multimedia Use

The exhibition takes multimedia narration as the core design technique.

There are three core spaces in the exhibition hall: Cage Corridor is a dark narrow road, which symbolizes self-restraint. Uncage Chamber is an open bright area, which represents emotional relief. Mirror Field is a mirror device to discuss the issue of identity fragmentation.

Projection mapping, atmosphere images and synchronous sound effects enhance immersion, and tourists generally say that viewing the exhibition is like “walking into a movie, not an ordinary exhibition hall”.

Uncage Chamber and Mirror Field

Limited Edition Merchandise and Retail Experience

There is an exclusive retail area in the exhibition hall, which extends the exhibition experience and sells limited hand-made, blind boxes, themed costumes and joint names.

All products are only available for sale in Singapore, and the collection value is higher.

This also reflects the design mode of integration of exhibition and retail in contemporary cultural experience.

exhibition-exclusive merchandise

Visitor Experience and Social Media Impact

After the exhibition was launched, it was highly sought after by young people, and tourists generally thought that it had strong visual impact and was suitable for sharing on social platforms. Time Out Singapore exhibition report mentioned that the punch-in video and installation photography of the exhibition are extremely hot on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. The ticket price of the exhibition is S $14 to S $36, and time-sharing admission is adopted to control the flow of people.

Industry Trend: Rise of Immersive Museums

This exhibition reflects the immersive transformation of museums around the world, and the audience has changed from passive viewing to active participation in narrative scenes. Mutual Art also pointed out this trend in the practical analysis of contemporary exhibitions. NACRE said that this kind of exhibition realizes the integration of consumer culture and contemporary art, and emotional interaction has become the core of cultural values.

This trend is more prominent in Asia, and the audience increasingly favors interactive and visual cultural experiences.

A Hybrid Cultural Model

“SKULLPANDA Cage-Uncage Showcase” will be exhibited at the National Museum of Singapore until February 22nd, 2026.

This exhibition not only shows the global layout of SKULLPANDA IP, but also reflects the changes in the museum industry, integrating art, commerce, digital media and narrative to create a compound cultural experience.