Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy
If the last time you thought about anatomy was while sweating over a biology textbook in secondary school, ArtScience Museum is about to change your mind. Their latest exhibition, Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy, isn’t just a collection of diagrams; it’s a deep dive into what it actually feels like to live in a human body.
Running from 21st March to 16th August 2026, this show marks the museum’s 15th anniversary. It’s a massive, multi-sensory experience that proves our insides are just as beautiful and complicated as the art we hang on our walls.
What is Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy?
Image adapted from: Aditi Kashyap
Usually, when we talk about anatomy, we think of cold, clinical doctors’ offices. This exhibition flips the script. It brings together over 160 items, ranging from 18th-century Italian engravings to mind-blowing virtual reality.
Image credit: ArtScience Museum
It’s an exhibition that perfectly captures what the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands does best: explore how art and science have teamed up over centuries to figure out how we work. Going beyond the textbook where Art meets Biology, the artefacts trace how the human body has been studied, imagined, and represented across time and different cultures.
What to expect at the Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy exhibition
Step into a world of red threads
Image credit: ArtScience Museum
Right at the entrance, you’re greeted by The Network Within by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. If you’ve seen her work before, you know she loves using thread. Here, she’s used massive amounts of red yarn to create a space that feels like you’re walking through a giant system of blood vessels. It’s a literal “spatial experience” that reminds us how we’re all connected by the same biological “wires.”
A journey through your own lungs
Image credit: ArtScience Museum
One of the coolest parts of the show is Evolver, an immersive audiovisual experience. Narrated by none other than Cate Blanchett herself, it takes you on a journey following a single breath of oxygen. You aren’t just looking at a screen; you’re travelling through the mouth and into the lungs. It makes the simple act of breathing feel like a high-budget sci-fi movie.
East meets West: TCM & modern science
Image adapted from: Aditi Kashyap
In a first for the museum, there’s a dedicated section on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). While Western science often looks at the body as a machine with separate parts like muscles, bones, organs, TCM looks at the flow – how energy, or qi, moves through us.
Image credit: Aditi Kashyap
You’ll see ancient medical texts and acupuncture charts from the Singapore College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s a fascinating look at how different cultures have looked at the same human body and come up with totally different, yet equally deep, ways of healing.
Personal stories of lived experiences
Take a look at Minjeong An’s Self Portrait, and you’ll see she’s basically turned her own body into a high-tech blueprint. Instead of a typical painting, she uses symbols you’d usually find on a construction site or a machine manual to map out every little detail of herself – we’re talking everything from old vaccination scars to random burns and even those tiny, temporary marks on your skin.
Image adapted from: Aditi Kashyap
She even goes a step further by drawing halo curves to try to measure her own aura, mixing the physical stuff we can see with the spiritual stuff we can’t. It’s a super cool way of looking at the human body; it’s like she’s treating herself as this incredibly complex, beautiful machine that you can try to document, but can never truly, 100% figure out.
Keeping it real with the Silent Mentors
For those who want the real deal, the exhibition includes 20 actual specimens of the human body. These aren’t just for shock value; they are part of the Silent Mentor programme.
Image credit: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
This section is incredibly moving, featuring reflections from medical students at NTU. It highlights the respect and empathy students have for those who donated their bodies to science. It’s a quiet, reflective space that reminds us of the humanity behind the medicine.
Is the Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy exhibition worth going to?
Always By My Side (2023) by Amanda Heng.
Image credit: Aditi Kashyap
Whether you’re an art lover, a science geek, or just looking for a cool spot for your next weekend hang, this new exhibition has something for everyone. It’s not just about looking at bones; it’s about understanding the scars that write us, the way we age – captured beautifully in Amanda Heng’s photography -, and how technology is changing what it means to be human.
Study for Caryatid (2023); just one of those things (2021) by Mari Katayama.
Image credit: ArtScience Museum
It’s an exhibition that asks: What does it mean to inhabit a body? And after walking through the 9 galleries, you might just have a brand new appreciation for yours.
Is Flesh and Bones suitable for children?
Yes! While there are actual human specimens, they are presented with great respect and in an educational context. The immersive art installations, like the VR experience and the red thread room, are very engaging for younger visitors.
How long does it take to walk through the exhibition?
Passage to the Song of Truth and Absolute Equality (2014) by Natee Utarit.
Image credit: Aditi Kashyap
Given there are over 160 artefacts and several immersive video works, we recommend setting aside 1.5 to 2 hours to fully enjoy the experience.
Do I need to book tickets in advance & how much do they cost?
It is highly recommended, especially on weekends and public holidays. You can book via the Marina Bay Sands website or at the ArtScience Museum box office in person.
Tickets cost $19.50/adult for Singapore Residents and $22/adult for tourists on weekdays.
Weekend prices go up to $22 and $27, respectively.
Can I take photos inside?
Photography is allowed in most areas, especially near the contemporary art installations. However, please be respectful in the sections containing human specimens and “Silent Mentor” tributes, where flash and professional filming is restricted.
Is the VR experience included in the ticket?
Image adapted from: Aditi Kashyap
The Evolver projections are part of the main gallery. Still, the full 25-minute VR experience at the ArtScience Museum VR Gallery requires a separate booking at an additional $16 for locals and $19 for tourists.
Find out more about Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy
Admission: $19.50/adult for Singapore Residents | $22/adult for tourists
Venue: ArtScience Museum, Level 3, Marina Bay Sands
Dates: Now till 16th August 2026
Time: Sun-Thu 10am-7pm | Fri-Sat 10am-9pm
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Cover image adapted from: Aditi Kashyap