The Peranakan Museum’s new exhibition Peacock Power: Beauty and Symbolism Across Cultures celebrates Singapore’s 60th year of independence, showcasing the enduring allure of the peacock across Asian art and belief.
Singapore, 21 October 2025 – With its dazzling feathers, striking patterns, and majestic tail, the peacock struts into the spotlight in the Peranakan Museum’s latest exhibition, Peacock Power: Beauty and Symbolism Across Cultures. Opening on 31 October 2025 (Friday) and in celebration of Singapore’s 60th anniversary of independence, the exhibition invites visitors to explore how the peacock has been depicted across cultures and its enduring role as a symbol of beauty, power, and divinity in Asia.
Featuring over 100 exceptional works from the National Collection and important lenders, Peacock Power spans diverse mediums, from ceramics to textiles. The exhibition traces how the image of the peacock travelled across Asia, inspiring sacred imagery, luxury ornament, and everyday adornment. Peranakan art, shaped by the convergence of multiple influences, is the ideal starting point for this journey. The exhibition invites us to consider how motifs move between contexts, revealing the networks that connect peoples and how artistic traditions evolved through exchange.
Mr Clement Onn, Director of ACM and Peranakan Museum, says, “We are thrilled to present Peacock Power: Beauty and Symbolism Across Cultures, which assembles a remarkable collection of artworks to celebrate one of nature’s most captivating symbols and its profound cross-cultural significance. The peacock provides a lens through which varied interactions and shared perspectives can be analysed, embodying the multicultural character that lies at the heart of Singapore’s national identity. Visitors are invited to celebrate this uniquely diverse heritage and discover the wider networks of connection that transcend ethnic, religious and national boundaries, revealing the commonalities that unite communities across cultures. We are deeply grateful to our generous lenders and partners for their invaluable support in making this exhibition possible, ensuring that our shared stories remain vibrant and accessible.”
Peacocks in Peranakan art
Malacca, early or mid-20th century
Penang, around 1915
Gift of Mr Edmond Chin
In Peranakan culture, the peacock symbolises good fortune, luxurious beauty, and prestige. This is most evident in Peranakan wedding ceremonies, where peacocks prominently featured alongside other auspicious symbols like the phoenix. Together, these birds suggest the pairing of male and female energies, reflecting the yang and yin principles of Daoist belief that inform Peranakan wedding symbolism. The association of the peacock with courtly rank also aligns with the practice of treating the bride and groom as “king and queen for the day”.
Feathers of faith, power, and opulence
Prized since ancient times for their iridescence and alluring “eye” patterns, peacock feathers were used in ritual objects, textiles, and ornament. Focusing on the bird’s most mesmerising features, the exhibition examines them in an array of contexts, uncovering their dual symbolism: In sacred rituals they serve as emblems of purity, prosperity, and good luck, while for the ruling elite they are markers of sovereignty, status, and splendour.
Acquired in Singapore, around 1922
Gift of Mr Wee Teck Ee in memory of his parents
goddess Magu with a halo of peacock-like feathers
China, early or mid-20th century
Image courtesy of Thachna Murari Balakrishnan
The peacock has endured as a universal symbol that transcends faiths and borders, a creature of the divine realm and an emblem of beauty and power on earth. Its image graces the throne of the Ambitabha Buddha, evokes paradise in Christian and Islamic art, and continues to inspire artistic and spiritual expression across Asia.
Among its most recognisable manifestations is the Hindu deity Kartikeya (also known as Murugan), widely revered in southern India, Malaysia, and Singapore, who rides a peacock as his mount. During the festival of Thaipusam, devotees honour him by carrying kavadi decorated with peacock feathers, one of which features prominently in the exhibition. Accompanying the display are videos with members of the Chetti Melaka community in Singapore and Malacca, who offer multi-generational perspectives on the peacock’s significance in their ritual processions.
Indonesia, Pekalongan, 1940s or 1950s
Peacocks have long symbolised beauty and opulence across Asia, their graceful forms inspiring artists and craftsmen through centuries of trade and exchange. The motif appears across artistic media, from luxury objects to everyday adornment. In textiles, peacocks enliven garments across the region and are a favourite motif in Javanese batiks, especially those from Pekalongan—a cosmopolitan port shaped by generations of cultural interaction.
The exhibition closes with a newly commissioned work, Thousand Eyes by Ernest Goh. Through a contemporary lens, Goh reflects on the peacock’s enduring symbolism across cultures, linking the “thousand eyes” of its tail to fallen leaves as sacred vessels, inviting reflection on both cultural heritage and present-day ecological concerns.
An immersive holographic experience
Peacock Paradise is an experiential zone that brings the world of the peacock vividly to life through holographic technology. Located in the Exploration Zone on Level 2, it invites visitors to encounter different species of peacocks and observe their distinctive behaviours up close – from their graceful strut to spectacular courtship displays. Interactive stations throughout the exhibition further encourage exploration, allowing visitors to engage with the peacock motif through hands-on activities.
Those interested in diving deeper into the exhibition’s themes can join a range of public programmes, including bi-monthly curator tours and a special Weekend Festival celebrating the splendour and symbolism of the peacock.
Peacock Power: Beauty and Symbolism Across Cultures runs from 31 October 2025 to 30 August 2026 at the Special Exhibitions Gallery of the Peranakan Museum, admission charges apply. For more information, please visit https://www.nhb.gov.sg/peranakanmuseum/whatson/exhibitions/peacock-power.
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