Hidden World: Creepy Crawlies of Singapore, Fort Canning Centre

Bigger than life, and in some cases bigger than you would like.

Hidden World: Creepy Crawlies of Singapore is the free exhibition to take a child who has just discovered that insects are interesting, or an adult who still thinks they are not. NParks has filled Gallery@L3 at Fort Canning Centre with large-scale, highly detailed photographs of more than 120 species of insects and arachnids found in Singapore, shot in the wild and under the microscope, plus live insect stations. It is open daily from 10am to 6pm until 31 March 2027.

The local angle is the point. One section covers species found in Fort Canning Park itself, including Ernestinus singaporensis, a species new to science described from specimens collected at the Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning, and seen along Five Kings Walk near the Artisan's Garden. That makes a good excuse to walk the hill afterwards and look properly at the leaves.

The compromise is in NParks' own warning: the images are big and very detailed, and visitors with a phobia of insects or spiders may find them intense. Treat that as fair notice rather than a selling point if someone in your group is squeamish. Otherwise it is an easy hour: free, air-conditioned, wheelchair accessible and near enough to Fort Canning and Dhoby Ghaut MRT to combine with the National Museum or lunch on the hill. Go on a weekday morning for a quiet gallery, and give children a phone to photograph the live stations: it turns a look round into a hunt, and the macro shots on the walls show them what to look for.

Good to know Gallery@L3, Fort Canning Centre, Fort Canning Park, 5 Cox Terrace, Singapore 179620. 5 September 2026 to 31 March 2027, daily 10am–6pm. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Large macro images of insects and arachnids; NParks warns they may be intense for visitors with phobias. Nearest MRT: Fort Canning or Dhoby Ghaut.

Hidden World: Creepy Crawlies of Singapore, Fort Canning Centre | Gallery@L3, Fort Canning Centre, 5 Cox Terrace, Singapore 179620 | Nearest MRT: Fort Canning; Dhoby Ghaut