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Interactive exhibition at *SCAPE lets you make playlists with strangers

Tucked on the third-floor of the youth centre *SCAPE is an exhibition that supposedly houses hidden feelings.

Image courtesy of Half

The aptly-named Museum of Hidden Objects and Feelings (MOHO) is cosy, with eight booths placed in just one room, but the issue it hopes to address is anything but small.

MOHO is the brainchild of Cynthia Chu and Rebekah Lin, co-founders of Half, a start-up that organises workshops for mental wellness.

This time, they decided to explore an ever-growing issue in Singapore — loneliness, which many have described as an “epidemic”, seemingly hitting youths from 18 to 35 the hardest.

Connect honestly with yourself at MOHO

Speaking to MS News, Jeffery Tan, CEO of the charity MINDSET Singapore, a supporting partner for MOHO, said that people can be lonely even when surrounded by peers or with thousands of social media followers.

He explained that many modern friendships feel transactional, formed because the other party could help you in some way rather than emotional connection.

Some may also fear what their “friends” might think of them if they opened up about their mental well-being.

As such, he said people needed to have honest conversations with themselves.

Image by MS News

MOHO clings to that idea of introspection.

Its heavily interactive booths are just as much about connecting honestly with yourself as it is about connecting with others.

Walking into the exhibition, one of the very first booths that may catch your eye features a mirror which reads, “What does loneliness look like to you?”.

Beside it is a canvas where visitors can answer with drawings, creating messages of humour, despondency, and hopefulness.

Image by MS News

“What better way to introduce loneliness [than] through something fun, with a bit of levity?” said Cynthia to MS News.

To further add to the experience, each visitor gets a colourful booklet referred to as a ‘MOHO Passport’.

Completing the interactive activities at the exhibition’s booths allows for the collection of multiple stamps that net a free beverage.

Image by MS News

Exhibition displays deeply personal items of everyday people

Rebekah’s personal favourite booth is the MOHO Display — 12 display cases each storing a deeply personal object and story from different people.

There is an old sketchbook from artist Sam Lo, who used it as an escape amidst days of crushing loneliness.

Image by MS News

In another display case, a now-deceased dog gazes back from a framed photo, placed alongside socks that used to help him with spondylosis, a degenerative spinal condition.

(My mind immediately wandered back to my own dog, energy worn down from age, deaf and half-blind.)

Image by MS News

There is also a journal filled with letters to mum, a Malay man’s sarong, and an old corded phone, among others — each object holding an unimaginable amount of value to the contributors.

Co-founder contributes late brother’s last message for others to hear

Rebekah told MS News that the contributors were friends and family, though some strangers were involved as well.

As it turns out, even she had contributed an object — a portable audio player connected to a pair of headphones.

The disembodied voice was somewhat tinny from the recording’s quality.

It was an ordinary message, a man rescheduling a hangout with Rebekah and explaining his reasons.

Image by MS News

“This is the last voice message I have from my late brother,” she wrote in the exhibit description.

Rebekah said that one of the most difficult parts of creating MOHO was putting a part of herself inside it for others to see.

However, the experience ended up being healing for her.

“Grief can be lonely because it is different for everyone. But I know a part of him lives on forever in me, and in all who loved him,” wrote Rebekah.

At the end of the series of display cases is a model record player, where visitors can add a song that understands their loneliness to a communal playlist, available on Spotify for all to enjoy together.

Image by MS News

“Arts and culture [are] very important to combat loneliness,” Cynthia said.

“There’s something about music that just permeates us.”

Through the universal language of music, Half hopes to foster a deeper connection and realisation that none of us are alone in the way that we feel.

Write letters to your future self at interactive MOHO exhibition

For Cynthia, the ForWords station was her “baby”, something she had been conceptualising for years.

Located outside the museum’s exit, ForWords is a series of 12 letterboxes, one for each month of 2026.

Visitors write their thoughts in a letter for their future self, to be delivered in the month corresponding to the letterbox they choose.

Image courtesy of Half

About six years ago, Cynthia was attending a course with the same activity and penned a letter to herself.

A year and a half later, she had reached a juncture in her life where she was burnt out from her career.

However, she saw quitting as “giving up” and hesitated in the uncertainty of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

It was then that Cynthia received the letter.

Although confused as she forgotten all about it, she read the letter and was left in tears because of what was written at the end:

I hope you’re happier and you’ve done what you’ve already set out to do. And if you haven’t, you need to sit with yourself and find out why.

Image by MS News

Cynthia had reached out to all her friends to ask if they had sent it.

After an hour of analysing the letter, she recognised her own handwriting and remembered the letter.

A few months later, Cynthia quit her job and would co-found Half.

From that critical moment in her life, the ForWords station was born.

Admission free for visitors 18 and below

Towards the end of the exhibition is a room lit in purple and shrouded with thick PVC strip curtains — the Confession Booth.

Jeffery pointed to this as his favourite section of MOHO, where he quietly reflected on the people and values that centred him in this noisy world.

The Confession Booth bars all phototaking of the inside, and allows each visitor to experience it for themselves.

Image courtesy of Half

Those interested in introspection, in leaving their own drawing on the canvas or adding their beloved song to the playlist, can visit MOHO from 3 Oct to 1 Nov.

The museum is open from 11am to 8pm on Tuesday to Sunday, at #03-15 of *SCAPE, located at 2 Orchard Link.

Standard tickets are S$12 to S$15, with those aged 18 and below getting free admission.

Also read: MS Polls: Difficulty in finding a partner voted the top reason why S’poreans stay single

MS Polls: Difficulty in finding a partner voted the top reason why S’poreans stay single

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Featured image by MS News.