Step into Skullpanda’s world in Singapore

Fans across the globe have fallen in love with Skullpanda, the character series created by artist Xiong Miao in 2018 that has become one of Pop Mart’s most popular IPs.

For over a decade now, Pop Mart, a company based in Beijing, has been championing independent artists from different countries, discovering them, working with them, and bringing the characters they’ve created—Skullpanda, Labubu, Molly, Hirono, Dimoo, CryBaby, and more—to a wider audience through collectibles, turning art into a tangible experience.

Skullpanda has become part of people’s lives in the form of art toys that they excitedly unbox, plush pendants that they proudly hang from their bags, phone cases and other accessories they use daily, and bigger figures that they display at home. This time, they’ll get a chance to experience Skullpanda in a deeper way at the “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Showcase" running at the National Museum of Singapore until Feb. 22, 2026.

“This themed showcase is framed around a quest for the key, connecting the dual states of being caged and uncaged. It is a visual representation of Skullpanda’s conflicting inner thoughts… I would like to welcome everyone to open the door together with Skullpanda and explore its mystery,” said Skullpanda creator Xiong Miao, a young artist and game concept designer from China and the founder of North Studio art workshop and toy studio Lazy North.

The showcase had a successful run at Shanghai’s Gate M West Bund Dream Center from July to August and has now made its international debut in Singapore, thanks to a tripartite partnership between Pop Mart, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the National Museum of Singapore.

Pop Mart APAC head of Brand Partnerships and Activations Kevin Zhang said, “In this region, we do a lot of pop-ups or activations that are shopping mall-driven and commercially oriented. This time, we hope to present something more artistically driven and contemporary within this heritage building. Bringing this exhibition from China helps us present a fuller picture of Skullpanda, so that people don’t remember Pop Mart just through blind boxes, but through different levels. I think this kind of memory or experience will touch every fan's heart a little more deeply.”

Thought-provoking journey

Chung May Khuen, director of the National Museum of Singapore, said, “Xiong Miao’s artistic vision has brought to life not only a beloved character, but now, on an even larger scale, a thought-provoking journey that invites us to examine our sense of self through the deeper narrative behind Skullpanda. As Singapore's oldest museum, we have always believed in the power of storytelling to connect people across generations and cultures. And while the museum presents the shared narrative that has shaped our nation, “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Singapore” turns the lens inward—inward to yourself, inviting you as visitors to examine how the contradictions and conflicts that lie within personal choices shape our stories, our identities, and of course, our own destiny.”

Later, in an interview, May Khuen told the STAR: “We saw the show in Shanghai and we realized that it really resonates with what we do at the National Museum. I think it is about the search for identity at different levels. As a national institution, we tell the history of Singapore, but I think to tell the history of Singapore, we need to know who we are as well.”

This isn’t the first time the National Museum of Singapore and Pop Mart have worked together. Pop Mart was one of the museum’s collaborators for “Play:Date—Unlocking Cabinets of Play,” an exhibition that ran from July 2024 to January 2025.

The “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Showcase" is inspired in part by the artist’s Paradox collection for Pop Mart which ponders themes like life, fortune, exploration and emotion.

From Shanghai to Singapore

Bringing the immersive showcase from Shanghai to Singapore took a lot of work. It wasn’t just that there were very big installations that had to be shipped over.

May Khuen said, “The other challenge is the two sites—the space in Shanghai and what we have here—are totally different. So it's not like you can cut and paste everything and everything would fit.”

In Singapore, the showcase covers two areas—Stamford Gallery on Level 1 and the Gallery Theatre at the Basement. Outside the museum, on the front lawn, a big Skullpanda installation greets guests—multiple Skullpandas in their trademark helmets standing side by side.

Hao Jie, Pop Mart’s Skullpanda IP manager, explained that the tough stone material, covered by a delicate lace design, creates a contrast that is very symbolic of the Skullpanda IP.

She and Christopher Ang, Pop Mart’s country head for Singapore, took us on a tour of the showcase on Dec. 10, a couple of days before it opened.

Jie said, “Skullpanda has no gender and no definition, it’s totally free and can transform. There is great freedom in the artist’s creation.” 

Skullpanda had also taken over the museum’s main entrance, its fittings adorned with paintings that represent the different rooms of the exhibition.

Locks and keys 

Our journey started with The Key, where visitors get to peep through a keyhole to see a prism of keys, a blurring of reality and illusion, and a chance to ponder life’s infinite possibilities.

“The artist wants the audience to be part of the exhibition and not just a silent observer,” said Jie.

In the Emotion section, Xiong Miao uses Skullpanda, space, shadows, and objects to explore the eternal dialogue between locks and keys.

At Direction, a giant book was waiting for us to turn its pages, which carried layered images of captivity—thorns, shackles, and webs—along with words from the artist. “Direction is about different perceptions of freedom,” the book reads. 

There were poignant thoughts on the prologue page: “…We are always looking for an exit, but often unconsciously become complicit in constructing the very walls that confine us.”

In another corner stood a large photo installation with fluttering butterflies—symbols of transformation and liberation.

Fortune featured a giant Skullpanda trapped in a cabinet, surrounded by crystals, and watched over by a chandelier. The installation explores wealth’s dual nature—dazzling yet dangerous, illuminating yet blinding. A mirrored pool on the ground reflects both the Skullpanda and the viewers, doubling the interplay of desire and confinement.

In Rules, an enormous top spun endlessly, rigidly, on its axis—a metaphor for eternal order. Near it, a series of scales invited the touch of visitors—an illustration of how quickly balance can shift.

In Life, life and its fleeting beauty were captured in hourglasses shaped like globes and filled with shifting sand, reflecting the endless movement of time and how it slows for no one—not the fish in the sea, not the birds in the sky, and certainly not us humans.

In Exploration, guests willingly stepped into a giant cage to play with a puzzle—a rotating cuboid that forms images if you move the layers. Fragments form patterns, unlocking new perspectives.

All across the rooms are exquisite, haunting, captivating Skullpanda figures in different forms and sizes, the largest of which are in The Room. The Room, according to Jie, is Xiong Miao’s favorite part of the exhibition and the showcase’s most important section.

It’s a city within walls and in it, two gigantic Skullpanda sculptures sit back to back, surrounded by mirrors. Each Skullpanda holds a key in its palm—a metaphor for captivity and escape, reminding visitors that the key to freedom may lie within themselves.

The final section of the showcase is the Singapore-exclusive installation that pays homage to bird singing, a traditional Singaporean hobby. Here, visitors will see original prototype figurines from the Skullpanda The Paradox Series inside suspended bird cages. Accompanying the installation is a special video created by Xiong Miao.

May Khuen shared that the installation reminded her of her childhood. “It triggered my memory of growing up as a young kid and seeing my father having two pet birds.”

The museum director loves the showcase not just for what it presents but for the things it makes visitors do. “It’s a whole experience. It’s not just about thinking and reflecting, it is accompanied by actions. You need to peep through that keyhole. You can play with the scales.”

That has always been the artist’s intention for the showcase, said Jie. “You can really step inside and feel it and touch it and move or play. The audience is part of the exhibition—they complete the exhibition.”

May Khuen believes that the timing of the showcase is perfect. “This showcase arrives at a very apt moment for us, because the year is coming to a close. We turn inward and we reflect on all that has passed this year while the new year 2026 welcomes us to explore new possibilities.”

Showcase-exclusive merch

What visit to a museum is complete without a stop at the gift shop? And of course, with this being a Pop Mart showcase, visitors can expect some fantastic merch which they’ll find at the showcase-exclusive merchandise zone at the Gallery Theatre. There are shirts, bags, figures, key chains, phone chains, mugs, plates, fridge magnets, scented candles and the coveted Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Plush Doll. 

Pop Mart’s jewelry brand Popop also makes its first appearance in Singapore at the “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Showcase,” featuring pretty and elegant Skullpanda necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets.

To make sure everyone has a fair chance to take home their favorite items, purchase limits will apply on select products. An exclusive “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage” Singapore gift will be given to the first 4,500 visitors.

There’s also a Pop Mart pop-up shop at the museum’s Longer Concourse where you’ll find Skullpanda items and other Pop Mart goodies.

The merchandise offers are quite exciting, Kevin agrees. But, he said, “We hope the retail part won’t be your end goal. The last thing we want is the fans to just sprint across the two venues and then aim for the merch. We hope you really take your time and experience the whole exhibition.”

It is the hope of Pop Mart, the Singapore Tourism Board and the National Museum of Singapore, that the exhibit will bring in new visitors from Singapore and the rest of the world.

May Khuen said, “This partnership with Pop Mart and the Singapore Tourism Board reinforces our commitment to redefine the museum experience through contemporary programming and such experiences enable us to engage diverse audiences, including those who may not necessarily or initially be drawn to museums and cultivate them as museum goers.”

First-time visitors have a lot to explore at the museum, she said. “If you’re coming here for the showcase, look inward and reflect and enjoy the experience of discovering yourself. Beyond the showcase, I would like them to adopt the same attitude and curious mind in exploring the other galleries as well. We have a special exhibition, ‘Once Upon a Tide,’ which looks at Singapore history from the lens of the Singaporean river and we also have an immersive gallery called ‘Singapore Odyssea,’ which will take our audience back 700 years in time. Come and explore everything with an open mind.”

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Catch the “Skullpanda Cage-Uncage Showcase" at the National Museum of Singapore until Feb. 22. For more information and tickets, visit https:/ /go.gov.sg/skullpanda-sg.