The Arts House

Address	No 1 Old Parliament Lane
Hours	Mon-Fri: 10am-8pm; Sat: 11am-8pm; Sun: Closed (except for events, when the box office opens 1.5 hours before show time)
Phone	(+65)-6332-6900
Website	www.theartshouse.com.sg

The Arts House is a must for arts and culture buffs. Originally built in 1827 as a private residence for merchant John Maxwell, it later became Singapore's first Court House, the Old Court House, the Assembly House and then the Parliament House. After some touch-ups, The Arts House reopened in March 2004 as Singapore's newest arts and heritage venue (and remains the country's oldest surviving government building). What's most interesting is that each area of the building is named after different parts of a house and has different kinds of activities and themes. The front corridor, for instance, houses works by the finest photographers and painters in Singapore, while the inner corridor of the ground floor retains the jail-bars from the building's Court House days but has been transformed into a film gallery with historic movie posters lining the walls.