What to look at this week: a Louvre blockbuster and four reasons to leave the house

Some weeks the calendar is all dinner reservations. This one is for looking — the kind of week where you leave the house with your eyes open and come home with something to describe to the group chat. The big one is at the Asian Civilisations Museum, but there is quieter, weirder stuff on too if you know where to stand.

Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre is the one people will be booking leave for. Fri 19 Jun 2026, 10am at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Three empires, one show — Mughal court gold, Safavid silk, Ottoman calligraphy, all shipped in from the Louvre and sitting in the same galleries. Go if you have ever stared at a miniature painting and wondered how it was done without a magnifying glass. Give it two hours minimum, and read the labels; they are the difference between pretty objects and a story.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2026 is the one to bring the family to, and it costs nothing at all. Sat 12 Sep 2026, 6pm at Golden Garden, Supertree Grove, Gardens by the Bay. Lantern displays once the sky goes dark, plus workshops if someone in your group wants to make something rather than just pose beside it. Free, but come early in the evening — the lights are better before the crowds thicken.

Get Crafty! – Fenbao Sand Art is the Tuesday half-hour that will buy you the rest of the afternoon. Thu 17 Sep 2026, 1.30pm at Australian Garden, Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay. Free. You colour your own Fenbao, then go find her again in the lantern display — a neat little loop for kids who like a task. Between this and Mid-Autumn, you could genuinely make a day of the Gardens without spending much.

Bloomyard is the photo stop of the week, and it knows it. Thu 10 Sep 2026, 10am at IMBA Theatre (West Lawn, beside Bayfront Plaza), Gardens by the Bay. A surreal botanical garden with a floral arch, swings, flower-shaped ping-pong tables and a garden mini-golf course. Come for the arch, stay for the mini-golf — it fills an afternoon without anyone checking their phone.

Arts & Crafts @ RVI is the free one to drop into if you are free from 1pm on a weekday. Wed 16 Sep 2026, 1pm at River Valley. Free. It is aimed at youths and young adults, no booking drama implied, and the sort of thing that suits a friend group that wants to do something with their hands rather than sit in another cafe.

Pen Ink Drawing Course (Beg) by Tia is the one you book if you have been meaning to actually learn something. Wed 16 Sep 2026, 2pm at Brahm Centre @ Labrador, S$10–290. Artist Tia takes you through pen and ink from the basics, so show up with zero experience and leave with a page you are not embarrassed by. The price range depends on the tier you pick, so check which one you want before you commit.

A word on the two longer plays: Into the Glowcean takes over Sentosa Island from Sat 5 Sep 2026 for two months of light, colour and ocean-inspired play — worth pinning now if you have kids or a camera. And Mare begins Mon 20 Jul 2026, 7pm at 19A Yarwood Ave, tickets S$177.13, a seven-month run you can slot in on a slower evening.

Pick one and go. My order would be: the Louvre show while it is still new, the Gardens lanterns after dark, and Fenbao sand art for whoever needs to be kept busy on a Thursday.