“a quiet sensory journey through stillness and beauty.”

Tucked away on an old street in Kampung Kepayang in Ipoh, this private museum is envisioned by photographer Steve Tan.

MUSEUM TANAHSAHI is an entomological museum showcasing an extraordinary collection of butterfly from all over the world from the lifelong collection of Tan Ah Sah from Ipoh.

Here, butterflies from across the world rest behind glass: some vibrant like poetry, others patterned like art, a few seem to have fluttered out from the pages of a fairy tale.

“every step feels like a walk through the forest”

Tanahsahi’s exhibition space is built with natural materials — branches, fallen leaves, clay jars, and old bricks. Every corner exudes the breath of nature and the trace of time.”

“A father’s passion, carried on through a son’s museum.”

The name Tanahsahi comes from Steve Tan’s father, Tan Ah Sah. In 1975, he discovered a new butterfly subspecies in Perak’s Gopeng hills. It was later named by the Natural History Museum in London as:

Papilio memnon agenor f. tanahsahi eliot.