Singapore Art Book Fair Turns 10: Founder Renee Ting Looks Back On Its Evolution And The Medium’s Future

"You don't have to be an artist to make (art) books," says Renee Ting, founder of the Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF). This year will SGABF's 10th edition, marking a significant milestone for the event in cementing itself as Southeast Asia's largest art book fair.

2024's fair, which takes place October 25 - 27 at the Singapore Art Museum, looks a little different. For one, there's a new initiative called the Artist Support Table, which offers discounted booths to eligible artists and students to promote accessibility in the artbook medium.

Moreover, in commemoration of the fair's 10th anniversary and edition, over 104 local and international exhibitors will be in attendance. Prominent global exhibitors include Printed Matter (USA), Tokyo Art Book Fair (Japan), and abC art book (China) for the first time.

This year's edition is a more 360 event too - beyond the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) building where the main fair will be staged, SGABF 2024 will also occupy Tanjong Pagar Distripark's Blk 37 Carpark Spine, featuring food vendors, pop-ups, and a unique zine truck by local design and art store Shrub.

For those who love art books, you'll want to pay attention to a key event: Organising an Art Book Fair: A Roundtable Discussion. In collaboration with SAM, this live panel discussion will feature the founders of major global art book fairs, such as Printed Matter from the USA, Tokyo Art Book Fair, abC from China, New York and Los Angeles Artbook fairs, and Singapore Art Book Fair.

Below, Ting and SGABF marketing executive Kimberly Wee share more on the art book community, what the medium means to them, and exhibitors and talks to look out for at this year's fair.

In your last interview with FEMALE, you said that the beauty of the art book is that there are no hard rules, and it's as much an experience as reading a poem or a novel. Would you say that there's a difference between what you look for in art books as a viewer and as a publisher? 

Renee Ting (RT): "I worked in a bookstore, but I don't think I consider myself a publisher. The difference for me would be literary arts versus visual arts, but still within the medium of books. The way we approach and understand literary books is very different from how we consume art books. The only similarity is that they are both called books.

You would think that the art book only comprises images, but that's not true because art books can also include text. Or that they both use paper, but that's not true either because the art book is sometimes non-paper. So I would best describe it as an artwork or an artist's expression in the form of a book, and I think whatever that form looks like is up to the maker and the artist."

Would you say that an art book is a hybrid between literature and art?

RT: "Not really. Literature is very straightforward. It's text on paper or a screen. The core purpose of literature is to get across points or a story, and that doesn't change even if you change its form- you still get the plot. But I think for art books, it's so much more fluid in terms of what it's about, how it's presented, and how we experience it. The art book doesn't really live in the literature realm, but the literature lives in the art book realm."

Are there any art books that you've seen that have led you to this perspective?

RT: "When I first encountered artist Catherine Hu's works in 2021, it was a time when I thought I had grasped the art book medium and could finally define it. When I saw her work (pictured here, titled Exercise Book) it was clear that I had to go back to the drawing board; it was how she thought of the book as an extension of her practice, rather than a means of documentation... With this work, she has recreated by hand the traditional and humble exercise book, with every line literally drawn by her. When you use it, you’re doing so on top of her work. That’s an interaction you can’t get online or from other mediums... The book itself is the artwork, it's the sculpture."

You've emphasised that art books are things that are best experienced in person - I imagine that was quite challenging especially during Covid-19?

RT: "That was the year when we really thought about the medium of the art book. We had to cancel 2020's fair because we felt that the core and essence of the art book fair is the interaction between the books and the people. Taking that away is taking away the art book fair. So we didn't want to do a fair at all if it couldn't be physical. Leading up to 2021's fair, the team and I talked a lot about what makes an art book fair, and we realised that it's the interaction. It's the act of picking up a book, looking up, and having the person in front of you being the person who made it. It's the physicality of the book, its tactility, it's that you cannot experience it in any other form."

We also talked about the wide-ranging genres that art books encompass. There were so many different genres under this 'art book' umbrella, so we released a ten-episode documentary. It's a lecture series spearheaded by Currency, the design agency we work with for the fair. They spoke to people who worked with different genres of art books and wanted to seriously make and understand this medium.

We also had another series of ten ASMR videos on Instagram and the website. Since we couldn't hold the book, what other senses could be activated when experiencing an art book? That's why we wanted to do this ASMR series, which was actually really cute."

A new initiative introduced this year is the Artist Support Table. What is this initiative about, and how did you select the artists for this?

Kimberly Wee (KW): "It boils down to this initiative's purpose which is to spotlight independent artists and student groups that are working primarily with the art book medium. The Artist Support Table initiative also offers eligible artists and students a discounted booth fee, aiming to create a more accessible environment for artbook creators. Based on this ethos, we gathered a selection panel comprising people who were either practising bookmakers or who have been working in the print or publishing industry. They were given a list of self-identified independent artists and students, they looked through their works and then made their selections."

Was the goal of providing spaces to younger/emerging creators something the fair sought to do from the get-go?

RT: "We have bookmakers and visitors at SGABF, but to grow this ever-changing community, which I like to call 'blob', it needs a balance of both people making books and an audience consuming or buying books. So for me, I mostly sought an audience that had the spending power since it would directly affect the exhibitors' sales.

But at some point, we also need (other demographics), such as students, because they are the ones who will grow up and be part of this 'blob'. So we started with the medium of a zine - we began to encourage people to make zines. When I went to schools and gave talks, I would tell students to start with the zine because that is the most accessible form of an art book.

Zines don't need to be fancy. It can just be you, a pencil, and some paper. You don't even need a stapler sometimes, you just need to draw or write about something that you're truly passionate about. For example, Kimberly, our marketing executive, is making a zine about her frogs. I think this is the essence of the zine; people talking about whatever they want and feel passionate about.

In more recent years however, I think price points for zines have crept up. So we introduced things like the Artist Support Table initiative, and even the zine-focused fair we did last year called CUT COPY PASTE , where the condition for exhibitors publications could not be priced more than $25. That encouraged people to rethink how to make their zines."

Is that why you call the art book community a 'blob' - because anyone can make an art book about anything?

RT: "In some ways, but also because it is ever-changing and ever-growing. It shrinks, it expands. I feel like calling it a 'community' (implies that a lot of work has been involved), and I don't think I want to imply that we have done enough of that work. There is always more work to do in terms of being better for the community and doing better for the people. So 'blob' just sounds more comfortable because it sounds less pressurising."

About doing more for the community, you actually mentioned in your previous interview with FEMALE that a hope you have for art books is that they would become part of the educational curriculum here. Do you still feel the same way?

RT: "Oh, for sure. I'm confused as to why it's still not a legitimate medium in art schools, and they're only introducing it as tiny little modules. But at least they're introducing it as tiny little modules. Still, we can only do so much. And I think that everybody that is part of the art book fair, the team, the volunteers, the exhibitors, the visitors, the venue, everybody who has a hand in this in a small or big way, is already doing what they can.

We can only do so much if we want art books to become a legitimate kind of medium that design and art students take into consideration for their practice. The schools need to do something. Museums need to do something. Galleries need to have a proper art book collection because they have the facilities to preserve art books and acquire rare art books. For it to really become part of the larger art ecosystem, institutions need to do something."

What do you see the future of the art book fair becoming in, let's say, 10 years? 

RT: "I don't even know what I'm doing next year!"

Then what motivates you to keep putting in the work?

RT: "It's seeing new people doing new things, and still being inspired by it. To see people be re-energised by this medium that I fell in love with, and then to fall in love with it all over again- it's quite special.

The organising team also keeps me going. If I was doing this alone, I wouldn't continue beyond three months. The team changes almost every year, and all of them have full-time jobs. The work for the fair is stressful because there are so many moving parts and last-minute changes. Seeing them work, their drive, their capabilities, their passion- if there's anybody I'm doing this for, I'm doing it for them."

Is there a talk or exhibitor that you guys are especially looking forward to seeing this year?

RT: "Of course, the big names that are coming down; Printed Matter from the USA, Tokyo Art Book Fair, abC from Beijing, New York and Los Angeles Artbook fairs- these are people who we have followed for a long time. They are the pioneers of art book fairs, so to have them coming to Singapore is quite surreal.

I'm personally quite excited about Bird Pit, a South Korean artist. We've been following his works (pictured) for a while. He does these cute and silly drawings. I feel like there are so many things to be excited about this year. It's quite hard to pick."

KW: "There's one talk called The Politics of Print in Singapore's Independent Media Scene. It focuses on it tracing the evolution of independent publications here from the '90s till today, featuring three local female front runners from various eras - Ginette Chittick, the musician and educator, and a key member of the '90s punk scene; Ruby Thiagarajan, editor, writer and founder of Mynah Magazine, which looks at Singapore's untold stories; and artist Charmaine Poh, who is the co-founder of Jom, the online magazine covering life in Singapore.

I think it's nice to hear from these women who have run (or are running) something that has contributed to and created critical and creative discourse."

Is there any advice you have for people who are interested in making art books but feel intimidated to start?

RT: "You don't have to be an artist to make books. That's the beauty of the zine. It allows anybody to do anything. There's a zine about travelling on the bus and seeing the moon and for some reason, when you look up, the moon follows you.

I would say that maybe half of the people who make books at the Art Book Fair have full-time jobs that have nothing to do with art. A lot of them don't even relate as artists. At the fair, there are zines made by a firefighter or a software engineer.

The art book is a far more accessible medium than any other art form because anybody can pick up a book. The beauty of it is that there is a zine about anything. It doesn't even have to be other's standards of nice and pretty. Coming to the fair is step one because I feel like you can go in, experience it, and get inspired by it."

Singapore Art Book Fair 2024 takes place October 25 - 27, 12pm - 8pm, at Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, #01-02, 39 Keppel Road. Online ticket sales have closed - on-site tickets ($8 each) are available for purchase at the door on all fair days.