What Did People Buy At Singapore Art Book Fair?

Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) went smaller this year, bringing 43 exhibitors to arts space T:>Works for a more intimate 14th edition that was curated in collaboration with Singapore creative practice Atelier HOKO. And while the fair may have shrunk, but its devoted crowd didn’t: visitors still turned up ready to browse, chat and, inevitably, leave with more books than they intended. Here, we asked visitors to show us their hauls — and what made each book, zine or publication worth taking home.

“(From left) 22 Major Arcana deck by Robineggpie, Precious Patch of Sky by Zac Tan and How Far Is the Sun? by Jie Ru Lim. I’m currently in an era of collecting picture books, so these all spoke a thousand convincing words, and I was sold. Plus they look so cute. I am also just realising there’s a bit of a sun theme running through everything I bought. I’m taking that as a sign: A warm fuzzy hug from SGABF and its little community.” — Zarer Lim, graphic designer

“(Clockwise from top left corner) Where’s My Bear? by Kaori Takahashi from Tara Books, India. My partner and I do not have any offspring but that has never stopped us from buying children’s books. There is just something so pure and sweet about stories written for them. And if there are interactive elements in the books like those with pop-up pages that we had growing up, we’re definitely in! This one cleverly unfolds into an apartment block(!!!) as the little girl goes from floor to floor knocking on all her neighbours’ doors, looking for her missing teddy, and making new friends and exciting discoveries along the way.

Rearrange the World by Lai Yu Tong from Thumb Books, Singapore. Lai Yu Tong is a Singaporean artist whose shows we’ve always had loads of fun at. He’s made a few of these books and they are like mini shows that we can view again and again at home.

Sing with joy my bird by Bird Pit from Pit Press, South Korea. We love artist Bird Pit’s sense of humour and his simple yet expressive style of drawing. His illustrated pups are some of our favourites — very happy to have these black-and-white pupsters join the colourful ones illustrated in I love it and I hate it, another book of his that we have on our shelf.

Dog Run by Rio Ebato from EBOOKS, Japan. More cute pups! YAY! And the feeeeel of full-on old-school cut-and-paste zines is hard to beat!

A Zine About Real Food by Driele Mart from Rizo Masr, Egypt. We rarely leave a zine fair without one about food. Or something that is riso-printed (preferably with loads of loud hot pink!). Just when we thought we won’t be able to check both boxes at this year’s smaller fair, we found a lucky last copy of this delightful zine at one of the last few tables.

Occlupanid: Plastic Bread Tag as an Organism stickers from CuspDot, China. Because nothing is more pleasing to the eye than a bunch of similar everyday objects organised in an orderly fashion. A sentiment that I’m pretty sure quite a few regular visitors to zine/artbook fairs can relate to when they place their new finds next to older printed treasures on their bookshelves.” — Ping Tay, housewife

“I got a copy of Precious Patch of Sky by Zac Tan from ppippi press! The book is by my friend and photographer, Zac Tan, and it’s his first photobook. I’ve always been a big fan of his eye and his words. He has a way of capturing little moments, like time slipping and sliding through your fingers, while somehow making you feel like you can actually hold onto light.” — Sonia Tan, illustrator, photographer, and one-half of creative food studio Salt Salon

“I picked up two illustration-based books. The first is The Train by nos:books (bottom left), which can be read in the traditional Chinese reading direction, from right to left, in its textual format, or from left to right, where the publisher/artist’s interpretation of the story is presented in comic form through expressive black-and-white strokes.

The second is Sketch (top right) by Thai artist Pi-near, a collection of observations, memories and moments from the artist’s travels. I tend to gravitate towards illustration-based artwork, since I look at images on a daily basis, so these felt like a refreshing change. Who knows, they might even rekindle an urge to doodle again? The other objects in this photo are gifts from other exhibitors.” — Clarence Aw, photographer

“(Clockwise, from left) A risograph print from Rico Masr, a film print from Zayfairuz, and a plate from The Goodwiller. I own a calendar by another local artist that uses organic shapes in its design, and this flower risograph print from Rico Masr (left) matched it perfectly in terms of its colour scheme and design elements. TBH, I’m just a sucker for a good print. It’s one of the few things I collect that doesn’t take up a ton of room but adds so much character and life to a blank wall.

My phone wallpaper (and the wall of prints in my room) is littered with prints and photographs of the ocean and beach because it’s the only place on earth where I feel completely at peace. I picked up this film print of a sunset by the beach from Zayfairuz (top right) because I’d never seen a print on metallic paper before. I loved how the paper catches the light and reflects gold, making the photograph look like it was taken during golden hour — I thought that was really unique.

I feel like every cool adult owns a niche collection of unique or funky ceramics, so I’m trying to build my own for a future apartment one day. This plate by The Goodwillers (bottom right) combined my love of handmade ceramic designs with my other love for second-hand objects by upcycling the design from a vintage shirt onto an old plate, so it felt kismet.” — Tricia Teong, student and small business owner

“I’m generally drawn to books and objects that offer different perspectives on our everyday experiences, such as Gele Wang’s (@gallllllllllllllllllee) The Key 《钥匙》, which looks at a bunch of keys with forgotten uses and the memories they unlock; Further Reading Press’ (@further.reading) Spiritual Further Reading, which challenges what it means to “read”; and local artist Hans Chew’s (@hansczy) ceramic keychain, part of his ongoing project of imprinting overlooked crevices along roadsides in Singapore.” — Tisya Wong, artist

“My cousin and I bought a deck of Mountain River Jump! from Chinese publisher Jiazazhi Press, which reimagines divination through Chinese animal idioms, because we’re committed to always being a Chinese time of our lives. We also picked up a lot of stickers, postcards, zines and a poster from Korean artist Bird Pit who, in our world, was headlining the art book fair.

I bought another sheet from Chinese artist-run group cuspdot 卡斯普多特 and held back on a phonebook-sized book of their cat, which I am now regretting not picking up... My partner also picked up two books from Singapore studio Atelier HOKO that aptly and specifically represented his fixations on very good T-shirts and drinking beverages.” — Natalie Seow, consultant

“I picked up a couple of books by Wang Gele, a comic artist from Shandong, China. Winter Story (top row, on left) is a wordless, sketch-based account of his annual visits to his ancestral village, while Great Price of Today (bottom row, on left) draws from his time working at a supermarket with his mother, finding curiosity in the banality of everyday life.

In The Key (bottom row, on right), Wang wonders what happens to the keys we leave behind when we move homes — something he’s familiar with given the rapid pace of development in his home province.

I also enjoyed Ethan Sim’s Toddy Kun Ghost Trainspotting (middle row, on left), a whimsical fictional account of an encounter with a ghost while trainspotting. The Anxiety-Provoking Poutine (top row, in middle) by Shiho Saito and Misako Taoka caught my eye for its humorous, provocative take on outdoor fashion shoots and store return policies.

Fractions of a Second by Mingli Seet (middle row, on right) is a beautiful zine I traded with the artist that makes light feel incredibly fragile, fleeting and beautiful. Finally, Cup Handle by Guse Ars (top row, on right) playfully attempts to reconstruct a complete ceramic vessel using historical pottery shards.” — Hans Chew, ceramicist and artist