2:00PM — 3:00PM

Register here.

[ARTIST TALK]
The Book as a Stage; Spector Books’ Publishing Practice

Presented by Spector Books
Moderated by Melvin Tan

Spector Books’ publishing practice is settled in the intersection of the arts, theory, design and architecture. Based in Leipzig, Germany we explore the possibilities offered by an active exchange between all parties involved in a book production process: artists, authors, designers, lithographers, printers and bookbinders. The book as medium is turned into a stage, a site of encounter for productive exchange. Finding innovative approaches to the medium today calls for a well considered interplay between the content, design, and materiality of a book.



Robert Stürzl
Editor and Head of Production, Spector Books
Robert Stürzl is an editor with a background in architecture and urban design at Spector Books in Leipzig, Germany. He first joined the publishing house in 2013, today he is responsible for the production department.

Melvin Tan
Creative Lead at Currency and Co-Founder of Hothouse
Melvin is the creative lead at Currency, a branding and strategy design studio. He is also a co-founder of Hothouse, a prototyping collective that explores the intersections of art, design, and architecture.

3:30PM — 4:30PM

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[BOOK LAUNCH]
By The Moon and The Tides

Presented by The Slow Press

What could a foraging Singapore look like? What did a foraging Singapore look like?

By The Moon and The Tides is an exploration and reimagining of Singapore's relationship with the practice of foraging, perhaps the oldest subsistence pattern of man. Following The Slow Press Vol. 5: BITTERSWEET, this risograph zine will exclusively be launched at SGABF2023.

The team behind the zine will be sharing our conversations with three foragers: self-taught urban forager Esmonde Luo, Syazwan of Wan's Ubin Journal, and Firdaus of Orang Laut SG, as well as our design and editorial processes.


Tan Aik
Editor-in-Chief, The Slow Press
Aik moonlights as a writer. In his role as Editor-in-Chief of The Slow Press, he explores the intersections between food and culture. In his free time, he plays RPGs and eats noodles.

Christy Chua
Founder and Editorial Director, The Slow Press
Christy is a consumer of good food and drinks. She runs the magazine's day-to-day, and sneaks around kitchens and wet markets, after which she translates her findings into the colourful food stories and wonderful parties that you see at The Slow Press.

Jamie Png
Contributing Designer, The Slow Press
Jamie is a part-time photographer/designer and a full-time dugong wannabe. As the main designer of By The Moon and The Tides, she helped create a feast not only for the mind but also for the eyes, as The Slow Press always does.

5:00PM — 6:30PM

Session 2: Animal Mascots
Fee: S$15.00 per participant

Limited to 15 pax per session

Register here.

[WORKSHOP]
Drawing through Touch: Charcoal & Pastel Workshop

with Painter Kok Choon Choo
In collaboration with Unseen Art Initiatives

Participants will learn how to draw self-portraits and a portrait of fellow workshop participants, or work on a unique animal mascot as they explore and discover their facial features through touch or sight. They will learn forms of mark-making using pastels and charcoal.


Workshop Features

• Introduction of Choon’s art practice as a visually-impaired painter;
• Understanding different approaches to portraiture and character creation;
• Building confidence through exercises that help you explore different types of mark-making.

Suitable for beginners • All materials included • Language: Mandarin with English Translation



Kok Choon Choo (Choon) is a painter based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
His works are inspired by the German Expressionism and Japanese Pop Culture - creating vivid characters that bring his ideas of the society across. Choon has been given awards for his paintings. He also works as an arts educator in Malaysia, regularly conducting workshops. He is a National Art Gallery Malaysia member, PPM (Malaysia Artists Society) and Persatuan Senilukis Rekacipta Negeri Johor (SERUPA). He graduated from the University of Tasmania (UTAS @ Hobart Campus) and has a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Art) in Painting 2001-CAA Academy of Art (Johor Bahru Campus).

Unseen Art Initiatives is a Singapore-based arts platform that aims to evoke and harness the creative potential of people through the arts. Through arts-based interventions and curating art exhibitions and cultural programmes, we enable collaborations between professional and emerging disabled artists across creative industries, schools, community organisations and public institutions. Our projects include Edible Art Club, an intercultural collaboration with Aung Mental Health (Myanmar), Move For?ward (Unseen: Inside Out) 2020 - 2022, which premiered at the National Gallery Singapore's Light to Night Festival, Unseen: Constellations (2014 - 2016), a mentorship programme for visually-impaired youth and Unseen: Shift Lab (2015) a collaborative project with Dialogue-in-the-Dark Malaysia and artists from Kuala Lumpur. Our platform also developed research for the pilot Touch Art Collection for the Singapore Art Museum and National Gallery Singapore, researching accessibility practices for visually-impaired museum patrons.

unseenart.myportfolio.com • @unseensg