SINGAPORE — The Singapore Art Book Fair (SABF) is back for the third time and is all ready to pique your curiosity.

Organised by independent bookstore and publisher BooksActually, the annual book fair, which specialises in contemporary art and design books and zines, is currently ongoing at the ArtScience Museum.

This year’s theme is Cabinet Of Curiosities, and the organisers hope visitors drop by in pursuit of ideas and objects worth keeping in their very own “wunderkammer”, or a small private cabinet that holds rare and strange item that inspire and provoke thought and wonder.

The fair, which took a break last year, was last held at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore at Gillman Barracks in 2014, which drew 6,000 visitors. This third edition presents 34 exhibitors, art collectives, design studios and book publishers from Singapore and countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

Returning participants include HOKO design studio, calligrapher The Letter J Supply, artist Speak Crypt and family art collective Holycrap.sg, alongside newbies like The Fingersmith Letterpress, Basheer Graphic Books, Institute of Critical Zoologists and Jakarta-based independent publisher Studio Geometry.

There will also be fringe events. Among these are film trailer screenings, workshops, and talks by the likes of Chef Andre Chiang of Restaurant Andre, who will be speaking about the process behind his forthcoming book, Octaphilosophy, on Saturday. On Sunday, graphic novelist Troy Chin and street photographer Chia Aik Beng will be conducting book signings of The Resident Tourist and Sing Kar Por, respectively, while Super Farmers will be holding urban farming workshops. Holycrap.sg will also be welcoming families to join them for a unique parents vs children game of Pictionary that same day.

According to Kenny Leck, fair director of SABF, this year’s edition will be a “multi-sensorial experience”.

“Every day will hold different things in store from the next due to the programmes set in place,” 
he shared.

And keeping to SABF’s ongoing effort to include more diverse and international exhibitors and speakers, expanding the reach beyond art and books in Singapore, Leck believes that this year’s fair is looking to be more international than the last. “So fairgoers can expect to gain an informed regional perspective on a far-reaching and established art book industry,” he said.

BooksActually manager Renee Ting agreed, saying: “We’re representing a lot more art book publishers, both local but definitely more international this year, like Design Anthology from Hong Kong and Studio Geometry from Indonesia. We try as much as we can to have different programmes and exhibitors, but we feel the fair should speak for itself in its type and content.”

So how is SABF helping to change the course of art book publishing 
locally?

“There are definitely a lot more independent publications coming up in the recent years,” shared Ting. “We feel our job is to bring these to surface and show people the kind of creativity that is present in this country, not just to the tourists and expats, but more so to the locals. We think it is important to bring awareness to our local arts.”

The Singapore Art Book Fair runs until April 17 at the ArtScience Museum, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Level 4, Expression, Curiosity & Inspiration Galleries. Admission is free. For more details, visit http://singaporeartbookfair.com.