Singapore Pavilion at 2022 Venice Biennale Explores Banned Books

The Singapore Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemani and running from April 23 to November 27, will present "Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished Book." For the first time in the pavilion's history, the team is led by women: artist Shubigi Rao and curator Ute Meta Bauer. The project is part of a decade-long exploration by Rao into the history of books as tools for transmitting ideas, expanding to themes of censorship, libraries, printing, freedom of expression, privacy, and both print and online information. The exhibition takes the form of a book, a film, and a paper labyrinth, addressing endangered languages, the future of public libraries, and the stories of ancient printing centers including Venice and Singapore. Rao states that the stories in the "Pulp" project represent different forms of courage in action, discourse, documentation, and sharing, revealing forms of resistance in printing and lives surrounded by books. Bauer explains that the pavilion centers on what a history of the banned book actually means, with Rao using books and moving images to narrate parts of history deliberately obscured by power holders. The artistic research is deeply interested in the "custodians" of culture, stories, and identity, with language becoming a place to protect and mourn what is lost. In a time of great loss due to the pandemic and climate crisis, the pavilion promotes the value of persistence for living together productively and meaningfully.