Welcome to episode 4 of the Mynah Podcast, brought to you by Mynah Magazine! Editor Ruby and Renée Ting, the director of the Singapore Art Book Fair, talk about the financial realities of independent cultural production. We discuss the limitations of National Arts Council funding, paying yourself from passion projects, not treating audiences like they’re dumb, and more.
Renée Ting is the founder & director of Thing Books, a centre that organises art book events & initiatives such as the annual Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) and the SG Art Book Library.
To learn more about Renée and for more context on this episode, read our newsletter at mynahmag.substack.com. Applications to exhibit at SGABF2025 will open in mid-May. Stay updated via the Singapore Art Book Fair Instagram page (instagram.com/singaporeartbookfair) or website (www.singaporeartbookfair.org).
Some notes on the podcast and additional resources:
To mark its 10th edition, the Singapore Art Book Fair produced a 5-part docuseries about the genesis and evolution of the fair: https://singaporeartbookfair.org/SGABF-ACROSS-10-EDITIONS
On the National Arts Council withdrawing funding from Sonny Liew (The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye) and Jeremy Tiang (State of Emergency): https://asiatimes.com/2017/08/state-versus-arts-singapore/
Sonny Liew went on to return a subsequent NAC grant so as to “not get too tangled up in the compromises involved in a relationship where genuine dialogue is so limited.” https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/comic-artist-sonny-liew-to-return-state-funding-for-his-new-work
Printed Matter, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the appreciation of artists’ books, organises major book fairs like the NY Art Book Fair and LA Art Book Fair. They exhibited and spoke in the keynote discussion during 2024’s Singapore Art Book Fair.
Representatives from the Tokyo Art Book Fair and abC, who ran the defunct abC Art Book Fair in Beijing and Shanghai, also took part in the keynote discussion.
Cloud Projects, the Malaysian independent publisher that Mynah shared a booth with for the 2023 SGABF.
Atelier Hoko publishes Science of the Secondary. Each book in the series examines a different everyday object like bananas, plates, and toilet paper.
Mynah Magazine started as a print magazine for untold Singaporean stories in 2016. We’ve published four issues to date and our working on our fifth.
Find out more about Mynah Magazine on our website: mynahmag.com
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The music for The Mynah Podcast was written and recorded by Daniel Seah.
