From the Ground Up – Voices in Independent Publishing
Date
April 25 2026 (Saturday)
4PM to 5:30PM
Location
Shop–House by DECK
About
Independent publishing continues to shape the vitality of contemporary book culture. In this conversation, Ang Song Nian of TheBookShow, Gideon of Temporary Press, and Pann Lim of Rubbish Famzine come together to share how their respective platforms emerged from a desire to create and distribute books outside conventional publishing structures.
Facilitated by Gwen Lee, the session explores the motivations, challenges, and creative freedoms that come with building publishing initiatives from the ground up. From artist books and zines to experimental print formats, the speakers will reflect on how grassroots practices foster communities, circulate ideas, and expand the possibilities of the book as a cultural object.
The discussion will offer insight into the ethos and processes behind independent publishing, highlighting the energy and experimentation that sustain book culture at its most personal and collaborative.
Facilitated by Gwen Lee, the session explores the motivations, challenges, and creative freedoms that come with building publishing initiatives from the ground up. From artist books and zines to experimental print formats, the speakers will reflect on how grassroots practices foster communities, circulate ideas, and expand the possibilities of the book as a cultural object.
The discussion will offer insight into the ethos and processes behind independent publishing, highlighting the energy and experimentation that sustain book culture at its most personal and collaborative.
Featuring
TheBookShow (Ang Song Nian)
Artist & Publisher | Speaker
ANG Song Nian (b. 1983, Singapore) works with materials and traces of human behaviours made visible within landscapes through photographic documentations and installation.
Temporary Press (Gideon Kong)
Publisher | Speaker
Temporary Press publishes content around art and design in the form of artist books, critical texts, and everyday research, with an interest in incidental ideas and alternative practices. The press often relies on economical and improvisational design and production methods, often with a black-only Risograph and simple tools. Temporary Press is run by gideon-jamie (Jamie Yeo and Gideon Kong) since 2018.
Rubbish Famzine (Pann Lim)
Publisher | Speaker
In 2011, Pann Lim founded HolyCrap, a family art collective with his wife and two children. Their publication, Rubbish Famzine, gained a devoted following and Issues 1 to 12 were acquired by the Singapore Art Museum for their permanent collection. Pann is Co-Founder and Creative Director of Kinetic Singapore. He believes that "design without an idea is a sin", a conviction that has guided his work for nearly three decades. Passionate about design, advertising and communication, he has won over 550 industry awards, including Gold Pencils at The One Show, a Yellow Pencil at D&AD, and four President's Design Awards, including Designer of the Year in 2013. Under his leadership, Kinetic was ranked fifth globally for Design Agency by D&AD in 2022. While pursuing his MA at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, he developed the Eleven Dimensions of the Human Soul of Design, a framework defining what remains irreplaceably human in the age of A.I.
Gwen Lee
DECK Co-founder & Director | Facilitator
Gwen Lee, DECK’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, has been shaping Singapore’s photography arts landscape. In 2008, she co-founded 2902 Gallery, a commercial gallery for photography. She also established the Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), now one of Southeast Asia’s longest-running photo festivals. Recognising her artistic impact, Gwen received accolades from the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Trade in 2010 and the Chevalier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by France’s Ministry of Culture in 2022. In 2023, she was recognised in Singapore 40-over-40: Inspiring Women as a Social Contributor.
