Constructing the Artist’s Book
Date
April 11 2026 (Saturday)
2PM to 3:15PM
Location
Shop–House by DECK
About
In this conversation, artist Robert Zhao Renhui and book designer Hanson Ho come together to unpack the ideas, decisions, and processes behind making an artist’s book—from initial concept to material form. Moving between image, narrative, and design, the discussion traces how a book can become a site for speculation, storytelling, and artistic inquiry.
Facilitated by design curator Berny Tan, this session offers a closer look at the collaborative dynamics between artist and designer, and how their dialogue shapes the final work as both object and experience.
Facilitated by design curator Berny Tan, this session offers a closer look at the collaborative dynamics between artist and designer, and how their dialogue shapes the final work as both object and experience.
Featuring
Robert Zhao
Artist | Speaker
Robert Zhao Renhui (b. 1983, Singapore) is an interdisciplinary artist who explores the complex and co-mingled relationships between nature and culture. Working in installation, photography, video and sculpture, Zhao is interested in the multifarious beings and objects that constitute the living world, and whose experiences and knowledge enrich our collective existence.
Zhao held solo exhibitions The Forest Institute (2022) at Gillman Barracks, Singapore and Monuments in the Forest at ShanghART Gallery (2023) in Shanghai. His latest work is a performance installation titled Albizia (2023), commissioned by the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. He has also been featured in 10th Busan Biennale (2020), 6th Singapore Biennale (2019), 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2018), 11th Taipei Biennale (2018), 17th Jakarta Biennale (2017), and 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016). Zhao represented Singapore in the 60th Venice Biennale. (2024)
He received the prestigious National Arts Council Young Artist Award (2010), Singapore’s highest award for young arts practitioners aged 35 and below, He was also a finalist of the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award (2017).
Zhao held solo exhibitions The Forest Institute (2022) at Gillman Barracks, Singapore and Monuments in the Forest at ShanghART Gallery (2023) in Shanghai. His latest work is a performance installation titled Albizia (2023), commissioned by the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. He has also been featured in 10th Busan Biennale (2020), 6th Singapore Biennale (2019), 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2018), 11th Taipei Biennale (2018), 17th Jakarta Biennale (2017), and 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016). Zhao represented Singapore in the 60th Venice Biennale. (2024)
He received the prestigious National Arts Council Young Artist Award (2010), Singapore’s highest award for young arts practitioners aged 35 and below, He was also a finalist of the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award (2017).
Hanson Ho
Graphic Designer | Speaker
Hanson Ho (b. 1974) occupies a significant position in the history of graphic design in Singapore, with a practice that has substantially influenced the development of the nation’s visual culture. Since founding his studio H55 in 1999, Ho has cultivated a distinctive modernist aesthetic—characterised by understated expression, conceptual rigour and refined precision—that positions design as both a creative act and an intellectual endeavour.
A two-time recipient of the President*s Design Award—Singapore’s highest honour in design—Ho was recognised as Designer of the Year in 2012 and received Design of the Year in 2014. Since the early stages of his career, he has achieved international recognition, with his graphic work honoured by institutions such as the New York One Show Design, the New York Art Directors Club, Tokyo Type Directors Club, D&AD, and the Creative Circle Awards.
Ho’s contributions have played a pivotal role in shaping Singapore’s visual identity in international contexts. His notable projects include the visual identities for the Singapore Pavilion at various Venice Biennales and Expo 2020 Dubai, as well as for Civic District Singapore, the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize, and numerous publications for cultural institutions including the National Gallery Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum, and prominent artists such as Heman Chong and Robert Zhao Renhui. His early experimental T-shirt label, Rabbit (2001–2007), was launched at Dover Street Market London, Comme des Garçons Guerrilla Store Singapore, and Colette Paris—demonstrating a cross-disciplinary sensibility from the outset.
Ho’s artistic practice emerges from the visual language he has developed as a graphic designer. Whether working in two or three dimensions, his approach seeks to endow each idea or material with a spatial, sculptural quality.
His initial engagement with abstraction was articulated in his solo exhibition 'Shapes (1–15)' (2015) at DECK, Singapore. The exhibition presented enlarged geometric forms—ambiguous shapes that Ho regards as physicalised digital artefacts—derived from his studio’s extensive archive of graphic work. In 2025, he completed '(Water) Shapes No. 23–27', a 93-metre-long site-specific, permanent installation for the Sungei Bedok MRT Station. The work is designed to change in appearance relative to the viewer’s position, underscoring Ho’s sustained interest in perception and spatial experience.
In addition to his studio practice, Ho has contributed to public art initiatives as a curator for the Singapore Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Art-in-Transit programme for the Downtown Line, and is currently overseeing the curation of artworks for four stations on the upcoming Cross Island Line.
Photo Credit: Caleb Ming
A two-time recipient of the President*s Design Award—Singapore’s highest honour in design—Ho was recognised as Designer of the Year in 2012 and received Design of the Year in 2014. Since the early stages of his career, he has achieved international recognition, with his graphic work honoured by institutions such as the New York One Show Design, the New York Art Directors Club, Tokyo Type Directors Club, D&AD, and the Creative Circle Awards.
Ho’s contributions have played a pivotal role in shaping Singapore’s visual identity in international contexts. His notable projects include the visual identities for the Singapore Pavilion at various Venice Biennales and Expo 2020 Dubai, as well as for Civic District Singapore, the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize, and numerous publications for cultural institutions including the National Gallery Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum, and prominent artists such as Heman Chong and Robert Zhao Renhui. His early experimental T-shirt label, Rabbit (2001–2007), was launched at Dover Street Market London, Comme des Garçons Guerrilla Store Singapore, and Colette Paris—demonstrating a cross-disciplinary sensibility from the outset.
Ho’s artistic practice emerges from the visual language he has developed as a graphic designer. Whether working in two or three dimensions, his approach seeks to endow each idea or material with a spatial, sculptural quality.
His initial engagement with abstraction was articulated in his solo exhibition 'Shapes (1–15)' (2015) at DECK, Singapore. The exhibition presented enlarged geometric forms—ambiguous shapes that Ho regards as physicalised digital artefacts—derived from his studio’s extensive archive of graphic work. In 2025, he completed '(Water) Shapes No. 23–27', a 93-metre-long site-specific, permanent installation for the Sungei Bedok MRT Station. The work is designed to change in appearance relative to the viewer’s position, underscoring Ho’s sustained interest in perception and spatial experience.
In addition to his studio practice, Ho has contributed to public art initiatives as a curator for the Singapore Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Art-in-Transit programme for the Downtown Line, and is currently overseeing the curation of artworks for four stations on the upcoming Cross Island Line.
Photo Credit: Caleb Ming
Berny Tan
Curator | Facilitator
Berny Tan (b.1990, Singapore) is Curator of Singapore Art Museum's Design Collection initiative, exploring expanded creative practices at the intersection of design and contemporary art. Guided by her experiences as an artist, she nurtures a practitioner-centred curatorial approach grounded in empathy, sensitivity, and collaboration. Tan holds an MA (Dist) in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BFA (Hons) in Visual & Critical Studies from the School of Visual Arts. Between 2021 and 2024 – while continuing to present her artwork in solo and group exhibitions – she organised 8 curatorial projects in Singapore, including a publicly accessible residency as part of Singapore Biennale 2022. She was awarded the 2022 IMPART Art Prize in the curator category in recognition of her independent practice.
