As we go about our daily lives, it’s easy to relegate our appreciation for the local art and literary scene as a hobby or passion to pursue only during our down time and off days. Yet there are ways you can champion your favourite Singaporean artists and writers even during work hours, thanks to programmes by #BuySingLit such as Illustrate Our World and Sing Lit Sounds: A Silent Disco.
Making it a breeze to show your SingLit cred is Illustrate Our World, a series of eight virtual backgrounds by homegrown SingLit illustrators. They are available free via #BuySingLit’s website for you to download and use as your virtual background on Zoom, so go ahead and proudly put them up during your next online meeting.
There’s a background for any occasion. Want something bright and cheery? Use illustrator Mike Foo’s creation as inspired by Friends: A Counting Book by Ekkers (Goh Eck Kheng). Or if you’re looking for something more overtly local, try comic artist Koh Hong Teng’s illustration instead, a work that’s derived from The Garden of Foolish Indulgences by Oh Yong Hwee.
The books themselves are available for purchase too, of course, and you can get your hands on them either by heading down to the bookstore or simply ordering online and have the books delivered to you.
To find out where the nearest local bookstore or publishing house is located, head over to #BuySingLit’s website and check out their well-curated list and expertly-compiled Map of Singapore Bookstores.
They’ve listed down all of them, and have even provided snippets of information (some have accompanying videos too) about each one, just in case you’re interested to find out more about the stories and people behind each establishment.
That’s not all. If you want to further quench your thirst for all-things SingLit, check out the replay of Sing Lit Sounds: A Silent Disco. Tune in to the recording of the SingLit-inspired songs that had local musicians the likes of .gif, Fauxe and Mantravine specially produce a selection of tunes with Chinese, Malay and Tamil literary works in mind.
You’ll feel like the SingLit community is right there with you at home.
Download SingLit-inspired Zoom backgrounds from the Illustrate Our World series here. Find a full list of local bookstores and publishers to show your support for here. Tune in to Sing Lit Sounds: A Silent Disco here.
