Naima Morelli

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Shubigi Rao
When it comes to the power of imagination, Shubigi Rao is an artist that masters it. Shubigi has the capacity of completely drawing you into her world and work, which is complex, multidisciplinary and deeply entrenching. However, she also touched upon the other polarity of this chapter: the bureaucratic aspect of life. Indeed, in her critically-acclaimed 2016 book called “Pulp: A Short Biography Of The Banished Book, Vol I” , she addressed censorship, book destruction and other forms of repression, as well as looking at books as a symbols of resistance. The project is being developed over 10 years, in which time the artist is investigating the destruction of books and libraries around the world, collecting video testimonials from people involved in saving or destroying books, such as firefighters who tried to save the burning national library of Sarajevo during the civil unrest in the 1990s, or others who smuggled books and paintings to safety during times of cultural unrest.

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During my last visit to Singapore I had the chance to visit the studio of Shubigi Rao, an incredible artist who reminded me of a modern-day Hypatia. With interests ranging from archaeology, to philosophy, to neuroscience (the list goes on and on) her work breaks barriers and definitions, and is injected by a good amount of irony.

For more than ten years she had operated under the name of S.Raoul, her scientist, theorist and archaeologist alter-ego, a lover for everything obscure and academic.

In my interview with Shubigi we talked about her background and her move to the Lion City. She introduced me to her body of work and her method of research. I’m in the process of elaborating the interview for my Singapore book – in the meantime enjoy these pictures taken at her studio. 

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