I went to the KLABF (Kuala Lumpur Art Book Fair) with my colleagues recently. In hindsight, I should’ve taken some pictures lol but I was very quickly absorbed by the array of creatives. One of the most interesting things about these events is bearing witness to a person’s fusion of art and design on different mediums. Since it was an ‘art book fair’, much of their works were printed on books, zines, cards, etc.

There were a few individuals that piqued my interest:
1. Tara Books: They’re an independent publisher from India that specialises in storytelling through intricate illustrations of book design. The examples that were shared with me unfolded like a thousand layer cake (千层糕). I’m not a fan of Indian folklore but the books demanded my attention as I flipped through it. Very cool.

2. Ah Guan: He shared 2 short stories revolving around his fictional character named Fei Fei (肥肥). She’s plump, round and acts as a symbol of unrealistic body standards in women in his 2 part storybook: one in her teenage years, one in adulthood. I thought it was wholesome for him to spread such a message. He also showed me some resin figures which he painted by hand.

3. Betty Qui: Her limited edition print of goldfishes and lotus flowers caught my attention + she has a really welcoming personality. It was fun to make conversation with her as she shared her design process and drawing themes. It’s traditionally oriental with elements like porcelain, chinese fans, qi pao (旗袍) and the depth of mysterious feminine figures.

4. The Living Room: These guys are a small team from Singapore and I thought they were really down to earth. It was also a funny moment to watch one of them set up their Wise account on the spot. I bought a Yuta (JJK) sketch from here, I intend it to gift it to my brother along with his Christmas present. Glenn’s sketchbook was up for display and I was magnetised cause he draws inspiration from Katsuya Terada.

5. Asian Food Design: I found an opportunity to practice speaking my half-baked Japanese with her! She’s a very cool Japanese mom from Tokyo selling art about Asian culture: Thailand, Vietnam, Shanghai, Hong Kong, you name it. We exchanged backgrounds and laughed together about the huge age gap between her 2 children. What stuck with me was this tiny-ass zine (smaller than a pinky ring) that told a story about her first day in Malaysia and local food illustrations lol.

There were more and I could go on, but these are my top 5 interactions and I have to wake up early tomorrow to figure out how the airfryer works. Catch you in the next one.

KLABF poster (Dec, 2024)