The fifth edition of Textures, an annual literary festival that celebrates Singapore literature (Sing Lit) and those in the literary arts industry returns from 4 March to 3 April 2022. Organised by Arts House Limited (AHL), this year’s festival with the theme The Great Escape, is helmed by critically-acclaimed, multi-disciplinary artist Jason Wee for a second consecutive year. Following The Bottled City in 2021, the festival continues to bring Sing Lit to the heartlands. The Great Escape invites audiences to let their imaginations run free and escape into the imaginative terrains of Singapore Literature.
Audiences can look forward to immersing themselves in Singapore writing right in the heartlands, as Textures 2022: The Great Escape heads to the public library and community spaces in Ang Mo Kio, Punggol, Sembawang and Toa Payoh. Designed as roving art installations and taking inspiration from home-grown literature, the Festival Pavilion features artworks from eight local artists and their reinterpretations of stories from four Singaporean authors. Presented for the first time, the artworks include artist Elvin Ching’s adaptation of Cyril Wong's short story The Dragon Prince's Letter to his Father from his book Let Me Tell You Something About That Night, artist Loh Xiang Yun’s interpretation of Meihan Boey's The Formidable Miss Cassidy, designer HAFI’s work inspired by Khir Johari's book, The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago, and object maker Masuri Mazlan’s reimagination of Singa Pura Pura edited by Nazry Bahrawi.
Textures 2022 features a series of programmes in English, and offers a broad range of Sing Lit with a focus on genres which speak to the theme such as speculative fiction, fantasy, travel writing, crime and thriller novels, food and recipes. At the Festival Pavilion, visitors can also easily search and borrow electronic library books with the on-site QR codes via the National Library Board mobile application. Families can also sign up for a parent-and-child storytelling and craft workshops.