Pickles & Chickens: Stories of Food & Sustainability | Beyond Text

Important Notice

This programme/event is open to members of the National Library Board, Singapore. Please ensure you have your myLibrary username on hand before proceeding with the registration. If you do not have a myLibrary username, you can create one here: .

">p>

About the Programme:

Singapore is often called a food paradise; but is it the same as being a land of plenty? What food stories can we uncover from history, or salvage from the scraps we throw away in our present-day kitchens? In this session of Beyond Text, we look at how eco-theatre and food literature helps us rethink eating local, our relationship with food, and its historical roots on our shores.

Join our panel as they delve into the food heritage of Singapore and the Malay Archipelago, and discuss what food sustainability means to them.

2.00pm - 3.00pm: Panel discussion by the speakers with Q&A

3.00pm - 3.30pm: Gallery walk of books and artefacts curated by the speakers at the event venue

About the Speakers:

Khir Johari (speaker)

Khir Johari was born and raised in historic Kampong Gelam, Singapore, in his family home Gedung Kuning, a treasure house of culinary knowledge and recipes.

Khir studied mathematics at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in California. He then completed a Masters in Education at Stanford University. Since returning to Singapore, Khir has focused on research into the food cultures of maritime Southeast Asia. He relishes every opportunity to document oral histories and preserve objects of material culture such as old publications, artifacts, textiles and music. He was elected Vice President of the Singapore Heritage Society in 2016 to promote public education and advocacy. Khir enjoys writing articles and giving talks on history, heritage and culture.

Ang Xiao Ting (speaker)

Xiao Ting (angxiaoting.com)">span>) is a freelance theatre practitioner (actor, director, dramaturg). She is an Associate Artist with The Theatre Practice (Singapore) and Programmer for Practice Tuckshop.

Her practice in Eco-Theatre considers the various degrees of an integrated ecological practice, with a focus on Southeast Asian foodways, such as: Recess Time – which toured to World Stage Design 2022 (Calgary) and received an 'Honourable Mention' at #CreateCOP27 - a global open call for art that responds to the climate emergency in conjunction with COP27. Recent directing commissions include: Extinction Feast (Singapore Writers’ Festival), Pickle Party (Singapore Night Festival) and Performing the Director's Notes: All The World's A Sea (Singapore International Festival of the Arts). In 2023, she was also the staging director for Ding Yi Music Company's ECOncert.

She has been invited to speak on numerous international panels and conferences about how her practice intersects with the green transition. These include: Prague Quadrennial, Association of Asia Pacific Arts Centres (AAPPAC) and Trans/Missions (University of the Arts, Singapore).

Xiao Ting is a recipient of the National Arts Council Undergraduate Scholarship. She graduated from Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Arts (UK) where she received the LICA prize for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre.

Marcus Koe, Habitat Collective (moderator)

Marcus Koe is a permaculture mentor and designer, and the founding director of Habitat Collective.

Marcus has a deep interest in the human condition, the environment, and the intersections between them.

He strongly advocates the need to repair and strengthen our interaction with natural systems, and believes that through permaculture, and its inspired ways to transform our agricultural and food systems, we can impact and shape human culture towards this direction.

Marcus has spent the last 7 years studying and unveiling our alienation from the agricultural/food systems that we depend so heavily on.

After working in various organic farms across Japan, a kelong in offshore Singapore, and as an edible garden designer, he founded Habitat Collective to initiate projects, movements, and experiences with the intention to transform the food and agricultural system in the region, and to provide a platform for people to join in the same journey.

About Beyond Text:

Explore Beyond Text, an NLB literary arts series delving into the multisensory experience of reading. Discover how creators and industry professionals tell stories on wellness, sustainability, and careers through comics, theatre, and more.

Join the conversation on how we encounter words and images in today's world! To sign up for the other Beyond Text sessions, click beyondtext!

This programme is part of THRIVE@libraries.

Experience us up-close and live at our 3-day pop-up, taking place at PLQ Plaza from 18 - 20 July 2024, 11am - 7pm. (Exclusive merchandise to be redeemed!)

Adulting is hard - we get it! That's why we are here to help you grow in your personal life and career journey. Whether you're looking to boost up your knowledge, to amp up your career fitness, or to spice up your leisure time, there is something for you at THRIVE@libraries.

To learn more, visit thriveatlibraries.

Organised">p>

Organised by the National Library Board
Supported by Lifelong Learning Institute